Ask HN: What level of news do you need and not need? | Not Hacker News!

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Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago

Ask HN: What level of news do you need and not need?

news consumptioninformation curationmedia literacy

Ask HN: What level of news do you need and not need?

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2 months ago

1 reply

LLMs help you think about news in an interesting way. News is just filling your context at all times. If you remove certain things from the context window, the LLM literally can't think about it. For example, if you don't want the LLM to think about war, remove it from the context. When it comes to news, most people are operating with a very curated mental context. They don't even think about certain things. To get the right picture from news, you'd need to be willing to hold a lot of context in your head, which means you have to consume any and all news from everywhere whether you like it or not. History enthusiasts already know this and actively try to fill their context with as much history as possible too.

In other words, don't try to curate your mental context if you want the truth.

2 months ago

1 reply

That’s a fascinating way to frame it — treating news as a dynamic context window, like how LLMs operate. I agree that selective exposure shapes not just what we think about, but what we’re capable of thinking with. It’s like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces hidden.

At the same time, I wonder if there’s a balance. Curating context might be necessary for mental clarity, especially when the volume of global news is overwhelming. Maybe the goal isn’t to consume everything, but to design systems (or habits) that surface the most structurally important signals — the kind that shape long-term outcomes.

I’ve been working on tools that simplify decision-making in finance, and this idea of “context compression” really resonates. Curious how others manage the tension between staying informed and staying sane.

2 months ago

1 reply

but to design systems (or habits) that surface the most structurally important signals

Right, the “filter”. Again, the simplest thing people do is put up their mental firewall and don’t manage the whitelist. That means things don’t even get through to be classified as important.

The other variant of that is there is no filter at all, but the person lacks the ability to classify anything as important (classified incorrectly).

If we filter correctly, and classify correctly, that’s probably best. The filter part is easy, just do it. The classification part requires, in my opinion, some kind of value system.

2 months ago

Exactly — the filter is only half the equation. Without a value system to guide classification, even well-curated inputs can lead to misaligned priorities. I think that’s where most people struggle: not just in filtering noise, but in knowing what matters to them long-term.

In finance, I’ve seen this play out when people chase trends without anchoring decisions to personal goals or values. That’s why I’ve been exploring ways to build tools that help users define their own “signal criteria” — not just what gets through, but why it’s worth acting on.

Would love to hear how others have built or discovered systems that help with this kind of value-driven classification — whether in news, tech, or life.

2 months ago

I much prefer reading in-depth articles, books, or podcasts about the general drivers of today's news. As opposed to the specific news item of the day.

Like I'm learning about Curtis Yarvin, whose neo-monarchical thinking is behind Project 2025. And it helps me understand what's going on as he is linked to Vance, etc.

2 months ago

Different people have wide variations in what they consider the 'big picture' to entail in the first place. My suggestion is to name either 2 or 3 non-fiction books or 2 or 3 specialty blogs you've considered valuable to the 'big picture' and then ask your preferred LLM that, if you like those, which big picture news sources you'd most prefer. Is Matt Levine's writing up your angle, or Lawfare, or something alternative like Naked Capitalism?

2 months ago

I subscribe to The Economist which I think curates things at the weekly period well.

I have roughly 5 blogs I check every day.

I rely on my YOShInOn RSS reader for news on a wide range of topics, with the caveat that it isn't particular fast. For news about science and technology it doesn't matter if it is delayed two weeks, but it is a problem for sports where you don't run to look at an article about what happened in week 6 of the NFL after week 7 goes down.

I am lucky that Ithaca has several weekly papers, both print and web-based, that make up for the fact that our "paper of record" is a zombie. It used to be when a local election happened I would buy an Ithaca Journal the next day to see the results, but now the head office updates that paper around 3pm in the afternoon the next day. Our board of elections usually posts the results around 8pm the night of the election and all the 'alternative' papers run articles on it right away -- the Ithaca Journal used to send reporters to public meetings but no more, no wonder there is a movement to defund it by taking public notices out of it.

2 months ago

I don't need any news to function as a voting citizen. When election time nears, I can inform myself of the candidates. And I definitely don't look at news articles to research them. I prefer primary sources (listen to the candidates themselves) and Ballotpedia or other tools to research issues and candidates.

I subscribe to newsletters from lobby groups I support, that's about the only "news" I get besides reading HN.

2 months ago

Totally resonate with this. I’ve felt the same frustration — especially when trying to make informed decisions as a citizen or entrepreneur. Most news feels reactive, not reflective.

I’ve been exploring ways to simplify decision-making in other domains (like personal finance), and I think the same principles apply:

Context matters — trends > isolated events

Follow-through matters — what happened after the headline?

Signal over noise — monthly summaries or curated dashboards could help

Curious if anyone here has tried building or using tools that track long-term civic or legal outcomes. Would love to see something like a “public impact tracker” that connects headlines to actual changes.

2 months ago

Can recommend Rolf Dobelli's "Stop Reading the News: A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life"

2 months ago

You probably don't need very much news at all. I like learning interesting second-order effects of current events, but they aren't necessary for my life. Here's a few I found interesting lately:

Gen-Z doesn't go to parties anymore because they are on screens all day and/or have social anxiety

Photoshop tutorial business is cratering because people aren't interested in learning how to manipulate photos when they can just create one via text

Japanese guy called do-nothing-guy gets paid to go to restaurants with pretty women in Japan because apparently they can't get a date or are too shy or something terrible is happening with the social fabric in Japan idk what

Its interesting to think about automating the news, you'd need a news feed from every courthouse, twitter feed, sports arena, press release -- run them through various processes, identify trendlines, etc. no small task

2 months ago

Wow, good idea!

Maybe news should be like a wiki.