/wiz/ - Wizardry

If that makes you happy then do it, it’s all personal preference I guess. I hardly ever read current events because it’s so uninteresting to me. Same for fapping, I fap a couple times a month and don’t really care much about it/doesn’t affect my life one way or another. Just gotta identify a personal bad habit and cut it out, what that habit is is probably different for everyone.

I am working on a similar thing myself. In my point of views news are nothing more than entertainment and advertising. On one hand you have the constant drama that is aimed at have people hooked at rooting their own group (Which is approved by the System anyway.) while feeling smugly superior to the other one. Whatever your biases are there is somebody who sells fluff for you. On the other hand it is basically just selling narratives. If they want to demoralize people or push trough some innovation they just start bombarding you and by extension the masses with the same messaging over and over again.

If we disregard those things, we still have the issue of "The News" are things on so huge scale we can't really do anything about them. At least you have somebody to talk to when it comes to local issues, but national and global ones? It will only just make one feel small and helpless. Ironically, people who have nothing under their control are so adamant about macro economic, social and political issues, because there is no actual stake in discussing the impossibly big topics. It is just the new religion for the powerless. You are a slave? Sure, you can have this god expy, then start harassing people for not living up to an arbitrary level of purity demanded by the social proof, which are manufactured in a top down fashion. Also, they are really boring people with nothing going on in their lives beside having opinions shaped by gamified social media points.

It is liberating for your mind when you start to focus on the issues around and in you. Because that is real, and it is there. Not to mention people who are doing their own things may suffer a bit on the talk about meaningless topics with normalfags department but will gain considerably in the being an interesting person one. If you are actually doing business or something that may depend on policy changes etc. it is a far better practice to look up the webpages of said agency instead of either waiting for a peer to peer rumor machine to talk about it or waiting for an industrialized gossip machine to actually be relevant for once.

I did that last year. Ignorance is bliss.

I also spent a few months last year detatched not only from news but from the internet as well.
It was pretty great.

i consume technology news in text format via hackernews, thats it

big world events and stuff… it really is quite pointless. for most people on earth, they dont need to be informed about riots and murders and boycotts and stuff. staying uninformed would ptobably create a net-positive change

it is all beyond me, out of my control, so i limit it. you cant feel afraid and anxious over something you arent even aware of

I'm doing the same thing for the most part. I think I just got burned out on news by the end of last year since it's normally negative and I can't do much to influence change anyway. I'll occasionally watch a video about some event but not nearly as much as before. I just don't care much and feel much better ignoring most of it. Plus there are so few sources I feel I can actually trust that I'd rather just not bother.

If you don't read the news, you're uninformed. If you do, you're misinformed.

I just gave up my boycott of the news at the start of this year

It's harder to maintain than I thought. For example, I learned the hard way that even if there's any Youtube channels I like, I have to instead bookmark their individual channels instead of navigating via the homepage because I'm inevitably going to see some bullshit clickbait news. There were also a lot of sites I didn't realize were showing me the most depressing news in the world that now I have.

However, even if it's difficult to maintain perfectly, even in an unperfect form is it worth it, holy shit. I've been continuing this experiment, and holy shit has it continued to be amazing for my mood. I realize how much of a learned helplessness I had/have just because of the news; e.g., "Oh well, guess I won't be able to do THAT anymore" no longer really enter my head.

>>176164
I think I've learned that it's way better to be uninformed.
>>176154
>>176130
>it's normally negative and I can't do much to influence change anyway
>it is all beyond me, out of my control, so i limit it.
>>176114
>It will only just make one feel small and helpless.
That's the simple idea of it, yeah.

>>176114
>having opinions shaped by gamified social media points.
This was another thing that was scaring me, in a sense. I felt like I really was becoming zombiefied, in a sense, by this pointless news.
>It is liberating for your mind when you start to focus on the issues around and in you. Because that is real, and it is there.
It really is. For probably the first time in my life I feel like I can actually do something.



I really want to make this a thing. Like "Media-Free May" or something. I wonder about the power this would have with others and with even more people.

>>176300
>I have to instead bookmark their individual channels instead of navigating via the homepage

If you use uBlock origin add this to your filters:
! blocks homepage
youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype="home"]

There are more such filters you can find online that block things from YouTube, like recommandations or comments.

