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Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

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757 points headalgorithm | 1 comments | 05 Feb 25 14:55 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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Glyptodon ◴[05 Feb 25 20:30 UTC] No.42954673[source]▶
I don't have outrage fatigue. Outrages are outrages and they are what they are. Are there many exaggerations and fake outrages? Sure. But things like the USA's current constitutional crisis are real.

What I struggle with isn't fatigue at outrage, it's knowing what to do about it.

I think violence is going to become more common, but I don't particularly think it will be effective.

So less so than outrage, it's the feeling that we're trapped in a real life doom loop with no clear off ramp that I struggle with.

I would like to do something... But what?

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basisword ◴[06 Feb 25 11:31 UTC] No.42961367[source]▶
>> But things like the USA's current constitutional crisis are real.

While I have no doubt this is true, is it _actually_ having any impact on your day to day life? If you didn't have social media, didn't read the news, and somehow didn't even know there was an election (I know this one isn't possible) would your day to day life have changed at all? Look at the past week as an example. Threats of tariffs, headline news, retaliation, and then backing down before anything happened bringing us largely back to where we started.

Don't get me wrong, there are people directly affected by these things and I'm not going to get into whether the approach above is ethical or not. But for most people, I believe you could genuinely switch off and not notice any difference at all.

And even if you know and are well read on the issues (as it sounds like you may be) - what can you do about it? In fact - have you done anything about it? If the answer is no then what's the point in being informed?

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1. xpe ◴[07 Feb 25 06:33 UTC] No.42970049[source]▶
Sure, many people can dramatically turn down news consumption and may do better (working towards their personal goals). This is an information diet and stress management question.

At the same time, the parable of the slow boiling frog is apropos here. The Trump administration is breaking many laws as they try to scare off career government employees and install loyalists.

As a general principle, I’m not opposed to improving government efficiency, but it must be done legally.

It will take time for the courts to respond to the executive overreaches. But what happens if the administration doesn’t comply? This has already happened and will likely happen more. If we have an executive branch not complying with the courts, the one branch remaining is Congress. If not that, then massive civil unrest. Or some kind of internal power struggle. This could boil over more quickly than some might expect. It is a test of our resolve.

What happens when some people in the administration realize they are likely going to be held accountable? Will they do the right thing then? Or will they double down?