8 ms·

The media's track record of covering anything scientific is pretty horrendous. Because of that, I am a massive fan of the proliferation of smaller science-based

by wpasc 9y ago

The media's track record of covering anything scientific is pretty horrendous. Because of that, I am a massive fan of the proliferation of smaller science-based youtube channels/blogs that cover science well. I think old school media is really adapting pretty horribly in most areas of news coverage, which is why I have altered my diet to more long form, smaller channel sources and I've been happier for it.

paulgb 9y ago
The media's coverage about topics we know about is a good reminder that it's probably roughly as good on topics we don't know about :) I'm optimistic that the internet will allow small, topic-focused media to flourish.
- mikeash 9y ago
  See also the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-gell-mann-amnesia-effect-is-as-follows-you https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-ge...
  - wpasc 9y ago
    I just read that, and I love it. HN has introduced me to named conventions that I have been loving: Betteridge's law, Hitchen's razor, and now the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect
    - Erlangolem 9y ago
      You know Hanlon’s Razor and Heinlein’s Razor? Then there’s Finagle’s law (well known) and my favorite correlary, O’Toole’s: “The Perversity of the universe tends towards a maximum.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor http://muchow.dk/ttrttc/?p=565 http://muchow.dk/ttrttc/?p=565 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finagle%27s_law https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finagle%27s_law
    - rdruxn 9y ago
      Betteridge’s law of headlines is one name for an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." My personal favorite is Poe’s Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law?wprov=sfti1
      - Bartweiss 9y ago
        It seems like Betteridge's Law has been catching on among the better sort of journalist. The NYT recently ran "Is Loneliness a Health Epidemic?", and I shook my head in anticipation of another article wildly overselling a weak claim. Instead, it was a measured piece cataloging excess hype on the topic and problems with commonly-cited loneliness studies. The author eventually arrived at "loneliness is a real concern, but not an epidemic". Which is all tangential, but it's great to finally see a journalist write a yes/no headline and actually notice that the answer is 'no'. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/opinion/sunday/loneliness-health.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/opinion/sunday/loneliness...
    - arthurjj 9y ago
      Learning the proper names for these concepts has been a huge benefit of reading HN. I've been collecting them for the past few years and now have enough for a bingo card.
      - Swquenzer 9y ago
        Absolutely agree. Does anyone have a compiled list of these types of concepts?
        arthurjj 9y ago
        My list in reverse chronological order: baumol's cost disease, Chesterton's fence, Berkson's paradox, goodhart's law/Campbell's law, Gell-Mann Amnesia affect, Ship of Theseus, The Zeigarnik effect, Conway's law, selection bias heffindal index, Betteridge's law of head lines, survivorship bias, bayes theorem black swan, Dunbar number, Anscombe's quartet, false positive/false negative, fundamental attribution bias, type 1 type 2 thinking, grok, simpson's paradox, Hawthorne effect, dunning kruger, Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, flynn effect, Moving the overton window,
        nikanj 9y ago
        Sturgeon’s law
        glitcher 9y ago
        cobra effect, bikeshedding
        thanatropism 9y ago
        Since you're keeping a list: it's "Herfindahl".
        arthurjj 9y ago
        That's what I get for just copy pasting a personal note. Thanks for the fix.
    - sushisource 9y ago
      I sort of have the opposite reaction. These days it seems like people are so eager to trot out one of these phrases with a "look-how-informed-I-am" attitude, whether or not it's genuinely applicable. If I'm talking about the "Gell-Mann Amnesia effect" in daily conversation, I'm just gonna describe it like Crichton does in the quote, since naming it properly is going to result in having to explain it anyways, and the whole thing just comes across as being a bit self-important.
- adamb_ 9y ago
  Checkout https://legiblenews.com https://legiblenews.com -- It updates once a day, sourced from Wikipedia.
edanm 9y ago
I completely agree with this and have often thought the same. The ease of content creation and marketing has been an absolute boon to making better content available on almost all topics. From better pop science and math, to better long-form science and math, and even to just better commenting on news because you're getting commentary from experts who are directly involved. It's a great time for content.

by wpasc 9y ago

paulgb 9y ago

The media's coverage about topics we know about is a good reminder that it's probably roughly as good on topics we don't know about :) I'm optimistic that the internet will allow small, topic-focused media to flourish.

mikeash 9y ago
See also the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-gell-mann-amnesia-effect-is-as-follows-you https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-ge...
- wpasc 9y ago
  I just read that, and I love it. HN has introduced me to named conventions that I have been loving: Betteridge's law, Hitchen's razor, and now the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect
  - Erlangolem 9y ago
    You know Hanlon’s Razor and Heinlein’s Razor? Then there’s Finagle’s law (well known) and my favorite correlary, O’Toole’s: “The Perversity of the universe tends towards a maximum.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor http://muchow.dk/ttrttc/?p=565 http://muchow.dk/ttrttc/?p=565 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finagle%27s_law https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finagle%27s_law
  - rdruxn 9y ago
    Betteridge’s law of headlines is one name for an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." My personal favorite is Poe’s Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law?wprov=sfti1
    - Bartweiss 9y ago
      It seems like Betteridge's Law has been catching on among the better sort of journalist. The NYT recently ran "Is Loneliness a Health Epidemic?", and I shook my head in anticipation of another article wildly overselling a weak claim. Instead, it was a measured piece cataloging excess hype on the topic and problems with commonly-cited loneliness studies. The author eventually arrived at "loneliness is a real concern, but not an epidemic". Which is all tangential, but it's great to finally see a journalist write a yes/no headline and actually notice that the answer is 'no'. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/opinion/sunday/loneliness-health.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/opinion/sunday/loneliness...
  - arthurjj 9y ago
    Learning the proper names for these concepts has been a huge benefit of reading HN. I've been collecting them for the past few years and now have enough for a bingo card.
    - Swquenzer 9y ago
      Absolutely agree. Does anyone have a compiled list of these types of concepts?
      - arthurjj 9y ago
        My list in reverse chronological order: baumol's cost disease, Chesterton's fence, Berkson's paradox, goodhart's law/Campbell's law, Gell-Mann Amnesia affect, Ship of Theseus, The Zeigarnik effect, Conway's law, selection bias heffindal index, Betteridge's law of head lines, survivorship bias, bayes theorem black swan, Dunbar number, Anscombe's quartet, false positive/false negative, fundamental attribution bias, type 1 type 2 thinking, grok, simpson's paradox, Hawthorne effect, dunning kruger, Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, flynn effect, Moving the overton window,
        nikanj 9y ago
        Sturgeon’s law
        glitcher 9y ago
        cobra effect, bikeshedding
        thanatropism 9y ago
        Since you're keeping a list: it's "Herfindahl".
        arthurjj 9y ago
        That's what I get for just copy pasting a personal note. Thanks for the fix.
  - sushisource 9y ago
    I sort of have the opposite reaction. These days it seems like people are so eager to trot out one of these phrases with a "look-how-informed-I-am" attitude, whether or not it's genuinely applicable. If I'm talking about the "Gell-Mann Amnesia effect" in daily conversation, I'm just gonna describe it like Crichton does in the quote, since naming it properly is going to result in having to explain it anyways, and the whole thing just comes across as being a bit self-important.
adamb_ 9y ago
Checkout https://legiblenews.com https://legiblenews.com -- It updates once a day, sourced from Wikipedia.

edanm 9y ago

I completely agree with this and have often thought the same. The ease of content creation and marketing has been an absolute boon to making better content available on almost all topics. From better pop science and math, to better long-form science and math, and even to just better commenting on news because you're getting commentary from experts who are directly involved. It's a great time for content.