> You realize that you're just complaining "they" are not using your data well enough. You certainly can't realistically sort through youtube yourself, nor can

> You realize that you're just complaining "they" are not using your data well enough. You certainly can't realistically sort through youtube yourself, nor can you realistically find what you need on Amazon. > Fact is you cannot use these sites realistically without these algorithms. It just can't be done. Or at least one can say, you can use Amazon and Youtube better when guided by these algorithms. I do think that it is the difference between not being able to use them at all and using them, but maybe you think it's just a bit less than that. > (also logical positivism and inferring things through statistics are pretty much diametrically opposite things. No logical positivist is ever going to accept statistical evidence about anything, but no matter) > > I suppose I can imagine that if we lived in a society free from exploitation, and someone has generated an algorithm that could help you find meaning and success and fulfillment based on all the tracking data. > That's exactly what these algorithms do. They try to find what YOU would find meaningful and fulfilling and they really do try to give it to you. When that means money will be exchanged they prefer one vendor (that has paid them) over another (which hasn't, or paid less), but does that really change anything ? -amazon is only unusable without their algorithms because their search and the product data (indexes, categories, refinable factors) backing it is utter crap. Instead of building Alexa -amazon should have made their search adequate for the previous decades standards.