4 ms·
threats" in and of themselves. Being surveilled or shown ads doesn't itself harm you But it does. If you need a product generally you would just go out and buy
by gaius 8y ago
threats" in and of themselves. Being surveilled or shown ads doesn't itself harm you
But it does. If you need a product generally you would just go out and buy it. Ads are psychologically manipulating you to buy things you don’t need and spend your limited time on this Earth doing things that aren’t beneficial to you. It wasn’t too bad when it was just billboards and TV slots but now it’s you vs the algorithms on a personal level.
- euyyn 8y agoOne of the things that has had the most profound influence in my life was to apply for and get a fellowship that paid me graduate studies in the US. The only reason I learned of its existence was my mom seeing an ad of it on the newspaper.
- teddyh 8y agoAh, anecdotes. “My grandfather smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, and he lived to be a 110.”
- euyyn 8y agoWhat a ridiculous argument. I didn't get that fellowship despite the ad, unlike your grandfather who reached an old age despite smoking. I got it thanks to the ad.
- teddyh 8y agoYou got the fellowship from the ad despite the vanishingly small chance that anyone would see it.
- euyyn 8y agoYou must realize that what you're saying is an argument for better targeted ads. If you don't, I don't know how to help you see it.
- teddyh 8y agoBetter targeted ads for some truly unequivocally beneficial things like scholarships might be a good thing, all else being equal. But: 1. Targeted ads requires enormous machineries of surveillance and file-keeping. Having too much information in closely related form is akin to having too much uranium in close proximity; it causes problems all of its own almost just by merely existing. 2. Ads in general, even the beneficial ones are, by definition, distracting from whatever content we were trying to read. See: São Paulo’s “Cidade Limpa”.
- sharcerer 8y agoShelves on shops manipulate you. Some products are put in front, some in the back. Back in the day, small companies suffered due to this and big brands used to get more brand placement. Counters have inexpensive candies, so that, instead of giving change money back they can give you candies. On the other hand, that surveillance by Google gives me great Articles in Google Chrome. There are scores of programming related articles which i wouldn't have discovered otherwise. I mean I can't "just go and read an article: when i don't know about that website. To each their own.