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Vanity activities

(quarter--mile.com)
74 points surprisetalk | 4 comments | 01 Dec 25 18:57 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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satisfice ◴[07 Dec 25 19:16 UTC] No.46184219[source]▶
To call reading the news “vanity” exposes the true vanity of this kind of post. What is the logic of assigning the word “vanity” to my interest to know what’s going on in the world? It’s vanity because I have no important decisions to make about the war in Ukraine, or the perfidy of my government?

It’s not vanity, it’s a desire to understand my world and my place within it.

What IS vanity is imagining that one’s own tastes are the only tastes that matter in the world.

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1. fastball ◴[07 Dec 25 23:24 UTC] No.46186448[source]▶
You are reading too much into choice of term. The author explains their rationale for using "vanity" quite clearly:

> In business, a “vanity metric” is a statistic that sounds good but is not very useful.

It's not about you being "vain" for reading the newspaper, it's just a parallel to another widely used term the author co-opted.

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2. satisfice ◴[08 Dec 25 03:16 UTC] No.46187902[source]▶
He literally says: "Our definition for vanity activity can be similar: something you do that seems more useful or virtuous than it really is."

And then he suggests that reading the news is a vanity activity.

My comment is perfectly on point. I think he is engaging in a vanity activity, by his own definition, when he suggests that reading the news is a vanity activity.

It's fine to have an opinion and a way of looking at the world. My objection is when a person claims that opinion is something more rational than it is-- while pissing on the choices other people make.

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3. ◴[08 Dec 25 05:33 UTC] No.46188742[source]▶
4. fastball ◴[08 Dec 25 05:38 UTC] No.46188767[source]▶
It is not hard to convincingly argue that reading the news is less useful than many participants believe it to be.

You in particular getting as much value out of the activity as you think you do doesn't negate the point of the article. Exceptions make rules, and the author said "most people".