It depends on what one does with the information they learn.
Some posts I enjoy reading for the hell of them (trivia). Some posts feel like I’m making progress towards something, but I fall short of actually changing (mental masturbation). Whereas my favorites posts (e.g., My Fear Heuristic, Unlocking Solutions) produced measurable and lasting changes in my behavior (effective information).
The specific classification from my framework differs from person-to-person since information affects people differently. Something that is effective information for me may be mental masturbation for someone else.
By your terminology, doesn’t reading information here on Less Wrong also count as mental masturbation, including your post?
It depends on what one does with the information they learn.
Some posts I enjoy reading for the hell of them (trivia). Some posts feel like I’m making progress towards something, but I fall short of actually changing (mental masturbation). Whereas my favorites posts (e.g., My Fear Heuristic, Unlocking Solutions) produced measurable and lasting changes in my behavior (effective information).
The specific classification from my framework differs from person-to-person since information affects people differently. Something that is effective information for me may be mental masturbation for someone else.