{"id":216730,"date":"2020-03-17T14:20:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T21:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=216730"},"modified":"2020-03-18T11:26:58","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T18:26:58","slug":"why-i-dont-follow-the-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/17\/why-i-dont-follow-the-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Don&#8217;t Follow the News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;To cure yourself of the news, spend a whole year spending last year&#8217;s news.&#8221; &#8211; Nassim Taleb<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Problem of the news:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>99.9999% noise, very little (if any) signal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-videopress\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"VideoPress Video Player\" aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='1180' height='664' src='https:\/\/videopress.com\/embed\/vXiHGNts?autoPlay=1&amp;loop=1&amp;muted=1&amp;persistVolume=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;hd=0&amp;cover=1' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen allow='clipboard-write'><\/iframe><script src='https:\/\/v0.wordpress.com\/js\/next\/videopress-iframe.js?m=1770107250'><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why I Don&#039;t Follow the News\" width=\"1180\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BiDOxsAs25Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Why-I-Dont-Follow-the-News.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FEAR FEEDS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Big problem of the news:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Follow the money.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How do news channels make money? Advertising.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In theory the only news we should trust is the news which doesn&#8217;t make a profit based on advertising. This means perhaps we should put more trust in subscription-based news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fear pornography<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FEAR FEEDS &#8212; a phrase coined by&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/mis-reading.com\/\">Cindy<\/a>. The problem about fear-feeds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Whenever we read a fearful news article, we get a hit of dopamine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider all the hormonal effects of reading the news:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Increased heart rate<\/li><li>Dilated pupils<\/li><li>Increased anxiety and tension in your shoulders\/neck<\/li><li>Dopamine, Serotonin, Cortisol [and many undiscovered hormones] which is injected into your system.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Being a &#8216;responsible&#8217; citizen.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a citizen, it seems the best thing we can do is vote. To vote for certain laws and politicians. But beyond this &#8212; I&#8217;m not sure what being a &#8220;responsible&#8221; citizen means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I do not see it as a moral duty to follow the news. Why? Unless the news affects my voting behavior, it is pointless from a citizen perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Following the news as &#8216;virtue flexing&#8217;.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To virtue flex means this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>To show off in front of your &#8216;less intelligent&#8217; peers by staying &#8220;on top&#8221; of the news.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, when someone tries to shame you for not knowing a certain news article or story&#8211; they are virtue flexing. They are trying to augment their feeling of self-righteousness by putting you down.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he who has more information is often suckered by randomness. &#8220;Fooled by randomness&#8221; [Taleb].&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The only useful thing I learned from Sociology is statistics. Specifically, how NOT to get suckered by correlation. That essentially:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Statistics cannot &#8220;prove&#8221; anything. Statistics can only DISPROVE things.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, statistics [no matter how many billions of data points you got] cannot predict anything, it cannot &#8220;prove&#8221; anything by causation. Why?&nbsp;<strong>It just takes 1 outlier or black swan to totally disprove everything<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Word-of-mouth as the most useful filter.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I am not saying to shave your head and go meditate in a cave somewhere. I encourage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Talk more to real-life people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Word-of-mouth is an effective filter. Also, when you talk to people in-person, the news is filtered to a more local level, which is the only useful news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, the <em>really<\/em> important news will eventually get to you. For example, the REALLY important news will eventually get to you. The government might text you an &#8216;amber alert&#8217;, or your friends or family might all tell you the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You don&#8217;t need to seek the news; just sit back and let it come to you<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Everyone is scared shitless<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;Madness is rare in the individual; with groups, it is the norm.&#8221; &#8211; Nietzsche<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another thing I learned from sociology:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Groups and mobs act differently than an individual.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mob behavior is real. When we get fearful news, hysteria sets in. <em>It also seems that humans are more motivated by fear (fear of loss) than the motivation of potential gain<\/em>. This is why <strong>losing $100 at the casino feels 10x more painful than earning $100 at the casino<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is to blame?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ain&#8217;t nobody to blame. It is just the way the internet is currently setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google makes money when you go to a website\/blog with a Google &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/adsense\/start\/\">Adsense<\/a>&#8216; ad. Every time you look at an ad, or click on an ad, both Google and the website earns money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then just ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>How are websites\/Google incentivized in order to maximize their profits?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion: Don&#8217;t be a sucker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Skepticism is good. To be skeptical is a sign of high intelligence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Karl Popper&#8217;s idea of &#8216;falsification&#8217;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Information can never &#8216;prove&#8217; anything, but DISCONFIRM bullshit. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Be extremely suspicious of the news, and let embodied reality be the guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ERIC KIM <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;To cure yourself of the news, spend a whole year spending last year&#8217;s news.&#8221; &#8211; Nassim Taleb Problem of the news: 99.9999% noise, very little (if any) signal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":215643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/D6E03916-3394-45BD-8DA4-9E7DFECBC096.jpeg?fit=2000%2C1325&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216730"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216850,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216730\/revisions\/216850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}