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I see a number of comments celebrating the choice to live in a bubble uninformed and blissfully unaware of local and global events. Admittedly, a number of news

I see a number of comments celebrating the choice to live in a bubble uninformed and blissfully unaware of local and global events. Admittedly, a number of news sources are quite bad at actually reporting the news. But there still are quite a number of news organizations and news reporters that take their roles seriously. You can find them, that is if you are actually interested in being informed. I'm sure there's some virtue signalling going on here, similar to the "I don't watch TV" from years ago. It just strikes me as odd that people will gloat about their ignorance, on HN of all places.

alexandercrohde 8y ago
Why don't you suggest some accurate news sources that have a net-positive effect on the reader's life and mood, rather than shaming?
akvadrako 8y ago
I think if you mentioned which organizations you actually thought were credible people would disagree. Personally I’m constantly looking for a decent news source but haven’t found any. I settle for multiple bad ones on different sides of the issues.
asark 8y ago
> I see a number of comments celebrating the choice to live in a bubble uninformed and blissfully unaware of local and global events. I'm pretty sure my being aware of local and global events, plus voting, plus demonstrating, plus organizing, plus god knows how much time arguing politics on the Internet has done... pretty much nothing at all. I've quit all of it (except the arguing on the Internet part, naturally). Almost none of the news is important, because it's not effectively actionable (for most people). It's fine if you like the news as entertainment. It's not fine to look down on people for not liking the entertainment you do. As for ignorance, if you want to be an informed voter/activist/whatever then very little of your information diet should be news. Most of it should be books.
simonsarris 8y ago
It seems odd that you would call a lack of news reading ignorance. (What do you call a lack of fake news reading? How do you know what's fake news until the facts are borne out?) IMO if you want to be ignorant, read the news. If you want to be informed, read last week's or last year's news, which should cure one of a few delusions. If you want to learn something, perhaps read history instead.
ycombinete 8y ago
I find comments like this unhelpful. You have made a point, without any real counterpoint. If you wanted to be helpful, instead of doing your own little "You can find them, that is if you are actually interested in being informed" virtue signal posturing, why not post the name of a single such source which you find valuable? I would sincerely be interested in knowing the sources of some great news, so please share. Until then all your comment amounts to is an insult, without any substance.
- WheelsAtLarge 8y ago
  The Economist does a good job of informing and analyzing the news. That and the Sunday newspaper will give you enough info to stay informed. There is still plenty of fluff but at least you get to choose what you consume. Just keep in mind that most news is useless and meant to entertain and hold your attention but give you little to no benefit. Also, note that it has a big impact on your mental health and not for the better.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
sofal 8y ago
I've seen this sentiment on HN several times before. Just about any time there is an article discussing problems with the state of news, the most prevalent conversations on HN are always about how much better life is when you don't know what is going on. They argue that being informed isn't going to change anything, and yet they're perfectly happy to opine at length about whatever slice of current events happens to make it to the front page of HN as if they have all the context they need.
- burlesona 8y ago
  I would actually argue that it's more meta than you're saying. The people who are unplugging are largely arguing that the majority of todays "fast media" is unverified, poorly sourced, and otherwise low quality. By consuming it ravenously you may feel informed (and angry, because anger is mostly what sells), but you still don't actually know what's going on. So it's easier to be happy by just accepting that you can't learn what's really going on from the media and quit listening to it. Although to be fair this belief is nothing new. Per Mark Twain, "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."

alexandercrohde 8y ago

Why don't you suggest some accurate news sources that have a net-positive effect on the reader's life and mood, rather than shaming?

akvadrako 8y ago

I think if you mentioned which organizations you actually thought were credible people would disagree. Personally I’m constantly looking for a decent news source but haven’t found any. I settle for multiple bad ones on different sides of the issues.

asark 8y ago

> I see a number of comments celebrating the choice to live in a bubble uninformed and blissfully unaware of local and global events. I'm pretty sure my being aware of local and global events, plus voting, plus demonstrating, plus organizing, plus god knows how much time arguing politics on the Internet has done... pretty much nothing at all. I've quit all of it (except the arguing on the Internet part, naturally). Almost none of the news is important, because it's not effectively actionable (for most people). It's fine if you like the news as entertainment. It's not fine to look down on people for not liking the entertainment you do. As for ignorance, if you want to be an informed voter/activist/whatever then very little of your information diet should be news. Most of it should be books.

simonsarris 8y ago

It seems odd that you would call a lack of news reading ignorance. (What do you call a lack of fake news reading? How do you know what's fake news until the facts are borne out?) IMO if you want to be ignorant, read the news. If you want to be informed, read last week's or last year's news, which should cure one of a few delusions. If you want to learn something, perhaps read history instead.

ycombinete 8y ago

I find comments like this unhelpful. You have made a point, without any real counterpoint. If you wanted to be helpful, instead of doing your own little "You can find them, that is if you are actually interested in being informed" virtue signal posturing, why not post the name of a single such source which you find valuable? I would sincerely be interested in knowing the sources of some great news, so please share. Until then all your comment amounts to is an insult, without any substance.

WheelsAtLarge 8y ago
The Economist does a good job of informing and analyzing the news. That and the Sunday newspaper will give you enough info to stay informed. There is still plenty of fluff but at least you get to choose what you consume. Just keep in mind that most news is useless and meant to entertain and hold your attention but give you little to no benefit. Also, note that it has a big impact on your mental health and not for the better.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

sofal 8y ago

I've seen this sentiment on HN several times before. Just about any time there is an article discussing problems with the state of news, the most prevalent conversations on HN are always about how much better life is when you don't know what is going on. They argue that being informed isn't going to change anything, and yet they're perfectly happy to opine at length about whatever slice of current events happens to make it to the front page of HN as if they have all the context they need.

burlesona 8y ago
I would actually argue that it's more meta than you're saying. The people who are unplugging are largely arguing that the majority of todays "fast media" is unverified, poorly sourced, and otherwise low quality. By consuming it ravenously you may feel informed (and angry, because anger is mostly what sells), but you still don't actually know what's going on. So it's easier to be happy by just accepting that you can't learn what's really going on from the media and quit listening to it. Although to be fair this belief is nothing new. Per Mark Twain, "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."