You dont need news post
Anirudh Oppiliappan x@icyphox.sh
Sun, 21 Jun 2020 22:37:46 +0530
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+--- +template: +url: dont-news +title: You don't need news +subtitle: My hot 'n' spicy take on "news" today +date: 2020-06-21 +--- + +News -- the never ending feed of information pertaining to "current +events", politics, trivia, and other equally useless junk. News today is +literally just this: "<big name person> did/said <dumb thing>!", +"<group> protests against <bad thing>!", and so on. Okay, shit's going +on in this world. Another day, another thing to be `$FEELING` about. + +Now here's a question for you: do you remember what news you consumed +yesterday? The day before? Last week? Heck no! Maybe some major +headlines, but really, what did you gain from learning that information? +Must've been interesting to read _at that_ time. Hence, news, by +virtue of its "newness", is given importance -- and get this, it isn't +even important enough for you to bother remembering it for a few days. + +News is entertainment. Quick gratification that lasts a day, at max. + +## actionable news + +So what is useful news, then? I think I'll go out on a limb here, and +say "anything that is actionable". By that I mean anything that you can +physically affect / information that you can actually put to use. Again, +there are probably edge-cases and this isn't a rule that fits all, but +it's a decent principle to follow. + +As an example, to readers living outside of the US, news regarding +police brutality & the Black Lives Matter movement are unactionable. +I'm not saying those problems don't exist or don't matter, but _what_ +are you really doing to help the cause? Sending thoughts and prayers? +Posting angrily on Instagram? Tweeting about it? Stop, and think for +yourself if these things actually make any difference. Your time might +be better invested in doing something else. + +## other problems + +There are other, more concerning problems with modern news -- it is no +longer purely objective. The sad state of news / reporting today is it's +inherently biased. I mean political bias, of course. All news is either +left-leaning or right-leaning, and narratives are developed to fit their +political stance. This is essentially propaganda. Today's news _is_ +propaganda. If anything, this should be reason enough to avoid it. + +## but I compare multiple sources! + +Okay, so you read the same thing written by CNN, BBC, The New York +Times, etc.? Do you realize how much time you wasted doing this? +Ultimately to what end -- to forget about it by the next day, and do it +all over again. What a dull, braindead process. + +## won't I be ignorant then? + +If you think keeping up with current events makes you intellectually +superior somehow...boy are you wrong. Do something that actually +stimulates your gray matter. But, here's the thing, if the "news" is big +enough, you're bound to come across it anyway! You might hear your +friend discuss it, or see it on Twitter, so on and so forth. How you +process it thereafter is what matters. + +Give it a thought. Imagine if all that social media, news, and general +internet noise didn't clog your head. I think it'll be much nicer. You +might not, and that's okay. Mail your thoughts or @ me on the fedi -- I'd +like to hear them.
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</image> <language>en-us</language> <copyright>Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0</copyright> - <item><title>Migrating to the RPi</title><description><![CDATA[<p>I’d ordered the Raspberry Pi 4B (the 4GB variant), sometime early + <item><title>You don't need news</title><description><![CDATA[<p>News—the never ending feed of information pertaining to “current +events”, politics, trivia, and other equally useless junk. News today is +literally just this: “<big name person> did/said <dumb thing>!”, +“<group> protests against <bad thing>!”, and so on. Okay, shit’s going +on in this world. Another day, another thing to be <code>$FEELING</code> about.</p> + +<p>Now here’s a question for you: do you remember what news you consumed +yesterday? The day before? Last week? Heck no! Maybe some major +headlines, but really, what did you gain from learning that information? +Must’ve been interesting to read <em>at that</em> time. Hence, news, by +virtue of its “newness”, is given importance—and get this, it isn’t +even important enough for you to bother remembering it for a few days.</p> + +<p>News is entertainment. Quick gratification that lasts a day, at max.</p> + +<h2 id="actionable-news">actionable news</h2> + +<p>So what is useful news, then? I think I’ll go out on a limb here, and +say “anything that is actionable”. By that I mean anything that you can +physically affect / information that you can actually put to use. Again, +there are probably edge-cases and this isn’t a rule that fits all, but +it’s a decent principle to follow.</p> + +<p>As an example, to readers living outside of the US, news regarding +police brutality & the Black Lives Matter movement are unactionable. +I’m not saying those problems don’t exist or don’t matter, but <em>what</em> +are you really doing to help the cause? Sending thoughts and prayers? +Posting angrily on Instagram? Tweeting about it? Stop, and think for +yourself if these things actually make any difference. Your time might +be better invested in doing something else.</p> + +<h2 id="other-problems">other problems</h2> + +<p>There are other, more concerning problems with modern news—it is no +longer purely objective. The sad state of news / reporting today is it’s +inherently biased. I mean political bias, of course. All news is either +left-leaning or right-leaning, and narratives are developed to fit their +political stance. This is essentially propaganda. Today’s news <em>is</em> +propaganda. If anything, this should be reason enough to avoid it.</p> + +<h2 id="but-i-compare-multiple-sources">but I compare multiple sources!</h2> + +<p>Okay, so you read the same thing written by CNN, BBC, The New York +Times, etc.? Do you realize how much time you wasted doing this? +Ultimately to what end—to forget about it by the next day, and do it +all over again. What a dull, braindead process.</p> + +<h2 id="wont-i-be-ignorant-then">won’t I be ignorant then?