>>176300
>This was another thing that was scaring me, in a sense. I felt like I really was becoming zombiefied, in a sense, by this pointless news.
That is what over stimulation can do to a person. I think everybody only have a limited amount of things they can care about. News and drama are big things that can eat up that resources by being bloat. I would add social media in general to that. The constant spam of trivia and novelty ate up quite lot of my time. Most of the things won't even have any use after people done talking about it in the media cycle.
>It's harder to maintain than I thought.
You have a billion PHDs doing their best to trick your brain to stay on the platforms and feed longer. The whole thing is designed to be addictive. Video Games and online content in the last decade turned from experiences on their own into gamified psychological tricks.
>However, even if it's difficult to maintain perfectly, even in an unperfect form is it worth it, holy shit. I've been continuing this experiment, and holy shit has it continued to be amazing for my mood. I realize how much of a learned helplessness I had/have just because of the news; e.g., "Oh well, guess I won't be able to do THAT anymore" no longer really enter my head.
If we were to think that the powers that be don't have the best of ours interests in mind then I would say that is the point. Emotional lows and highs being used to manage people and shape their tastes and actions. There will always be a hope nugget or win thrown into the mix so people will stay in the System. You can see this in the fans who complain about things going wrong, but getting back on the train when the company that fucked them over makes one product that is okay or politics etc.

I couldn't control myself and consume political media and now I am angry at people who disagree with me. The need for tribalism is not talked about as much on wizchan as the need for sex but it is just as compelling. I wish there is a masturbation counterpart to the need for belonging, where I can stave off my unfulfilled biological needs without actually participating in the act. Many wizards probably fulfill this desire by identifying with wizchan itself but this is just a shit site.
>inb4 not a real wizard because I fap or feel attracted to in-group thinking

>>176368
Politics already is masturbation. You aren't grouping yourself with your family or tribe but strangers on the internet who happen to agree on tax policy with you.

>>176378
This is a good point. Not to mention it is just a passive fandom/religion without any true interaction.

>>176302
I initially didn't want to do this because I'm that lazy, but realized I could just copy and paste what you wrote into almost any other adblocker as well.

It works, thank you.

>>176319
>I think everybody only have a limited amount of things they can care about. News and drama are big things that can eat up that resources by being bloat.
It's amazing how much I didn't realize this.
>>176368
>I wish there is a masturbation counterpart to the need for belonging, where I can stave off my unfulfilled biological needs without actually participating in the act.
At the moment, "the need for tribalism" is probably one of the central modes of control. I think if this were to exist, you'd see major societal revolutions.

>>176391
>It's amazing how much I didn't realize this.
That is why it is important to break this addiction society and the weakness of being human forces on us. Getting clean is not easy.

>>176302

Do you have some more tips of other filters like this one?

Continuing with this:

- I've been using millionshort.com or curlie.org as my search engines to avoid media sites. It's been working more or less pretty good.

>>176437
This blocks youtube popup dialogs about terms and conditions/cookie policy or that "Log In into your account right now" popup
!youtube
www.youtube.com###dialog
youtube.com##.ytd-popup-container
youtube.com##.ytd-consent-bump-lightbox
youtube.com##.opened
youtube.com##+js(set, ytInitialPlayerResponse.auxiliaryUi.messageRenderers.upsellDialogRenderer.isVisible, false)
youtube.com##+js(set, ytInitialData.overlay.upsellDialogRenderer.isVisible, false)
youtube.com##+js(json-prune, [].playerResponse.auxiliaryUi.messageRenderers.upsellDialogRenderer)
youtube.com##+js(json-prune, auxiliaryUi.messageRenderers.upsellDialogRenderer)
youtube.com##+js(set, ytInitialData.topbar.desktopTopbarRenderer.interstitial.consentBumpRenderer.forceConsent, false)
youtube.com##+js(json-prune, [].response.topbar.desktopTopbarRenderer.interstitial.consentBumpRenderer)
youtube.com##.opened
youtube.com###consent-bump
youtube.com##+js(json-prune, topbar.desktopTopbarRenderer.interstitial.consentBumpRenderer)


The following filters do what the comments say:
! blocks homepage
youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype="home"]
! blocks recommended section
www.youtube.com##ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer
! blocks comment section
www.youtube.com##ytd-comments

And here is a set of filters for Google's search popup about terms/cookie policy or whatever(usually appears if you have some strange cookie settings, same for youtube i think):
!google
google.*##+js(aeld, DOMContentLoaded, CONSENT)
news.google.*##div[data-cbh^="consent.google."]
news.google.*##html[class*="gb"]:style(overflow: visible !important;)
www.google.*##body.QVCmK:style(position: static !important; overflow-y: visible !important;)
www.google.*##html.QVCmK:style(overflow-y: visible !important;)
www.google.*###lb > div[id^="_"] > div[class*=" "]:not([id]):empty:matches-css(opacity: 0.7)
www.google.*###lb > div[id^="_"] > div[class*=" "]:not([id]):has( > span > div[role="dialog"] > #cnsw > iframe[src*="://consent.google.com"])

These are the filters I use, but if you spend some time searching or asking the guys on lainchan, I'm sure you will find more that might be useful to you.

