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'ignorance is bliss'. go ahead, tune out the news. please stop voting though, democracy relies on the informed voter. and good luck in the capitalist economy,

'ignorance is bliss'. go ahead, tune out the news. please stop voting though, democracy relies on the informed voter. and good luck in the capitalist economy, that one relies on information as well. as this is hn, let's focus on the founder's perspective. if you have no clue about what's going on in the world, how can you compete within it? if you have no clue about your target group's current situation? pick anything, like healthcare - great opportunities, but good luck not staying informed. back to the general reason why this terrible advice: being ignorant makes you a terrible citizen. it is already bad in the US, if you're only watching tv news you're already clueless about the world. whenever i am in the us i am amazed about the lack of true world news - CNN International is a very different channel than CNN. as a voter it is your frickin responsibility to stay informed. your worldview baffles me.

enoch_r 14y ago
He stopped reading "mainstream news," not all news. Whether you solely read newspapers or Hacker News, you're getting an insignificant and unrepresentative sample of "what's going on in the world." Personally, I think that building one's own sampling technique (for example, by reading a variety of blogs or sites like this) can deliver a much more accurate picture of the world than your average newspaper.
stripe 14y ago
"democracy relies on the informed voter" yeah, get informed by mainstream media - totally does wonders to democracy. did work hefty fine in itally where the former head of state owned a large slice of tv/newspaper. by coincidence he was voted on and on and on. same for some african countries. democracy export country no1 - USA - has just exchanged the single person who controls the media with a network of controllers. so dumb voters will not notice that they are manipulated. "they said it twice on different tv channels, so it must be true". don't know if the US got that from the Germans or the other way around cause they got the same system. And even that system could be applied to HN, too. Just have 10 friends submit, upvote and comment on the latest and greatest technology/company. Readers that just get themselves informed through HN must think that gazillions of people now love and use this technology. Long story short: Do not just consume news. Always ask why you should believe what you just read and who will benefit from you believing that. Now knowing that, ask yourself: What is your benefit from that news again?
mixmastamyk 14y ago
Baffled because you think that "the news" == keeping informed. The two have little to do with each other. If you want to learn something, turn off the idiot box and pick up a book.
- Firehed 14y ago
  Books, by and large, are useless in keeping up on current events. The news, despite all it's faults, is current - which is what's meant by "informed" in this context. That's not to say that you shouldn't read books nor that the news is the best way to stay informed, but saying that reading books is the best way to stay on top of current issues is provably wrong.
  - mixmastamyk 14y ago
    No, keeping "informed" is not about knowing what happened in the last hour, or a sting of unrelated events over five years. It is about the larger movements that shape humanity. These aren't discussed in any meaningful way on the TV news except at the fringe. Books, and long-form magazines are accessible, concentrated stores of knowledge, and you won't have to waste time on daily gossip, which is useless.

enoch_r 14y ago

He stopped reading "mainstream news," not all news. Whether you solely read newspapers or Hacker News, you're getting an insignificant and unrepresentative sample of "what's going on in the world." Personally, I think that building one's own sampling technique (for example, by reading a variety of blogs or sites like this) can deliver a much more accurate picture of the world than your average newspaper.

stripe 14y ago

"democracy relies on the informed voter" yeah, get informed by mainstream media - totally does wonders to democracy. did work hefty fine in itally where the former head of state owned a large slice of tv/newspaper. by coincidence he was voted on and on and on. same for some african countries. democracy export country no1 - USA - has just exchanged the single person who controls the media with a network of controllers. so dumb voters will not notice that they are manipulated. "they said it twice on different tv channels, so it must be true". don't know if the US got that from the Germans or the other way around cause they got the same system. And even that system could be applied to HN, too. Just have 10 friends submit, upvote and comment on the latest and greatest technology/company. Readers that just get themselves informed through HN must think that gazillions of people now love and use this technology. Long story short: Do not just consume news. Always ask why you should believe what you just read and who will benefit from you believing that. Now knowing that, ask yourself: What is your benefit from that news again?

mixmastamyk 14y ago

Baffled because you think that "the news" == keeping informed. The two have little to do with each other. If you want to learn something, turn off the idiot box and pick up a book.

Firehed 14y ago
Books, by and large, are useless in keeping up on current events. The news, despite all it's faults, is current - which is what's meant by "informed" in this context. That's not to say that you shouldn't read books nor that the news is the best way to stay informed, but saying that reading books is the best way to stay on top of current issues is provably wrong.
- mixmastamyk 14y ago
  No, keeping "informed" is not about knowing what happened in the last hour, or a sting of unrelated events over five years. It is about the larger movements that shape humanity. These aren't discussed in any meaningful way on the TV news except at the fringe. Books, and long-form magazines are accessible, concentrated stores of knowledge, and you won't have to waste time on daily gossip, which is useless.