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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: 2) by jdavidb on Tuesday December 13 2016, @10:12PM
I still read this site but I consider myself to have "quit the news." I'm probably just lying to myself like a drug addict looking for a fix.
There's very little that I wouldn't rather read about here first than hear from some mainstream news source. And there's very little that I wouldn't rather see discussed here rather than by some mainstream talking heads.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 4, Interesting) by edIII on Wednesday December 14 2016, @01:14AM
Same here. I don't consider this a news site. There is a big difference between an article accompanied by advertising followed by astroturfed comments, and some of the science articles around here with perhaps 10 comments, but well written and information dense comments.
I've noticed the only time the comment count hits 80+ or something is when it has been political (EU and US being the bulk of discussion). Of course it gets nasty, that's been the trend for the last 18 months. The last two months have been particularly hard for many. I disagree about the echo chamber comments I see elsewhere because this site has quite diverse views being expressed from many countries.
It seems the gist is getting away from negativity that is found in the news, and this will make you feel better. Well I'll not quit this site because the comments are worth more than the articles. There are some very smart and skilled people around here capable of explaining something complex like LIGO. Immerman and Tathra for example are more interesting to read along with the science article than without it. Many others around here have quite the command of history, and our Grammar Nazis are some of the best well dressed there are. It's the most positive aspect of this site; The high likelihood that there will be a scientific article accompanied by insightful and interesting commentary.
We just need a Hell's Kitchen rule to disallow the politics, and get back to enjoying the science and technology together. Which is getting harder and harder to distinguish from the politics as well. I keep trying to stay away from the acrimony, but then an Elite power toady has to say something that just simply demands a response from organized labor, and then here we go....... That's not representative of just the site, but an entire society at the moment. We are genuinely hurting.
In the end I think I get more positive out this site than negative, and at least the discussions are lively.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday December 14 2016, @02:39PM
I concur that would be preferable. We all have to work together to make it happen, though. We've arrived at a moment of epochal historical change. The post-WWII consensus that kept the peace in Europe and America and other select parts of the world is crumbling before our eyes. In America the social contract that held the country together since the Civil War is evaporating, and the bedrock legal principles cast in the Constitution mean nothing anymore. Against that backdrop it's tough to keep bobbing merrily around on the top like a cork.
Even on topics of science and technology the Manichaean struggle the media is engaged in with the incoming administration will invade, because science and technology require funding and so much of that funding comes from the government.
I believe there's another reality that can rise from the ashes of the old system. I see it in FOSS, in knowledge sharing, in the Maker Movement, in distributed energy production and additive manufacturing. It's a massively multipolar world built on consensus rather than centralization, concentration, and domination. We'll still need government to do the big things we can't do alone or as small hamlets, but if we recast it according to that different ethos it will be better in essence than the one constituted to enshrine the power of centralized wealth.
That's utopian, but it's good to keep your eyes fixed on a glimmer of hope to get you through all the ugliness that is and will be around us for the forseeable future. Else, we might as well lay down in the mud and die, right?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 14 2016, @06:15PM
Me either, not anymore. Its become little more than a fascist circlejerk, its painful to read anymore. I almost never post under my username anymore because its fucking embarrassing to be associated with this toxic place.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by janrinok on Wednesday December 14 2016, @07:51PM
Yet here you are. We've enjoyed your company but you seem to think that it is time you left. Well, take care and good luck!
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday December 15 2016, @03:07AM
He will be missed. I was quite amused by the imagery of "fascists" in Nazi uniforms furiously masturbating in a circle to the Fuhrer's commands, whilst screaming, "Ya! Mein Fuhrer!".
It also reminds of me of:
He'll be back for more :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday December 14 2016, @02:21PM
That was always my attitude from the early days of Slashdot. I figured that if something non-technical that was really newsworthy found its way onto Slashdot, then it would be important and that the discussion around it would help me get to the heart of the issue much faster. So it was a screen that filtered out all the tabloid hyperventilating that is the main output of the media now.
Washington DC delenda est.