>>176472
Btw, I'm not really sure, but maybe some filters might block some youtube functions I do not use, but you might use. I basically use a very striped down version of youtube with these filters that has just a searchbar, channel pages, playlists, video pages and video descriptions under the videos. If however my filters block something that you want to do, just try and comment some of the filters and see which ones break youtube for you. Good luck.

>>176472
Many thanks, for someone who use account must not add youtube.com##.ytd-popup-container only

>>176108
I've been doing this vor years

>>176483
*for

I'm the opposite, OP. For a long time I didn't care about news and all that, nowadays I like to be well-informed and up-to-date. Even if the data we get from the various news channels is distorted or warped we at least get some sort of picture of what is going on in the world around us. Information and knowledge are power. Don't weaken yourself, don't let your desire for comfort and peace make you into a slave or apathetic pawn. Face reality and what is going on in it, that is the path to power.

>>176489
>Even if the data we get from the various news channels is distorted or warped we at least get some sort of picture of what is going on in the world around us.
Big doubt on this sentence. You just get manipulated. Nowadays, it's better to be uninformed than misinformed to be someone else's pawn–rather ironic given your next few sentences.

Relevant film for this thread.

>>176489
>Face reality and what is going on in it, that is the path to power.
Well, what kind of powers have you obtained, informed guy?

>>176521
Manipulation has its limits. Obviously every party or group pushes its own agenda and tries to see things through its own ideology but thanks to the fact that competition exists we can discern the truth from fiction. It is a fact that there is a war going in Syria. Now, about the details of who would be better for you personally to win, that is another thing entirely. You can listen and watch various news sources and if you aren't a complete idiot or a lazy person then you can make out the truth.
Being misinformed and uninformed are both undesirable states. By withdrawing into your little bubble you aren't escaping anything, you still exist and live in this world and society, you just give up and surrender yourself entirely to the events and persons around you. Apathy doesn't liberate you, it only weakens you.

>>176525
Information and knowledge, do you lack reading comprehension? The fact alone that I'm not supporting any party that would work against me if they got into power is an advantage in itself, seeing how many cucks support parties and persons that preach opposite values to what these idiots have just because they read on reddit, facebook or 4chan that "X party/person is so based and redpilled!"
But I could list numerous advantages that exist for the informed person. Knowing what goes on around you in society can only help you.

I stopped watching the news a long time ago because it basically just shows me events that I have no control over and isn’t beneficial to me to know about them. Unless you are some kind of political pundit or businessman who can profit off of the news somehow I don’t really think there’s much benefit to watching it.

>>176533
>Manipulation has its limits.
By a large margin this sentence attempts to sidestep and overlook the power of manipulation. It, for example, overlooks how insanely powerful fear is. We've seen society get manipulated into war after war, crisis after crisis. Saying 'manipulation has its limits' is completely meaningless. You might as well say, 'the energy output of the Sun has its limits' or 'the vastness of the galaxy has its limits.' Both true statements, but hiding their vastness and depth.
>Being misinformed and uninformed are both undesirable states.
Uninformed is a hell of a lot more desirable than misinformed of current events. Thinking either of these states can be rectified by current media, even by """both sides""" (scare quotes because they're so often the same side, so this potential nuance is functionally worthless) I find to be naive. Especially in today's environment.
>By withdrawing into your little bubble
Ignoring the news!=withdrawing into a bubble. I would argue that those watching the news are the ones in a bubble. If I had a neighbor who was a brick-layer who knew nothing about the news or current events focused entirely on bettering himself and what he immediately sees around him, I would consider him a humble man that I wouldn't mind sharing time with. I wouldn't consider him a closeted bigot living in a bubble.

The uninformed man who makes a single brick is better for all of us than the "informed" man who panic buys toilet paper.

>>176533
>withdrawing into your little bubble
…uh, welcome to WIZARD chan.

>>176538
>manipulation
It is not sidestepping the issue. Objectively, if someone gets manipulated then he gets what he deserves. Might makes right is true in all cases. If someone is so foolish and lazy that he can be manipulated then it is his problem.
>uninformed is better
Explain how it is better to not know about changes in laws and other ares concerning your life. Uninformed is actually worse, because even misinformed people are closer to the facts than the lazy or apathetic people who want to live inside their own heads.
>The uninformed man who makes a single brick is better for all of us than the "informed" man who panic buys toilet paper.
So what if you actually have to panic buy stuff because the economy goes down the drain or because of other circumstances? The guy who don't want to know anything about the world won't know anything and will be left with nothing. Just an example.
What you are describing isn't an individual but an almost perfect slave. He does his work for the collective and doesn't think about the bigger picture.

