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Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

(www.scientificamerican.com)
757 points headalgorithm | 20 comments | 05 Feb 25 14:55 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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joshdavham ◴[05 Feb 25 15:50 UTC] No.42950233[source]▶
One thing to consider for those of us who are more sensitive to online outrage is to just quit social media all together. I’m technically gen z and I’ve been off of social media (aside from HN, WhatsApp and discord) for years and you wouldn’t believe how great it’s been for my overall state of mind.

Reddit, instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, etc are all the equivalent of digital junk food and I’d argue that we’re all a lot more negatively affected by it than we think. There’s a reason ‘brain rot’ was word of the year.

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ge96 ◴[05 Feb 25 17:24 UTC] No.42951934[source]▶
I quit reddit too recently, I still look at it for info but I'm not logged in/scrolling through it

I find myself reaching for something when I have YouTube/chilling at my desk at the end of the day, can't code anymore/make something just on till I sleep. Sometimes have the desire to play a video game (I have a gaming rig too funny how that works)

I've been trying to read HN or IEEE, TechCrunch stuff like that as my "lazy fun"

I will miss posting stuff like "what is this car" or being part of the car talk for a sporty car I drive but idk kind of want to just live too

It's unfortunate people expect you to have social media like a girl asks me if I have Instagram and I'm weird to not have one, I get it they can scope you out too for safety but when I tried using that stuff I felt this pressure to post about something

Anyway my main goal in life right now is getting out of debt/staying fit and work on projects

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niceice ◴[05 Feb 25 19:16 UTC] No.42953624[source]▶
I checked reddit recently for the first time in a while, and I was shocked by how radicalized its become. An echo chamber of hateful people and perhaps GPTs that are agitating the big subreddits. The contrast is stark with all the "no place for hate" in the rules and endless banning of microaggressions.

I saw dozens of death threats. Even an explicit death threat thread with over 40,000 upvotes before reddit stepped in and shut the whole subreddit down.

It reminded me of Ghostbusters 2 with all the aggressively angry people and the ooze pouring out of the sewers, all building upon itself.

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urda ◴[05 Feb 25 21:59 UTC] No.42955864[source]▶
Reddit, by far, is one of the worst echo chambers on the internet. I've seen hundreds of death threats at one political group on there, but if any veiled threat is made against the "reddit approved party" it is instantly removed or accounts suspended. This really peaked during 2020, when open calls for violence stayed up, some with reddit admin approvals.

It used to be a good site, but that was many years ago.

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intended ◴[06 Feb 25 00:34 UTC] No.42957460[source]▶
Did people forget the_donald?

What do people think others will do, when they see that the_donald behavior gets rewarded by electoral and political support?

If its not clear, everyone is going to radicalize, because its getting success.

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xvector[dead post] ◴[06 Feb 25 02:47 UTC] No.42958402[source]▶
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deathanatos ◴[06 Feb 25 06:18 UTC] No.42959601[source]▶
> Subreddits like r/pics are packed full of thinly veiled death threats towards the sitting president or Elon Musk.

This is just blatant misinformation. Since r/pics is the only example you've chosen to give us, let's evaluate it: I've scrolled through the current first 50 posts in Hot, and 0 of them are death threats, thinly veiled or otherwise. "Packed full", indeed.

And here, so it isn't simply my word vs. his; these are the current posts:

  Protest, "Musk Stole Your Tax Data"
  Picture of Nazi being punched after making a Nazi salute
  Protest, "The Whole World is Watching"
  Painting over values at the FBI
  McConnell in a wheelchair
  Flag upside down outside State Dept.
  Kid covering ears with politician in foreground
  "Buy Canadian Instead" sign in CA store
  Protest, no visible message, flag with corp logos instead of stars
  German anti-fascism protest
  UFC fight match post KO [KO'd opponent is a neo-Nazi]
  US Marine holding flag in distress position
  Protestor, "No kings in America", dressed as Cap. America, mouth taped over
  Protest "Nobody voted for Elon"
  Protest "Stop Musk's Takeover"
  Picture of Trudeau
  Protest "Smells like Fascism"
… none of which are death threats. I could scroll all night and not see any examples.
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1. throwawaythekey ◴[06 Feb 25 06:47 UTC] No.42959752[source]▶
Yeah "packed full" is probably a bit too heavy here. To pick a few examples though:

- The nazi punching thread had several moderated comments ranked near the top which were presumably calls to violence.

