Seems like an uninformed population will be even more umhappy when they are inevitably taken advantage of.
I’d really recommend reading the article. I think it addresses this issue very well.
Giving up reading news will make us happier
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Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#92I found this article really unconvincing. It lashes out at random things like the number of hyperlinks in an article, and has completely unsubstantiated claims like the following: "Most news consumers – even if they used to be avid book readers – have lost the ability to absorb lengthy articles or books. After four, five pages they get tired, their concentration vanishes, they become restless. It's not because they g…
>Knowledge is a good unto itself
This is a fallacious claim in an age of information overload.
Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
It may be called HN, but most of what gets posted here is not really "news".
Yes. I would categorize as "bad news" (or "news news") all the FB outrage, policital stuff, the Waymo lawsuit, etc. Bad as in getting to read them for very small content almost everyday doesn't help. On the other hand, HN is very useful for keeping up with developments in my area, interesting technical articles, insightful discussions. HN is usually not "news news".
Somewhat agree as I'm not as depressed as when I'm on reddit. But just in the past few weeks we've had things like: active shooter on youtube campus, all the facebook doom and gloom, cell phones cause cancer in male rats (I think I got that from hacker news), China's social credit system, etc.
I have a friend who actually doesn't follow the news (I'm not sure he knows what cambridge analytica is yet) and he tells me all the time how doom and gloom I am just from reading hacker news.
Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#94Look, I think this is great and all, but I'm pretty skeptical of this chant, "If the news bothers you so much because of what you're reading, just stop reading. It's not like you can change it."
Obviously, events that already happened can't be changed. But a lot of what upsets people so much is about legal interpretation and political policy. These things are changeable, and direct (and/or collective) action can change them.
When you're in a position where by default things go your way (dominant gender, dominant sexual orientation, dominant phenotype/race in local community) then yeah, you can just disengage and suspect that things are ticking over nicely for you. That's not the case for people outside this happy intersection. It certainly reads to me, as someone out of one of those bounds like you're telling me to disengage while people actively trying to shape law to marginalize me certainly won't.
Further, resistance to propaganda and misinformation is not an attribute of mentality. It's a combination of learned skills and _context_. By yielding all current contextual information, you are severely damaging your ability to process current events. This is in sharp contrast to the arguments put forth here and in the article that often lament the lack of skills (e.g., statistical thinking) that you can both learn and maintain in isolation.
I agree that controlling your media consumption is important and some folks (including myself) sometimes go off on media benders, getting very stressed. But the second assumption (that it's pointless) is wrong. My anger and outrage has helped me aid numerous political campaigns and individuals with money, time and emotional support.
Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#95Haven't watched the news in at least 5 years. Actually I haven't watched TV in the last 5 years even. So I don't have ads bombarding me, or fear and propaganda coming in every day. Highly recommended. You have one life. Make sure it counts as a happy one.
I never bought a TV when I moved to my own appartment many years ago. Now when I visit people having their TV on in the background it feels like overly loud. Am I getting more sensitive to noise too? It feels like information overflow and the only thing I can do is give up and just disappear into the TV. I never regret not buying that TV 25+ years ago. Now we do have one but it's only used for selected programs a cou…
you should still get a tv and hook up Netflix, don't get the damn cable or any other ad infested services
Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#96“Food, Ivan Arnoldovich, is a subtle thing. One must know how to eat, yet just think – most people don’t know how to eat at all. One must not only know what to eat, but when and how.’ (Philip Philipovich waved his fork meaningfully.) ‘And what to say while you’re eating. Yes, my dear sir. If you care about your digestion, my advice is – don’t talk about bolshevism or medicine at table. And, God forbid – never read So…
Note that the context is a society where it is NOT considered desirable to lose weight!
Unhealthy weight loss is never desirable.
Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#97Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#98"But at least we still have a hand with which to switch channels or turn off altogether. I tell my lecture audiences to never, ever watch local TV news."
- Ray Bradbury, 1996 Playboy Interview
Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#99Right and when the secret police come to your door you will be surprised. Wait, you say, when did we get taken over by a dictator? What happened to our democracy? Why is my internet suddenly riddled with NO everywhere? How come my job vanished? Why are my children suddenly forced to eat dirt? Why do I live in a crime infested neighborhood that used to be safe? Why did evil people destroy my environment? Oh yeah, I di…
Hence the penultimate paragraph, no? "Society needs journalism – but in a different way. Investigative journalism is always relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important findings don't have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books are good, too."
Which seemed like a non-sequitur to me. How is investigative journalism not news? Virtually every one of his arguments applies equally to investigative journalism, and the fact that he explicitly overrides those arguments demonstrates their weakness.
Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier
#100Haven't watched the news in at least 5 years. Actually I haven't watched TV in the last 5 years even. So I don't have ads bombarding me, or fear and propaganda coming in every day. Highly recommended. You have one life. Make sure it counts as a happy one.
I never bought a TV when I moved to my own appartment many years ago. Now when I visit people having their TV on in the background it feels like overly loud. Am I getting more sensitive to noise too? It feels like information overflow and the only thing I can do is give up and just disappear into the TV. I never regret not buying that TV 25+ years ago. Now we do have one but it's only used for selected programs a cou…
I gave up watching TV news at least ten years ago. The combination of owning no television at the time and dial-up Internet virtually eliminated my consumption of always-on visual news. I'm not sure if I'm happier, but the few times I've switched on the news in recent years, I've noticed almost immediately how I felt after viewing.
24-hour TV news is in a position where there is only so much data, but the staff has to keep talking to avoid dead air. What we end up with is mostly speculation and banter without a lot of substance. The next big reveal is always after the commercial break, and there's only enough morsels to keep you watching, never enough to satisfy one's curiosity.
In spite of the urgency with which television news is framed, very little of what makes the news has short-term consequences to me. Typically if there's a situation where I'm affected, I already know about it. The streets are flooding, the phone is receiving alerts, or whatever. Everything else can be reflected upon over a period of time. One thing I've noticed with regards to TV news is how little agency I have as a person over the situations presented. It's a litany of reminders of things we can't control.