Knowing less on purpose

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Knowing less on purpose

Discendo Vox: Mar 21, 2013; We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

PT6A posted:

Also, just look at how much attention we pay to complete useless bullshit. Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars and the media gives far more of a gently caress about it than either Will Smith or Chris Rock do at this point. Look at Janet Jackson's pixelated, standard-definition wide-shot tit at the Superbowl all those years back. We're manipulated into thinking these things actually matter on some level, and we discuss them and debate them, but there's no point because ultimately, they are perfectly loving irrelevant.

That is the secret of the media. Whether it's the mainstream media, or alternative media, or social media, whatever viewpoint it takes -- it all tries to make you care intensely about nonsense and piffle and get you emotionally involved in poo poo that makes absolutely no difference to anyone, because that's how they make money and gain influence.

I...think it's possible to be more selective with your intake than that, and I don't think it's accurate, at all, to say "the media" "all tries to make you care about nonsense and piffle". The Smith/Rock stuff is a waste of time and, yes, it gets coverage, but not anywhere near at the same level across all outlets. Getting their audience involved in things that don't matter doesn't somehow increase the money or influence of an outlet either, versus reporting on things that are more important.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2022 04:42

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# ¿ May 18, 2024 01:18

Discendo Vox: Mar 21, 2013; We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

PT6A posted:

Two of the three major TV news outlets in Canada have that story on their front page, as does our paper of record. Yes, they have other important things as well, but let's not pretend it doesn't exist from "serious" news outlets as most people would define them.

Unless I'm missing out on some obscure only-important-news outlet, there's always tonnes of useless nonsense everywhere. You can certainly ignore it, but it takes awareness and conscious effort, and I have to consider that it's there for a reason. I'm not saying you have to ignore the news entirely, I'm saying that carefully curating your sources alone is not enough to maintain a well-informed viewpoint without useless bullshit.

I got one alert push from the washington post on the slap today, and 12 on other stories. One of them was on Hunter Biden's laptop, but that's because the post was doing original research on that line. Until the same story that generated the push from post hit, the only coverage in the nyt appears to have been one opinion piece.

All of this is still massively different from claiming that "it all tries to make you care intensely about nonsense and piffle and get you emotionally involved in poo poo that makes absolutely no difference to anyone" let alone that it's "because that's how they make money and gain influence."

Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Mar 31, 2022

# ¿ Mar 31, 2022 05:36

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Knowing less on purpose