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I spoke to a guy who had the same opinion recently Absolutely refused to watch any kind of news or to follow politics whatsoever In the same beat he told me i

I spoke to a guy who had the same opinion recently Absolutely refused to watch any kind of news or to follow politics whatsoever In the same beat he told me in complete seriousness that a small town near him in Michigan had apparently been turned into Ghana-city after getting a million migrants from Ghana. An information that he had heard from an older colleague on the shop floor of his factory That would be the entire yearly immigration flow of the united stated being exclusively from Ghana and going exclusively to a small town in Michigan It's a claim so outrageously easy to dismiss if you're even remotely informed that it makes you wonder what else that guy might believe Just how exactly are you supposed to have a working critical thinking mind when you don't have any data in your brain to lay the foundation for it? The guy has the right to vote, by the way So, yeah, obviously I'd disagree. You can't make smart choices without good data and getting the news contributes to this whether you realize it or not. Plus, democracy is more than voting freely, it relies on having educated and informed citizens to function.

blargey 2y ago
There's a logical leap between "read the news" and "become more credulous, or well-informed about underlying statistics like broad immigration rates".
yunwal 2y ago
> Just how exactly are you supposed to have a working critical thinking mind when you don't have any data in your brain to lay the foundation for it Should the news be this foundation though? I think you'd be better off reading a few non-fiction books or magazines every year, perhaps informed on your choices by top headlines. Reading the news for detailed analysis on highly partisan topics is likely to make you less informed, not more.
- BeFlatXIII 2y ago
  A quarterly magazine is all that's needed for (inter)national news. Perhaps monthly for local.
- sebstefan 2y ago
  You should read non-fiction books and magazines, they still won't cover completely what you could've gleaned from also reading, I don't know, Reuters, just to pick one nobody really seems to ever criticize. The example I picked about imigration numbers is the tree hiding the forest
BoingBoomTschak 2y ago
Better no data than data of questionable accuracy/honesty. Sure, this may lead to extreme cases like this (though he may still be right about the whole anecdote and wrong about the ridiculous number), but such credulous people would be in a worse position anyway if following the "news". In the end, there's nothing worst than believing yourself to be "informed" of "data/facts" through medias. Ages old Socrates' "I know what I don't know".
Johanx64 2y ago
I ran into an gullible simpleton the other day, who happens to not watch any news. (subtext implication follows) If only had he "watched the news", surely he would have been cured of his condition and clued in to the truth. What would actually happen in practice is that he would be parroting back 'facts' by a news source that would not be to your liking at all. Because the "problem" ultimately is not him reading or not reading the news... it's somewhere else entirely, isn't it? > Just how exactly are you supposed to have a working critical thinking mind when you don't have any data in your brain to lay the foundation for it? Your foundation for reliable data, critical thinking and making "smart choices" is watching the news? No further comment necessary.
- sebstefan 2y ago
  Have I stumbled into an alternate reality where people believe "the news"™ is two buildings in new york facing each other, one shoveling lies for one side of the political spectrum and the other mirroring, with nothing of value ever coming out of it?

blargey 2y ago

There's a logical leap between "read the news" and "become more credulous, or well-informed about underlying statistics like broad immigration rates".

yunwal 2y ago

> Just how exactly are you supposed to have a working critical thinking mind when you don't have any data in your brain to lay the foundation for it Should the news be this foundation though? I think you'd be better off reading a few non-fiction books or magazines every year, perhaps informed on your choices by top headlines. Reading the news for detailed analysis on highly partisan topics is likely to make you less informed, not more.

BeFlatXIII 2y ago
A quarterly magazine is all that's needed for (inter)national news. Perhaps monthly for local.
sebstefan 2y ago
You should read non-fiction books and magazines, they still won't cover completely what you could've gleaned from also reading, I don't know, Reuters, just to pick one nobody really seems to ever criticize. The example I picked about imigration numbers is the tree hiding the forest

BoingBoomTschak 2y ago

Better no data than data of questionable accuracy/honesty. Sure, this may lead to extreme cases like this (though he may still be right about the whole anecdote and wrong about the ridiculous number), but such credulous people would be in a worse position anyway if following the "news". In the end, there's nothing worst than believing yourself to be "informed" of "data/facts" through medias. Ages old Socrates' "I know what I don't know".

Johanx64 2y ago

I ran into an gullible simpleton the other day, who happens to not watch any news. (subtext implication follows) If only had he "watched the news", surely he would have been cured of his condition and clued in to the truth. What would actually happen in practice is that he would be parroting back 'facts' by a news source that would not be to your liking at all. Because the "problem" ultimately is not him reading or not reading the news... it's somewhere else entirely, isn't it? > Just how exactly are you supposed to have a working critical thinking mind when you don't have any data in your brain to lay the foundation for it? Your foundation for reliable data, critical thinking and making "smart choices" is watching the news? No further comment necessary.

sebstefan 2y ago
Have I stumbled into an alternate reality where people believe "the news"™ is two buildings in new york facing each other, one shoveling lies for one side of the political spectrum and the other mirroring, with nothing of value ever coming out of it?