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You're right. Advertising is just a symptom of the root problem, capitalism. "Attention is currency in the marketplace of ideas" as they say. If everyone is su
by pluma 8y ago
You're right. Advertising is just a symptom of the root problem, capitalism.
"Attention is currency in the marketplace of ideas" as they say. If everyone is supposed to vote with their dollar, you need to make them vote for you. The easiest way to do that is by fighting for your attention.
- shawnz 8y agoMore like, capitalism is just a symptom of the root "problem" that humans are fundamentally self-interested
- hutzlibu 8y agoThey are, but they are also also very social beings who sacrifice themself for others. Also, culture matters.
- shawnz 8y agoAnd capitalism enables occasional charity, if you want. So I'd say it's a pretty good parallel for our nature. Certainly though it's not the "root of the problem" when it comes to self-serving behaviour.
- pluma 8y agoCapitalism "enables" charity in the same way capitalism "creates" products. It doesn't. Wealth enables charity, labor creates products. Capitalism does however spread inequality, which in turn creates an opportunity for charity that wouldn't otherwise be necessary.
- shawnz 8y agoRight, capitalism enables personal ownership which creates an opportunity for charity. Which parallels how humans and other animals behave in general. They seek out personal possessions but also sometimes understand the value of sharing them.
- redwall_hp 8y agoCapitalism has nothing to do with personal possessions. It pertains to the personal holding of production.
- shawnz 8y agoAnd means of production are just one type of possession. I am arguing that humans inherently seek personal possessions, of which one type is means of production.
- pluma 8y agoHave you ever considered that maybe being self-centered isn't human nature but the kind of behavior capitalism incentivises?
- shawnz 8y agoYes, I've considered that and I think it is much more likely that capitalism was shaped based on us, its creators, rather than us being shaped by capitalism.
- rchaud 8y agoWe're talking digital ads here, and the root cause of that is the cultural assumption that Internet content = free content. Now we know that someone is paying for the content one way or another. But we let the imbalance stick around too long, and programmatic advertising rushed in to fill the vaccuum.