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> says person commenting on a news aggregation site This story didn't contain anything actionable that changes your decisions either, and yet you still read it

> says person commenting on a news aggregation site This story didn't contain anything actionable that changes your decisions either, and yet you still read it and spent the time to comment. I don't see a substantive difference between reading HN and reading following political news. Nearly everything on this site (not even just this piece) will not affect your ability to accomplish your goals in anyway. It's a distraction at best.

eutropia 6y ago
I didn't read the story.
PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
Disagree. Let's suppose for a moment that we ever reach a point where the democratic process gets involved with the question of how best to manage the western forests (what's left of them) in the USA. There will be people arguing for regular understory and brush burning, and others arguing against it. Let's suppose that you're a citizen who gets to vote in some way on this matter. What will you base your vote on? The materials circulated at the time by those for and against various policies? Perhaps. But how will you judge those materials if you have not even a basic understanding of forest ecology. Now, if you sit down and read about forest ecology today, it will have no impact on your ability to accomplish your goals in anyway. But is is not a distraction: it's the groundwork and the preparation for you to be able to participate meaningfully in democratic decision making, perhaps tomorrow, or next year or some other time in the future. In short: it is education. You just have to be careful that you're learning about the actual world.
- didibus 6y ago
  Agree, educating oneself is a great investment even if not immediately actionable. The knowledge you gained will pay dividends later when it comes in handy. The issue with news is that I'm not sure reading all news sources is an effective way of educating yourself. Another problem though is that of shared values and goals. In your example you said: > the democratic process gets involved with the question of how best to manage the western forests But how does it even get to this point? Does news play a bigger role in that part of the democratic process? The part where we decide on our values and our priorities?

eutropia 6y ago

I didn't read the story.

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago

Disagree. Let's suppose for a moment that we ever reach a point where the democratic process gets involved with the question of how best to manage the western forests (what's left of them) in the USA. There will be people arguing for regular understory and brush burning, and others arguing against it. Let's suppose that you're a citizen who gets to vote in some way on this matter. What will you base your vote on? The materials circulated at the time by those for and against various policies? Perhaps. But how will you judge those materials if you have not even a basic understanding of forest ecology. Now, if you sit down and read about forest ecology today, it will have no impact on your ability to accomplish your goals in anyway. But is is not a distraction: it's the groundwork and the preparation for you to be able to participate meaningfully in democratic decision making, perhaps tomorrow, or next year or some other time in the future. In short: it is education. You just have to be careful that you're learning about the actual world.

didibus 6y ago
Agree, educating oneself is a great investment even if not immediately actionable. The knowledge you gained will pay dividends later when it comes in handy. The issue with news is that I'm not sure reading all news sources is an effective way of educating yourself. Another problem though is that of shared values and goals. In your example you said: > the democratic process gets involved with the question of how best to manage the western forests But how does it even get to this point? Does news play a bigger role in that part of the democratic process? The part where we decide on our values and our priorities?