Comments on: The News

By: Barnabas

Barnabas — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 13:17:36 +0000

I was exposed to some cable news recently after being without television for the last 3 years or so. It struck me what a steady stream of propaganda it was. I think Fox News only exists to recruit cannon fodder from flyover country and to push a slightly stale brand of leftism.

By: Isegoria

Isegoria — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 21:09:21 +0000

Wow, thanks, Scipio. I can almost hear Uncle Ben’s words in my ears now: “With great power…”

By: Scipio Americanus

Scipio Americanus — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 17:38:33 +0000

Reading the whole of your archives back in 2009 or so, when I first discovered this blog, was a defining moment in my intellectual life.

By: Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 15:08:34 +0000

“How many people even read the archives of blogs they enjoy?”

I’m with Spandrell on this one — when I find a blog where the writer is interesting, I’ll read the archives.

By: James James

James James — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 11:11:00 +0000

Y’all might be interested in Bruce Charlton’s latest book, Addicted to Distraction: Psychological consequences of the modern Mass Media.

He covers the news “replacing religion as the touchstone of authority and meaning”, and the news as conversation fodder. It’s quite difficult to make small talk with people who follow the news (everyone) if you don’t.

It’s well worth reading.

By: Spandrell

Spandrell — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 06:47:46 +0000

I for one do spend hours in blog archives.

I’m always tempted to stop following the news, but you need topics of conversation to talk to people. That’s what news are: conversation fodder.

By: Alrenous

Alrenous — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 00:23:06 +0000

If a blog’s archives aren’t worth reading, I generally expect its new posts aren’t worth reading either. Admittedly I didn’t manage to read all of this one’s backlog.

The old news is supposedly covered in school. It’s assumed all relevant history is covered in history class. (You should always know what your assumptions are.)

By: Faze

Faze — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 23:24:39 +0000

Celebrities really are important, they are our ancient Greek gods and goddesses, acting out dramas of our universal subconscious in the parallel, Olympian universe, embodying our communal dream life and providing a kind of cultural unity and continuity. Unfortunately, knowing what’s going on in the “serious” news is a status marker for knowledge workers with upper middle class aspirations. If you don’t believe this, imagine that someone in your office expressed some kind of concern over what’s going on in the Ukraine, say, and you replied: “Well, I don’t really keep up on what’s going on in Europe. But I am concerned about Lindsay Lohan’s latest relapse …” You’d be considered a lower class dope — rather than the keen student of human nature that you really are.

By: Carl

Carl — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 23:05:47 +0000

I used to be a hardcore news junkie, but after reading Moldbug I saw there was no real point following things closely. It’s much more amusing to see the underlying patterns behind the news. Also, I do go through and read the archives of new blogs when I find them and like them. Such as this one.