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Vladimir_Golovin comments on Rationalist Lent - Less Wrong Discussion
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I'm not changing anything for the next 40 days, but I did change one variable about 50 days ago: I stopped reading political news altogether. The experiment, so far, is clearly a success, so I'm going to keep it that way.
I think I might stop reading blog posts and comment threads about gender issues.
Its often not binary whether news is political or not - its more of a spectrum. Especially if you are reading something like the WSJ or FT. How do you tell where to draw the line?
Yes, I was a bit imprecise with "political". A better wording would be "I stopped consuming any newslike content except technical, professional and scientific news". So basically I excluded the entire remaining part of the spectrum. Sure, I occasionally get exposed to some political US-related content via tech news outlets, but these bits aren't nearly as toxic as Russian news, at least to me.
BTW, about 3 months before the above experiment I tried a complete disconnection from all dopamine loops I had in my life at that moment (i.e. all games, all social networks, all TV, all news, Reddit -- but not books). As I expected based on my previous off-the-grid vacations, I got an immediate, huge, steady productivity boost that lasted about 40 days, but I was pretty exhausted afterwards, so my current disconnection is not as extreme -- this time I allow myself some technical news and some gaming.
I'm going to remove specific dopamine loops: particularly my habit of going on facebook to look at the nonsense my "friends" are posting, and I'll avoid clicking on my news tab more than once a day. I waste an alarming amount of time on it.
So, what are you doing here?
Lurking and occasionally posting anecdata, as usual. The experiment you quoted above is no longer in effect, and LW mostly fits into my definition of "technical, professional and scientific news".
I don't think I'm ready to sustain a full abstinence for a period longer than two months, nor do I think it's a good idea in general. I'm working on finding the right balance, and I give myself a permission to suck in this regard.
But one thing is clear: I'm done with consuming politics and peoplenews for the rest of my life.
Making plans to remove all dopamine loops now...