That's not to say I don't enjoy a naughty little look at the occasional personal interest story. Oh, okay, I'll just take a quick sneak and see who Tom Cruise is sleeping with. But the vast, vast majority of the time the front page of, say, the NYT will suffice.
But if the NYT is all you need (and not to disparage them; they are a great news organization) then why are you on HN? Is there more that you are looking for here?
Just because there's "news" in the title doesn't mean I consider it to be newsworthy. I'm hear for the same reason a lot of people are: keep up on the industry, and something to dick around with between builds. I mean, I'm not a monk, I dick around killing time like anyone else. But HN and a few mailing lists is about it. Reddit, Twitter, FB I don't waste time on (Reddit, once in a great while r/o on select subs).
In summary, HN is my "People Magazine", for lack of better comparison.
...but you just did though? Your entire response is pretty disparaging and patronizing of anyone who cares about different things from you.
For the record, at worst I was shooting for irony, not offense.
Yeah see, this is what I'm talking about. You're being very rude, condescending, and generally insufferable. It's possible to make your point without insulting people. For example, things that you don't care about aren't automatically "trivial noise".
You're being very rude, condescending, and generally insufferable.
Insufferable, I'll grant you.
For example, things that you don't care about aren't automatically "trivial noise".
Well, at least I think I found the disconnect. By definition, those things most certainly are trivial noise. Because I don't care about them. Q. E. D., or summat. Do you care about the Kardashians? It's okay to admit it, this is a safe space. And if you do, guess what? I don't care. Don't care enough to hear about it, don't care enough to even disparage the idea. But you obviously care very deeply about reality TV stars, and that's okay. Because, again, I can't even muster enough concern about the topic to say it's not okay. And that's okay, too.
May you have a pleasant day, and a Kardashians/sportsball double-header on TV tonight.
Information is a hell of a drug.
I once made a 14 days Vipassana silent retreat. Nothing but meditation, eating, and sleeping. Obviously no phones or anything that could distract you from the purpose was allowed (books, conversations, etc).
I'm the biggest information junkie, and I had no troubles letting go. When I came back into the real world the habit grew progressively again.
TL;DR: No withdrawal symptoms.
Also the anticipation of wanting something to happen, but still hasn't happen yet, things where you cant really do it yourself. Nuclear Fusion breakthrough, Solid Battery breakthrough, MicroLED breakthrough ( So we can throw away those awful PWM OLED ), collapse of property pricing. etc.
Good point. A lot of my news reading is like this. Not ‘what is happening in the world?’, but ‘what’s the latest progress on X?’.
Politics is just for kicks, because I know most of it is filtered and slanted by its organization. Seems it takes a day or 2 before we get the real truth to anything. The facts are normally too skewed and biased on release.
I'm totally agree with you. Most of the actual news articles are looking to create some "buzz". I rather prefer waiting few days and read complete article well structured that exposes the facts.
- Why people read news? based on current data (do a quick google search) it seems that people need to kill time.
- Why would I read a specific article? Same as previous statement as well as personal interests in the moment
- Why would I watch a video? In my case I watch more videos than your average person because I hate reading. It's just not efficient enough. So I'd most likely consume video news rather than articles. Why would I click on a specific video? This goes back to the 2 previous points...
I think it is a little more complicated than just wasting time. You can waste time in lots of ways -- so there has to be SOME draw to news.
If you interface with clients or coworkers on a daily basis, "small-talk" improves relationships among your peers. Not to mention, you seem more personable and likeable - traits that are revered in the modern workplace.
This isn't a blanket endorsement to start talking politics in the workplace, I'm simply saying that being well-versed in current events has value.
- Direct personal gain -- i.e. information for political engagement, investing...
- Fear of missing out
- To be able to participate in conversations with others
- Lack of something better to do.
Anything else?
Some people react to current news, or let it affect their judgement, and it helps me sometimes predict or understand people's behavior. This is especially true of local or political news. It's always good to keep an ear on the grapevine even if most of it is garbage simply to know where many people's mind will be.
Other people like to talk about news, bringing it up for small talk, and therefore having some semblance of knowledge of current headlines lets me feel and give the impression of not being an outcast.
Oftentimes for me, if a headline catches my interest, I'll read the story, and then try to find out what really happened myself. This is rare.
Sometimes party programs sound just great. "More of this, more of that, less of the bad stuff". I want to be able to cut through the bullshit and make decisions based on my knowledge of the world. And I'm curious about it, anyways! That's why I read the news.
Everyone should read a prestigious newspaper. But especially educated people who hold higher positions with more responsibility, whose actions have a higher impact than those of the average citizen, should stay well-informed.