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This story might be helpful to those tearing their hair out about the news lately:
I grew up believing that following the news makes you a better citizen. Eight years after having quit, that idea now seems ridiculous—that consuming a particularly unimaginative information product on a daily basis somehow makes you thoughtful and informed in a way that benefits society.
But I still encounter people who balk at the possibility of a smart, engaged adult quitting the daily news.
...
A few things you might notice, if you take a break:1) You feel better
A common symptom of quitting the news is an improvement in mood. News junkies will say it's because you've stuck your head in the sand.
But that assumes the news is the equivalent of having your head out in the fresh, clear air. They don't realize that what you can glean about the world from the news isn't even close to a representative sample of what is happening in the world.
...
2) You were never actually accomplishing anything by watching the newsIf you ask someone what they accomplish by watching the news, you'll hear vague notions like, "It's our civic duty to stay informed!" or "I need to know what's going on in the world," or "We can't just ignore these issues," none of which answer the question.
...
A month after you've quit the news, it's hard to name anything useful that's been lost. It becomes clear that those years of news-watching amounted to virtually nothing in terms of improvement to your quality of life, lasting knowledge, or your ability to help others. And that's to say nothing of the opportunity cost. Imagine if you spent that time learning a language, or reading books and essays about some of the issues they mention on the news.
Read on for the rest of the list.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Tuesday December 13 2016, @08:19PM
You seem to have written that without even the slightest bit of intentional irony.
If a particular post annoys you, you can skip over it. If our comment sections as a whole fall into the abyss of shit fits, stopping reading the entire site is somewhat less effective.
You mean the definition used by people intending to denigrate the idea of being respectful?
Well excuse the hell out of me for using the definition that you appeared to be using. How silly of me to argue you on your own terms.
If one spends too much effort being respectful to everyone all the time, one never ends up expressing unpopular opinions, and we become an echo chamber of politically correct viewpoints. Dissent is the lifeblood of democratic society.
And anticipating that you'll claim something else I'm saying is inconsistent,
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I think you are in danger of a fatal irony overdose.
And I think you're a bit obsessed with fallacies and demonstrating you're smarter than everyone else.
P.S: Yeah, so I quoted a dead philosopher. I never said I wasn't occasionally pretentious.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @08:29PM
> If a particular post annoys you, you can skip over it.
Lol. My god you really have zero sense of irony, don't you? All you did was repeat your same point without realizing that you are contradicting your own position that there are too many posts here that offend you.
> Well excuse the hell out of me for using the definition that you appeared to be using. How silly of me to argue you on your own terms.
Holy crap! Maybe the reason your posts are so full of unintentional irony is because your irony detector is completely out of commission. You can't detect when someone is being ironic nor are you able to detect the irony levels in your own words.
Hey man, thanks for responding though. I mean it is disappointing as fuck when someone lives down to a stereotype, but at least you did it unabashedly!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @08:33PM
The most ironic thing: you proved their point.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by https on Wednesday December 14 2016, @02:35AM
Tango, it's OK for you to say you don't know what a safe space is around here. Nobody's going to beat the shit out of you or even firebomb your locker for admitting it.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday December 14 2016, @03:12PM
How do I know whether I know what it is? :)
The first 2 google results
Safe space is a term for an area or forum where either a marginalised group are not supposed to face standard mainstream stereotypes and marginalisation, or in which a shared political or social viewpoint is required to participate in the space.
In educational institutions, safe-space (or safe space), safer-space, and positive space originally were terms used to indicate that a teacher, educational institution or student body does not tolerate anti-LGBT violence, harassment or hate speech, thereby creating a safe place for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.[2] The term safe space has been extended to refer to a space for individuals who feel marginalized to come together to communicate regarding their experiences with their perceived marginalization, typically on a university campus.[3] It has been widely criticized for being contrary to freedom of speech.[4][5][6][7]
If I've got the terminology wrong, I guess tell me what I'm wrong about, specifically and civilly of course.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by https on Wednesday December 14 2016, @10:51PM
Because you seem to not have the time to do the research yourself, I'll summarize it for you: the first definition is mostly bullshit, promoted by those who want oppression to continue as usual and not be seen as antisocial conduct. The first part of the second one is close to the mark.
It's impossible to have a civil or academic discussion of feminism, for example, if you've got one fucker who insists, every class, that because his mom was happy to be a homemaker, any woman who doesn't submit to a husband is clinically insane. Or that other asshat who insists that homosexuals must be put to death because bible, but lesbian porn is awesome according to their browser history. Or that really polite and modern lady that insists niggers have it coming when cops shoot them in the back.
If you're not actually a member of an oppressed or marginalized group, it can be hard to appreciate just how fucking constant the attacks against them are. The answer is, constant, and from every angle. If you can't see that that would be stressful, and that it would interfere with civil and academic discourse, and that some kind of relief from it would benefit civil and academic discourse, you're going to have a hard time understanding safe spaces.
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday December 14 2016, @11:16PM
Not belonging to any oppressed minorities, I have to imagine what that's like. Fair enough.
Because you seem to not have the time to do the research yourself
Because doing research on such a hotly contested topic is so easy to find the conclusion you want me to, sure. For example,
Safe space is a term for an area or forum where either a marginalised group are not supposed to face standard mainstream stereotypes and marginalisation
the first definition is mostly bullshit
Er...I'm afraid I don't quite see what angers you about this definition. It doesn't go far enough in saying a safe space is a good thing? This must be one of those things in my "pragmatic blind spot" where people say "OF COURSE THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE!" when I get confused.
If you can't see that that would be stressful, and that it would interfere with civil and academic discourse
In academia, sure, you want to get stuff done. As long as halfway-reasonable cutoff points are being used, people are there to learn, not fight. I mean, we're having this conversation on a random public forum tech nerd website that lets ACs post, so not exactly the same thing...
Having a safe place you can go to unwind is good. Trying to make everywhere "safe" can get a bit sticky.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"