7 ms·

Seems to me like we are in a race to to the bottom in all parts of the software and entertainment industry. When behavioural economics and data mining became a

Seems to me like we are in a race to to the bottom in all parts of the software and entertainment industry. When behavioural economics and data mining became all encompassing we lost all that was positive and good in this field. This modeling of the human psyche has existed in PR and the commercial industry for a century, but the incredible multiplier that lies in the constant connection and the advancement of fast and agressive interfaces has now made us all like rats pushing levers in a Skinner box. Hordes of psychologists, data analysts and digital designers has become like a mercenary army that whores itself out to the global-internet-consciousness that itself has become like a cancer that eats up peoples last moments of clarity. We now stand completely naked and exposed as the irrational, animal, mamalian ape that we are in front of the extreme exponential technological whirlwind that has made everything so complex, fast changing and exploitative that we have no option but to completely drop out or ride the tiger.

andrei_says_ 8y ago
> We now stand completely naked and exposed as the irrational, animal, mamalian ape that we are in front of the extreme exponential technological whirlwind that has made everything so complex, fast changing and exploitative that we have no option but to completely drop out or ride the tiger. Love the imagery in your writing... I think we do have an option for now (turn off your phone when you get home/go on vacation etc.) and that the animal were riding is not a tiger but a rabid monkey in heat stung by a scorpion, which is how some yogis describe the unquestioned mind. The observation of my own patterns and relationship with media/attention grabbing tech it has become clear to me that if I am to be productive and healthy, I need to change my relationship with my mind. It’s a challenge, but a worthy one.
- saintPirelli 8y ago
  I can't help but feel like this will divide society. Like fast food and eating healthy. Everybody knows eating healthy is better for you, but a lot just can't be bothered. Consuming media on the most addictive feeds will be the same. Only this time we won't have an obesity epidemic, but an epidemic of retardation and uselessness.
  - crankylinuxuser 8y ago
    Those that define "healthy" are usually ones you don't want to listen to. Greg Egan wrote quite a lot about the power dynamics of the word 'healthy'.
    - saintPirelli 8y ago
      I'm not saying you should follow some guru when he says that licking mud will wake your inner djinn, I'm saying eat your broccoli.
    - aethertron 8y ago
      Where did Greg Egan write about that? I'd be interested to read it. I've only read one of his novels, plus some supplementary writing on his site. I plan to read more.
      - crankylinuxuser 8y ago
        Egan mentions "health" in Distress, primarily surrounding those that define the word and set the bar what "healthy" is. Alongside that idea, lies the ultrarich who have rearranged their DNA to a point they are invulnerable to every known disease, most chemical toxins, and more. They're also physically a different species, as they are incapable of making young with other humans.
B1FF_PSUVM 8y ago
> has existed in PR and the commercial industry for a century, Cat was out of the bag the day some shopkeeper figured out printing advertisements.
ramblerman 8y ago
Or as with most new things it gets a bit out of hand and it takes a generation or two to find a balance. But don't let me deny you the pleasure of your apocalyptic rantings :)
- saintPirelli 8y ago
  That's right, but it doesn't mean that you have to be a consenting victim in these developments.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
zouhair 8y ago
And now that we lost the biggest voice for consumers, namely TotalBiscuit, we are royally screwed
YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
And yet, there was a time when Behaviourism was all but snuffed out by Chomsky's criticism of Skinner's Verbal Behaviour, and the subsequent rise of cognitive science. What happened? My guess is we got trapped by the short-term rewards of systems that seem to work for a while- until they don't; and create an ocean of social and other problems in the meanwhile (e.g. the use of "AI" systems to predict recidivism that overfit on race, etc). _______________ [1] https://chomsky.info/1967____/ https://chomsky.info/1967____/
some_account 8y ago
This is all a lesson humans desperately needs to learn, and we are slowly learning it. Todays technology in the hands on these multi billion companies becomes a lethal weapon towards the minds of entire generations. Everything the ad market touches becomes shit. They live in shit, and they feed off each other's shit, and it's overflowing everywhere into society like a pollution that has no cure, because it's built into capitalism.

andrei_says_ 8y ago

> We now stand completely naked and exposed as the irrational, animal, mamalian ape that we are in front of the extreme exponential technological whirlwind that has made everything so complex, fast changing and exploitative that we have no option but to completely drop out or ride the tiger. Love the imagery in your writing... I think we do have an option for now (turn off your phone when you get home/go on vacation etc.) and that the animal were riding is not a tiger but a rabid monkey in heat stung by a scorpion, which is how some yogis describe the unquestioned mind. The observation of my own patterns and relationship with media/attention grabbing tech it has become clear to me that if I am to be productive and healthy, I need to change my relationship with my mind. It’s a challenge, but a worthy one.

saintPirelli 8y ago
I can't help but feel like this will divide society. Like fast food and eating healthy. Everybody knows eating healthy is better for you, but a lot just can't be bothered. Consuming media on the most addictive feeds will be the same. Only this time we won't have an obesity epidemic, but an epidemic of retardation and uselessness.
- crankylinuxuser 8y ago
  Those that define "healthy" are usually ones you don't want to listen to. Greg Egan wrote quite a lot about the power dynamics of the word 'healthy'.
  - saintPirelli 8y ago
    I'm not saying you should follow some guru when he says that licking mud will wake your inner djinn, I'm saying eat your broccoli.
  - aethertron 8y ago
    Where did Greg Egan write about that? I'd be interested to read it. I've only read one of his novels, plus some supplementary writing on his site. I plan to read more.
    - crankylinuxuser 8y ago
      Egan mentions "health" in Distress, primarily surrounding those that define the word and set the bar what "healthy" is. Alongside that idea, lies the ultrarich who have rearranged their DNA to a point they are invulnerable to every known disease, most chemical toxins, and more. They're also physically a different species, as they are incapable of making young with other humans.

B1FF_PSUVM 8y ago

> has existed in PR and the commercial industry for a century, Cat was out of the bag the day some shopkeeper figured out printing advertisements.

ramblerman 8y ago

Or as with most new things it gets a bit out of hand and it takes a generation or two to find a balance. But don't let me deny you the pleasure of your apocalyptic rantings :)

saintPirelli 8y ago
That's right, but it doesn't mean that you have to be a consenting victim in these developments.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

zouhair 8y ago

And now that we lost the biggest voice for consumers, namely TotalBiscuit, we are royally screwed

YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago

And yet, there was a time when Behaviourism was all but snuffed out by Chomsky's criticism of Skinner's Verbal Behaviour, and the subsequent rise of cognitive science. What happened? My guess is we got trapped by the short-term rewards of systems that seem to work for a while- until they don't; and create an ocean of social and other problems in the meanwhile (e.g. the use of "AI" systems to predict recidivism that overfit on race, etc). _______________ [1] https://chomsky.info/1967____/ https://chomsky.info/1967____/

some_account 8y ago

This is all a lesson humans desperately needs to learn, and we are slowly learning it. Todays technology in the hands on these multi billion companies becomes a lethal weapon towards the minds of entire generations. Everything the ad market touches becomes shit. They live in shit, and they feed off each other's shit, and it's overflowing everywhere into society like a pollution that has no cure, because it's built into capitalism.