There are many things to care about and I am not good at thinking about all of them.
Politics has many many such things.
Do I know about:
Crime stats
Energy generation
Hiring law
University entrance
Politicians’ political beliefs
Politicians’ personal lives
Healthcare
Immigration
And can I actually confidently think that things you say are actually the case. Or do I have a surface level $100 understanding?
Poltics may or may not be the mindkiller, whatever Yud meant by that, but for me it is the mindfiller, it’s just a huge amount of work to stay on top of.
I think it would be healthier for me to focus on a few areas and then say I don’t know about the rest.
I do not follow German/EU politics for that reason. I did follow the US elections out of interest and believed that I would be sufficiently detached and neutral—and it still took some share of attention.
In terms of topics (generally, not EU or US), I think it makes sense to have an idea of crime and healthcare etc. - but not on the day-by-day basis, because there is too much short-term information warfare going on (see below). Following decent bloggers or reading papers about longer-term trends makes sense though.
Politicians’ political beliefs
Politicians’ personal lives
I think that is almost hopeless without deep inside knowledge. There is too much Simulacrum Levels 3 and 4 communication going on. When a politician says: “I will make sure that America produces more oil.” What does that mean? It surely doesn’t mean that the politician will make sure that America produces more oil. It means (or could mean):
The general population hears: “Oil prices will go down.”
Oil-producers hear: “Regulations may be relaxed about producing oil in America.”
Other countries hear: “America wants to send us a signal that they may compete on oil.”
…
Who are the parties the message is directed to, and how will they hear it? It is hard to know without a lot of knowledge about the needed messaging. It is a bit like the stock/crypto market: When you buy (or sell), you have to know why the person who is selling (or buying) your share doing so? If you don’t know, then, likely, you are the one making a loss. If you don’t know who the message is directed to, you cannot interpret it properly.
And you can’t go by the literal words. Or rather, the literal words are likely directed to somebody too (probably intellectuals, but what do I know) and likely intended to distract them.
Early on I politically only specialized in a few areas (digital sovereignty, privacy, computer security) and started being politically active in those areas. I actively decided that other areas such as climate change, housing, diet, … are already focused on by many other activitst and I can probably do more good by specializing in some areas instead of trying to be well-read in all of them.
Personally I believe the need the be informed is only needed when I have the intent to act. I do intent to act on the new german ePA law and thus I inform myself and I do activism, I do not intent to act on home based heating laws and thus every effort into researching it beyond the basics would be wasted effort.
Politics is the Mindfiller
There are many things to care about and I am not good at thinking about all of them.
Politics has many many such things.
Do I know about:
Crime stats
Energy generation
Hiring law
University entrance
Politicians’ political beliefs
Politicians’ personal lives
Healthcare
Immigration
And can I actually confidently think that things you say are actually the case. Or do I have a surface level $100 understanding?
Poltics may or may not be the mindkiller, whatever Yud meant by that, but for me it is the mindfiller, it’s just a huge amount of work to stay on top of.
I think it would be healthier for me to focus on a few areas and then say I don’t know about the rest.
I do not follow German/EU politics for that reason. I did follow the US elections out of interest and believed that I would be sufficiently detached and neutral—and it still took some share of attention.
In terms of topics (generally, not EU or US), I think it makes sense to have an idea of crime and healthcare etc. - but not on the day-by-day basis, because there is too much short-term information warfare going on (see below). Following decent bloggers or reading papers about longer-term trends makes sense though.
I think that is almost hopeless without deep inside knowledge. There is too much Simulacrum Levels 3 and 4 communication going on. When a politician says: “I will make sure that America produces more oil.” What does that mean? It surely doesn’t mean that the politician will make sure that America produces more oil. It means (or could mean):
The general population hears: “Oil prices will go down.”
Oil-producers hear: “Regulations may be relaxed about producing oil in America.”
Other countries hear: “America wants to send us a signal that they may compete on oil.”
…
Who are the parties the message is directed to, and how will they hear it? It is hard to know without a lot of knowledge about the needed messaging. It is a bit like the stock/crypto market: When you buy (or sell), you have to know why the person who is selling (or buying) your share doing so? If you don’t know, then, likely, you are the one making a loss. If you don’t know who the message is directed to, you cannot interpret it properly.
And you can’t go by the literal words. Or rather, the literal words are likely directed to somebody too (probably intellectuals, but what do I know) and likely intended to distract them.
Early on I politically only specialized in a few areas (digital sovereignty, privacy, computer security) and started being politically active in those areas. I actively decided that other areas such as climate change, housing, diet, … are already focused on by many other activitst and I can probably do more good by specializing in some areas instead of trying to be well-read in all of them.
Personally I believe the need the be informed is only needed when I have the intent to act. I do intent to act on the new german ePA law and thus I inform myself and I do activism, I do not intent to act on home based heating laws and thus every effort into researching it beyond the basics would be wasted effort.