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> Maybe I am hypersensitive because I got to live for my first 14 years of my childhood under communism, where thought policing was the rule. I fundamentally di

> Maybe I am hypersensitive because I got to live for my first 14 years of my childhood under communism, where thought policing was the rule. I fundamentally distrust the state and any agency that wants to make me do something I didn't initiate on my own. So you distrust all people whose interests aren't exactly aligned with your own, for fear that they might want to convince you to try some new thing? You avoid going out side for fear of seeing a billboard, make purchases randomly in stores, ignoring any branding, etc? If someone mentions a neat hobby or a food you haven't tried before, you run the other way and vow never to attempt that experience?

zzzcpan 7y ago
I think he's talking about the freedoms that ads take away. You don't ask to see the ad or the category of products it advertises, but someone found a way to show it to you anyway through some deliberate automated system, trying to steal your attention from something you are actually focused on doing at the moment and focus it on something else, distracting you and wasting energy and time.
- joshuamorton 7y ago
  How is that any different from a billboard, or a person suggesting you try a new food? The only difference is that you're calling the web ads automated, which isn't always true (especially in the context were discussing, which is non-personalized ads), and not clearly distinct. Why is an algorithm on a computer vying for your attention worse than an algorithm used to place billboard ads? They're all vying for your attention in a way you didn't explicitly request. The idea that internet ads are somehow different, and not just {better/worse/more effective depending on your perspective} doesn't follow for me.
  - zzzcpan 7y ago
    Billboards are pretty different. It's like if websites had a separate page with ads where you go if you are curious or bored, not doing anything important. And people suggesting something is on the whole another level. They have empathy, know how to behave, when they can approach you, can learn when not to bother you, etc.
visarga 7y ago
> If someone mentions a neat hobby or a food you haven't tried before, you run the other way and vow never to attempt that experience? They important keyword here is 'someone' and not a huge corporation or state actor. I would open myself to people, especially if they don't have anything to gain from influencing me and are purely passioned about the subject they engaged in. Much of what is good on the internet comes from such people doing what they love for the sake of their passion/hobby (such as Wikipedia, parts of YouTube, Arxiv, HN and specific subreddits).

zzzcpan 7y ago

I think he's talking about the freedoms that ads take away. You don't ask to see the ad or the category of products it advertises, but someone found a way to show it to you anyway through some deliberate automated system, trying to steal your attention from something you are actually focused on doing at the moment and focus it on something else, distracting you and wasting energy and time.

joshuamorton 7y ago
How is that any different from a billboard, or a person suggesting you try a new food? The only difference is that you're calling the web ads automated, which isn't always true (especially in the context were discussing, which is non-personalized ads), and not clearly distinct. Why is an algorithm on a computer vying for your attention worse than an algorithm used to place billboard ads? They're all vying for your attention in a way you didn't explicitly request. The idea that internet ads are somehow different, and not just {better/worse/more effective depending on your perspective} doesn't follow for me.
- zzzcpan 7y ago
  Billboards are pretty different. It's like if websites had a separate page with ads where you go if you are curious or bored, not doing anything important. And people suggesting something is on the whole another level. They have empathy, know how to behave, when they can approach you, can learn when not to bother you, etc.

visarga 7y ago

> If someone mentions a neat hobby or a food you haven't tried before, you run the other way and vow never to attempt that experience? They important keyword here is 'someone' and not a huge corporation or state actor. I would open myself to people, especially if they don't have anything to gain from influencing me and are purely passioned about the subject they engaged in. Much of what is good on the internet comes from such people doing what they love for the sake of their passion/hobby (such as Wikipedia, parts of YouTube, Arxiv, HN and specific subreddits).