- The Mitch McConnal thread has many people looking forward to his death, hoping he goes to hell, and a few deleted comments.

- A musk thread has "eat the rich" and storm the capitol. Not super highly ranked.

I didn't go through all of them but it certainly is a bit odious.

Also note though how there's only 1 non political thread and the remainder are anti trump. This is on a general interest sub and what is likely to be an unremarkable day in the administration!

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2. intended ◴[06 Feb 25 07:35 UTC] No.42960019[source]▶
That helped the issue click into place - NONE of the past 15 days are unremarkable. And again, ITS BEEN 15 Days!

If you stop your thought at just “people are losing their shit”, thats seeing half the world.

I’d say thats disingenuous, because it misses or dismisses the incredibly alarming actions that have precipitated them.

If you genuinely care about it, then you might be interested in knowing why people are responding like this. For example, people generally hate Nazis, and punching Nazis is a popular idea.

DO people expect themselves to be polite when the see a takeover and destruction of their government? “it looks like pre WW2 Germany out there, do pass the salt dear.”

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3. throwawaythekey ◴[06 Feb 25 08:23 UTC] No.42960264[source]▶
Let me put it another way. Trump is likely to try many outrageous and unexpected things.

As someone who tries to be non partisan, and isn't even american, I am fatigued by all of the claims that the world within the USA is ending. Whenever I take the time to examine any of the claims they tend to be fairly hollow or making slippery slope arguments.

As an international user of reddit, there are many of us I presume, I want the outrage to be saved for Trumps undeniable and worst offenses. In my eyes the memecoin was worse than anything which has happened since he became president and yet it has completely left the collective focus. Everything since then has just been a mix of people allowing trump to dictate the media cycle and the deep state deploying its immune system.

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4. macNchz ◴[06 Feb 25 09:43 UTC] No.42960738{3}[source]▶
> slippery slope arguments

If we review democracies through history that have at some point become less democratic, I think describing the process of how that actually happens as being a slippery slope is quite apt. I’d say it’s more of a fallacy to assume that democracy is a secure default state of being rather than an ideal that we must collectively support or lose entirely—that we can safely “slip” a little without risking a slide further down the slope.

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5. anamdhek ◴[06 Feb 25 09:45 UTC] No.42960753[source]▶
I’m a researcher working at a supposedly prestigious university and I can see homeless people with rotting limbs if I step off my campus and don’t look the other way. Some of my colleagues recently were awarded significant private funds to push a compound for a currently incurable dementia to clinical trials. They attended an instructional conference with other awardees and found that several were not there because they are at the NIH and so are under a gag order and travel ban. I am pretty sure Mitch “McConnal,” who spent his career obstructing any progress on the issues I describe below and who paved the way for current events, is actually dying of either a related dementia or the one they are working on, btw. So, what do you recommend Americans do? Never reveal we might have some anger towards being at the whims of people who would rather die themselves than help others? Don’t get me started on the genius who invented the single-person subway or et al.

You are misattributing American madness to the people it is being inflicted on rather than the instigators. We have oil wells behind our homes and schools and the white picket fence chemists I knew and looked up to as a kid are the reason we all have PFAs in our blood. Our president vacillates between saber-rattling at our closest allies, starting a new war in the Middle East, and causing constitutional crises every other day. We don’t have a single-payer healthcare option like every other developed country and our “social safety nets” are so impacted and difficult to get, they might as well not exist for most people. We do, however, have some very, very profitable oligopolies (some which make very tasty fish sandwiches) and higher income inequality than India or Russia.