</h2> + +<p>If you think keeping up with current events makes you intellectually +superior somehow…boy are you wrong. Do something that actually +stimulates your gray matter. But, here’s the thing, if the “news” is big +enough, you’re bound to come across it anyway! You might hear your +friend discuss it, or see it on Twitter, so on and so forth. How you +process it thereafter is what matters.</p> + +<p>Give it a thought. Imagine if all that social media, news, and general +internet noise didn’t clog your head. I think it’ll be much nicer. You +might not, and that’s okay. Mail your thoughts or @ me on the fedi—I’d +like to hear them.</p> +]]></description><link>https://icyphox.sh/blog/dont-news</link><pubDate>Sun, 21 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://icyphox.sh/blog/dont-news</guid></item><item><title>Migrating to the RPi</title><description><![CDATA[<p>I’d ordered the Raspberry Pi 4B (the 4GB variant), sometime early this year, thinking I’d get to self-hosting everything on it as soon as it arrived. As things turn out, it ended up sitting in its box up until two weeks ago—it took me <em>that</em> long to order an SD card for it. No,
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+--- +template: +url: dont-news +title: You don't need news +subtitle: My hot 'n' spicy take on "news" today +date: 2020-06-21 +--- + +News -- the never ending feed of information pertaining to "current +events", politics, trivia, and other equally useless junk. News today is +literally just this: "<big name person> did/said <dumb thing>!", +"<group> protests against <bad thing>!", and so on. Okay, shit's going +on in this world. Another day, another thing to be `$FEELING` about. + +Now here's a question for you: do you remember what news you consumed +yesterday? The day before? Last week? Heck no! Maybe some major +headlines, but really, what did you gain from learning that information? +Must've been interesting to read _at that_ time. Hence, news, by +virtue of its "newness", is given importance -- and get this, it isn't +even important enough for you to bother remembering it for a few days. + +News is entertainment. Quick gratification that lasts a day, at max. + +## actionable news + +So what is useful news, then? I think I'll go out on a limb here, and +say "anything that is actionable". By that I mean anything that you can +physically affect / information that you can actually put to use. Again, +there are probably edge-cases and this isn't a rule that fits all, but +it's a decent principle to follow. + +As an example, to readers living outside of the US, news regarding +police brutality & the Black Lives Matter movement are unactionable. +I'm not saying those problems don't exist or don't matter, but _what_ +are you really doing to help the cause? Sending thoughts and prayers? +Posting angrily on Instagram? Tweeting about it? Stop, and think for +yourself if these things actually make any difference. Your time might +be better invested in doing something else. + +## other problems + +There are other, more concerning problems with modern news -- it is no +longer purely objective. The sad state of news / reporting today is it's +inherently biased. I mean political bias, of course. All news is either +left-leaning or right-leaning, and narratives are developed to fit their +political stance. This is essentially propaganda. Today's news _is_ +propaganda. If anything, this should be reason enough to avoid it. + +## but I compare multiple sources! + +Okay, so you read the same thing written by CNN, BBC, The New York +Times, etc.? Do you realize how much time you wasted doing this? +Ultimately to what end -- to forget about it by the next day, and do it +all over again. What a dull, braindead process. + +## won't I be ignorant then? + +If you think keeping up with current events makes you intellectually +superior somehow...boy are you wrong. Do something that actually +stimulates your gray matter. But, here's the thing, if the "news" is big +enough, you're bound to come across it anyway! You might hear your +friend discuss it, or see it on Twitter, so on and so forth. How you +process it thereafter is what matters. + +Give it a thought. Imagine if all that social media, news, and general +internet noise didn't clog your head. I think it'll be much nicer. You +might not, and that's okay. Mail your thoughts or @ me on the fedi -- I'd +like to hear them.
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<tbody> <tr> + <td align="left"><a href="/blog/dont-news">You don't need news</a></td> + <td align="right">2020-06-21</td> + </tr> + + <tr> <td align="left"><a href="/blog/pi">Migrating to the RPi</a></td> <td align="right">2020-06-04</td> </tr>
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<div class="openring"> <div class="openring-feed"> - <h4><a href="https://k1ss.org/blog/20200525a">25/05/2020: This month in KISS (#2)</a></h4> - <p>Welcome to the second monthly update for KISS. This post will be -quite a long one, we've seen some nice changes this month and some -great work by the Community.…</p> + <h4><a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/06/18/levijatan-serbian-animal-rights-vigilantes-go-to-the-polls/">Levijatan: Serbian Animal Rights Vigilantes Go To The Polls</a></h4> + <p>In a scene from Srećni Ljudi (Happy People), a Serbian television show from the early 1990s, two young brothers harass a younger boy sitting on a bench, a dog underneath his feet. “Is that the little mongrel you got for your birthday?” One brother, played …</p> - <p>via <a href="https://k1ss.org">KISS Linux Blog</a> on May 25, 2020</p> + <p>via <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com">bellingcat</a> on Jun 18, 2020</p> </div>@@ -71,15 +69,12 @@ </div>
<div class="openring-feed"> - <h4><a href="https://drewdevault.com/2020/06/15/Status-update.html">Status update, June 2020</a></h4> - <p>Like last month, I am writing to you from the past, preparing this status update -a day earlier than usual. This time it’s because I expect to be busy with -planned sr.ht maintenance tomorrow, so I’m getting the status updates written -ahead of time. + <h4><a href="https://k1ss.org/blog/20200525a">25/05/2020: This month in KISS (#2)</a></h4> + <p>Welcome to the second monthly update for KISS. This post will be +quite a long one, we've seen some nice changes this month and some +great work by the Community.…</p> -aerc ha…</p> - - <p>via <a href="https://drewdevault.com">Drew DeVault's Blog</a> on Jun 15, 2020</p> + <p>via <a href="https://k1ss.org">KISS Linux Blog</a> on May 25, 2020</p> </div>