4 ms·

related: The Gell-Mann amnesia effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#Gell-Mann_amnesia_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#Ge

related: The Gell-Mann amnesia effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#Gell-Mann_amnesia_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#Gell-Mann_amn... I agree entirely, I used to pay attention to the news, in part because I wanted to be knowledgable, and I guess the premise was growing up I'd eventually be part of a leadership class that would need to make big decisions based on that knowledge...but I'm frankly just a laborer, and being ignorant of the larger world is a totally reasonable and healthy position to take. The alternative seems to be to become an absolute news junkie which means a politics junkie which means a useful idiot arguing online with other useful idiots for some political movement I have no control or power over.

telesilla 3y ago
>being ignorant of the larger world is a totally reasonable and healthy position to take. Reasonable yes, healthy I'd debate. More importantly, if you prefer to have something of focus it would local politics, your mayor and representatives. It is often said that what happens here is more impactful on your life than what happens in national or international news. You can participate whether a new library or infrastructure is built, zoning laws, etc. You won't see this anyway on your newsfeed so it might suit you.
- silenced_trope 3y ago
  I imagine it is healthy. I think of my mom and brother for instance, versus my dad and other brother - my dad and other brother are blissfully ignorant. My mom and younger brother get worked up over things they see in the news daily that don't affect them at all. I'd wager that stress, depression, and anxiety levels are all higher for people like my mom and younger brother than for the former.
steveBK123 3y ago
I wonder how much of this is the incentives effect of who wants to be a journalist. Big 3-letter national media org Journalism requires you to live in a HCOL city while accepting miserable pay at the start. Yet there are enough people interested in the field that it also requires a prestigious elite college degree, and possibly doing some unpaid internships in college. In my observation in NYC being surrounded by some of these people, it attracts A LOT of nepobabies. Even some of the famous newscasters you watched as a kid fall into this category. They, as a group, have largely chosen power over money.. but only partially because they do come from enough money to make that choice. Tons of overlap between the industry & working on political campaigns / in government admins. Who else can afford to go to Harvard, work summers for free, then move to Manhattan for a $40k salary in a flat to declining industry? Who else has the parental backstop to choose to make 1/3rd their potential income given the school they got a degree from? It's kind of a fun game looking up random people in the industry on wikipedia and observing how many have 1 or 2 parents who have their own wikipedia pages (A LOT). Even guys I deeply respected at some point like Michael Lewis, who started in the industry and knew it well.. eventually get so out of touch that their writing starts to exhibit the Gell-Mann effect.
- djkivi 3y ago
  Michael Lewis famously started on Wall Street, not journalism.
  - steveBK123 3y ago
    Yes, I should have pointed out WHICH industry in my digression "who started in the industry".. I was trying to make the point that even one of the good journalists eventually falling into the same trap.
smeej 3y ago
Thank you for this! That's exactly the effect! I just didn't know anybody had associated it with a famous name!

telesilla 3y ago

>being ignorant of the larger world is a totally reasonable and healthy position to take. Reasonable yes, healthy I'd debate. More importantly, if you prefer to have something of focus it would local politics, your mayor and representatives. It is often said that what happens here is more impactful on your life than what happens in national or international news. You can participate whether a new library or infrastructure is built, zoning laws, etc. You won't see this anyway on your newsfeed so it might suit you.

silenced_trope 3y ago
I imagine it is healthy. I think of my mom and brother for instance, versus my dad and other brother - my dad and other brother are blissfully ignorant. My mom and younger brother get worked up over things they see in the news daily that don't affect them at all. I'd wager that stress, depression, and anxiety levels are all higher for people like my mom and younger brother than for the former.

steveBK123 3y ago

I wonder how much of this is the incentives effect of who wants to be a journalist. Big 3-letter national media org Journalism requires you to live in a HCOL city while accepting miserable pay at the start. Yet there are enough people interested in the field that it also requires a prestigious elite college degree, and possibly doing some unpaid internships in college. In my observation in NYC being surrounded by some of these people, it attracts A LOT of nepobabies. Even some of the famous newscasters you watched as a kid fall into this category. They, as a group, have largely chosen power over money.. but only partially because they do come from enough money to make that choice. Tons of overlap between the industry & working on political campaigns / in government admins. Who else can afford to go to Harvard, work summers for free, then move to Manhattan for a $40k salary in a flat to declining industry? Who else has the parental backstop to choose to make 1/3rd their potential income given the school they got a degree from? It's kind of a fun game looking up random people in the industry on wikipedia and observing how many have 1 or 2 parents who have their own wikipedia pages (A LOT). Even guys I deeply respected at some point like Michael Lewis, who started in the industry and knew it well.. eventually get so out of touch that their writing starts to exhibit the Gell-Mann effect.

djkivi 3y ago
Michael Lewis famously started on Wall Street, not journalism.
- steveBK123 3y ago
  Yes, I should have pointed out WHICH industry in my digression "who started in the industry".. I was trying to make the point that even one of the good journalists eventually falling into the same trap.

smeej 3y ago

Thank you for this! That's exactly the effect! I just didn't know anybody had associated it with a famous name!