6. lazide ◴[06 Feb 25 10:15 UTC] No.42960916{3}[source]▶
And firing most of the national security council, and all the FBI agents who went after folks who did Jan 6th?
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7. foldr ◴[06 Feb 25 10:18 UTC] No.42960931{3}[source]▶
> Off the bat, you've called everyone that disagrees with you a Nazi that needs to be violently attacked.

They did not do this. Everyone can read the post that you’re responding to.

8. derangedHorse ◴[06 Feb 25 12:10 UTC] No.42961610{4}[source]▶
The reason why a slippery slope is a fallacy is that the starting point is an arbitrary threshold. Nothing here indicates the end of democracy to me. To someone looking to find some indication, anything can look like the beginning of the end.
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9. macNchz ◴[06 Feb 25 15:00 UTC] No.42962989{5}[source]▶
Many of the circumstances being called out as concerning in recent weeks map well to historical examples—the framing of the argument alone doesn’t inherently invalidate it when we have good examples of comparable events (e.g. purge and installation of unqualified loyalists) precipitating critical, difficult to recover from outcomes (democratic backsliding) in other societies. When the stakes are so high, vigilance is rational.
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10. ◴[06 Feb 25 15:43 UTC] No.42963423[source]▶
11. myko ◴[06 Feb 25 15:54 UTC] No.42963570[source]▶
Do you also consider Musk's nazism odious?

There is a reason people are angry and the truth is Musk/trump have gone too far. It's bizarre to say but we are watching the downfall of the USA in real time. The country has been captured by criminals who are working to destroy it–folks are going to be angry about that.

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12. buttercraft ◴[06 Feb 25 16:32 UTC] No.42964000{5}[source]▶
Well, if you wait until that threshold is crossed, it's already too late!
13. caminante ◴[06 Feb 25 16:44 UTC] No.42964130{6}[source]▶
> Many of the circumstances being called out as concerning in recent weeks map well to historical examples

They also map to historical counter-examples.

You don't have to go far. Take hysterical false positives like #RussiaGate, which turned out to be a manufactured hoax.

14. wat10000 ◴[06 Feb 25 18:16 UTC] No.42964965[source]▶
Merely looking forward to someone’s death is now going too far? I get why overt threats are bad, but that’s getting ridiculous. Public figures are going to get some hate and that’s within the boundaries of what should be acceptable. Are we supposed to pretend there aren’t a bunch of destructive people in power we’d like to see gone?
15. SV_BubbleTime ◴[06 Feb 25 18:21 UTC] No.42964998[source]▶
> Do you also consider Musk's nazism odious?

Are you for real? Is this seriously a good faith argument? My man, you may be a true believer, and that is no compliment. Course correct. Try to steelman a bit.

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16. SV_BubbleTime ◴[07 Feb 25 01:45 UTC] No.42968372{4}[source]▶
What branch of government do they work for? Because if it is the executive... Go ahead and find something else to stomp your feet about.
17. throwawaythekey ◴[07 Feb 25 06:27 UTC] No.42970013[source]▶
Calls to violence have no place in a civil society. Perhaps as a response to real, physical, violence it would be ok.

I also had trouble with all the far right wingers who kept talking about civil war.

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18. throwawaythekey ◴[07 Feb 25 06:31 UTC] No.42970033{4}[source]▶
Personally I enjoy slippery slope arguments which is why I didn't use the term fallacy. What I dislike is the reddit framing of having already slipped!
19. Juliate ◴[09 Feb 25 16:13 UTC] No.42991537{3}[source]▶
A nazi feeling empowered enough to open up and state his ideas is in itself a call to violence.

Or you didn't experience, or don't know what they are, what they think and what they want ; neither the aftermath.

20. myko ◴[14 Feb 25 02:50 UTC] No.43044228{3}[source]▶
The nazi salute is a fact, the question is where do you draw the line. Is his nazism okay because it's a joke? Not that big a deal for other reasons? I admit it's difficult for me to steelman here because the best arguments I can come up with for him are unconvincing.

If you feel the need to defend the salute I would suggest digging into that.