3 ms·

True, but there are many also many scaling factors. First among these is the 24-hour news cycle, requiring filling 1440 minutes of every day regardless of quali

by toss1 3y ago

True, but there are many also many scaling factors. First among these is the 24-hour news cycle, requiring filling 1440 minutes of every day regardless of quality. Another is the profitability of rage-farming and engagement. It's one thing for a person to buy a newspaper and get his chain yanked every morning, then go about their day, typically either ignoring the stories or discussing them with other live people in person. It's another to have the rage-farming TV source continually pumping moving video and sound into every space they enter (home, lobbies, bus/train/airport stations, etc.), and programs deliberately designed and tuned to coerce viewers' attention, and they can keep interacting with the story every day with only the announcers. The same thing at different scale is different.

nine_k 3y ago
One obvious way to fight this on a personal level is to have no TV. Yes, do have a big screen to watch movies if you like them, but never turn on the TV reception. Stay away from the on-the-air rage machine, the same way you can stay away from the social media rage machine. Also saves you a lot of time not watching any commercials. I did not have a TV for last like 25 years, and never missed it. All the news you think you care about are often not; you can get your news fix by looking at the news online a couple of times a day, for a few minutes. You can dig any topic deeper if you're really interested, again online. I see only one sane use for (cable) TV, and this is sports and other unique live events. Fortunately I'm not into sports, and most live events I care about are also broadcast on YouTube.
- toss1 3y ago
  Exactly!! I've not had any cable or OTA TV since before 2006. The only thing I miss is Formula 1 racing (which DVR'd and watched over the following week), and it's now finally online if I need it. Been more than fine with streaming content. When I encounter it in waiting lobbies, it is really jarring just how much cable TV is relentlessly stupid.

by toss1 3y ago

nine_k 3y ago

One obvious way to fight this on a personal level is to have no TV. Yes, do have a big screen to watch movies if you like them, but never turn on the TV reception. Stay away from the on-the-air rage machine, the same way you can stay away from the social media rage machine. Also saves you a lot of time not watching any commercials. I did not have a TV for last like 25 years, and never missed it. All the news you think you care about are often not; you can get your news fix by looking at the news online a couple of times a day, for a few minutes. You can dig any topic deeper if you're really interested, again online. I see only one sane use for (cable) TV, and this is sports and other unique live events. Fortunately I'm not into sports, and most live events I care about are also broadcast on YouTube.

toss1 3y ago
Exactly!! I've not had any cable or OTA TV since before 2006. The only thing I miss is Formula 1 racing (which DVR'd and watched over the following week), and it's now finally online if I need it. Been more than fine with streaming content. When I encounter it in waiting lobbies, it is really jarring just how much cable TV is relentlessly stupid.