You sound like you have OCD or you are like one of those people who give up on reading philosophy because "why bother, all philosophers say different things". Truth does exist. It can reached in numerous ways. And even if you aren't able to reach, even if you are "misinformed", then what? Making mistakes is natural. The important thing is to try to achieve the best desired state, which is being informed.

>>176539
It is one thing to be a NEET hermit and another to be an idiot or coward who refuses to take notice of the world and society around him.

I used to watch the news almost every day when Trump was president, but now it's just so boring and not worth the time.

>>176633
This. It's going to be a boring 4 years in terms of news so there's no point. Unless the great reset actually happens or something.

>>176631
>It is not sidestepping the issue.
Again, I really think you are though. Choosing what you read is really important, that's the whole point of this discussion. Knowing that virtually all of mass media is bs and thinking, "Hey, maybe I shouldn't be reading this, it's driving me to insane conclusions," or having enough self-knowledge and humility about your own fallibilities to the fear porn that is MSM is the whole point.
>Explain how it is better to not know about changes in laws and other ares concerning your life
Because when was the last time that both of these conditions held true:
1 - You could realistically do something about it
2 - It actually affected you
?
You mentioned might-makes-right philosophy. Well, you have to be pragmatic.
>The guy who don't want to know anything about the world won't know anything and will be left with nothing.
Not necessarily. A guy can remain ignorant of current events, but still know that most currencies collapse, and be careful about that and plan for it. This way he's prepared, but he's not done in by fear and crowd psychoses.
>What you are describing isn't an individual but an almost perfect slave.
I'd argue the person who falls in lock-step with the Pravda is the perfect slave. At least this man does something for himself instead of his controllers.
>Truth does exist. It can reached in numerous ways.
Correct. And the whole crux of this is that truth does not exist in current events and the media. It is bigger than that.

>>176658
Even if I can't do anything against it I would like to know about it. I don't support the idea of living in a fantasy dreamworld. You need to know about the problems that affect your life and the world.
Pragmatism doesn't mean you run away from problems, also.
>Not necessarily. A guy can remain ignorant of current events, but still know that most currencies collapse, and be careful about that and plan for it.
It is better know what, when and how will happen exactly. Your valiant ignorant guy won't know if some highly dangerous virus is currently on the loose in his area or whether chinese airplanes are going to bomb his town into pieces in a couple of hours. You can prepare for bad things generally while being ignorant but being well-informed can save your live or save you money/other resources.
>I'd argue the person who falls in lock-step with the Pravda is the perfect slave.
Again, listening to the news won't make you into a brainless zombie necessarily.
>truth does not exist in current events and the media
It certainly exists concerning current events, as for the media like I said, an intelligent and diligent person can piece together what's up without too much trouble.

The only news that matters is local, incoming weather, prices at the grocery, areas where crime occurs so that you can avoid or be wary. Change my mind.

The more you do this the more you realise it doesn't really matter. Anything that does matter you'll notice with or without the 'news', and at least then you get it without the spin.

>>176803
>It certainly exists concerning current events, as for the media like I said, an intelligent and diligent person can piece together what's up without too much trouble.
That's like saying "There exist truth in celebrity news tabloids."
Oh, wait, sorry, I didn't mean to compare celebrity news tabloids to MSM–celebrity news tabloids are bad, but they aren't THAT horrible.
>Again, listening to the news won't make you into a brainless zombie necessarily.
And "drinking couple beers before going to bed every day" won't turn you into an alcoholic. There are certainly much better things to be doing with your life, though. And you're probably going to be a lot healthier and better off without it.
Again, I'll keep repeating this point: I think this argument severely underestimates the psychological impact of fear porn that the MSM provides.
>Your valiant ignorant guy won't know if some highly dangerous virus is currently on the loose in his area or whether chinese airplanes are going to bomb his town into pieces in a couple of hours.
I'm pretty sure he can hear a siren or see the traffic on his street pick up.
Actually, you have a point, if he wasn't watching the news, he'd probably end up being aware of that stuff even sooner.
Also, I doubt that he's ignorant.
>Pragmatism doesn't mean you run away from problems, also.
Correct. And MSM is great for running away from problems.

>>176885
You can still check your local news papers website for news. It will have a bunch of celebrity wank and a few MSM stories being repeated. They're easily ignored for a brief run down in your area. Might even find something interesting going on you want to attend.

>>176533
>>176538
actions taken under the belief you are informed when you aren't is likely worse than whatever you would have done regardless of you hearing about it.

Being highly informed about current events is abnormal. Throughout history news traveled relatively slowly. There was no 24/7 news cycle, no internet to keep you up to date with a constant unending flood of information. People were able to focus on the things that were directly around them. Now everyone is distracted and obsessed with things completely out of their control.