4 ms·

>I agree with being focused on production, as long as it's production driven by actual customer needs this has always been an interesting question to me, becau

>I agree with being focused on production, as long as it's production driven by actual customer needs this has always been an interesting question to me, because in theory companies like Facebook are worth hundreds of billions despite making many people miserable and actually lowering productivity by wasting time. Basically part of the sin economy, things like gambling and drugs. All bring in lots of money but we'd arguably be better off without them. Facebook makes money by getting people addicted to their app by design. Customers and markets aren't rational if the people are driven by addiction, in which case it would make sense for the government to intervene. China is doing this by incentivizing people to go into hard sciences like semiconductors instead of consumer software

pdonis 5y ago
> in theory companies like Facebook are worth hundreds of billions despite making many people miserable and actually lowering productivity by wasting time They are "worth" that amount not because they are creating that much wealth, but because they have developed a system that allows them to transfer that much wealth from others to themselves in a zero sum game. > Customers and markets aren't rational if the people are driven by addiction In the sense that people can be manipulated, sure. But "addiction" is by no means the only way to do that. Advertising in general (which is how Facebook makes much of its money) attempts to do the same thing. > in which case it would make sense for the government to intervene. But, as your example shows, we know what it takes for government intervention of this sort: it takes being China, i.e., having a government with virtually absolute power. And that is not a viable long term solution, because a government with such power, even if it uses it to do some good things, will use it to do many more very damaging things, and everyone ends up worse off on net.
mdavis6890 5y ago
In 1000 years people will see most of our current internet the same way we see the pyramids at Giza, and they will wonder why we spent so much effort on something with no obvious value.
- peteradio 5y ago
  And then they find all the porn and it starts to make sense.
- usrusr 5y ago
  I doubt it. Those rock piles are seriously famous! Landmark achievements of our internet will perhaps be known on the level the highlights of medieval scholasticism are known: experts exist, but people like me know as much as that Occam wasn't a barber and that somehow jokes about angels dancing on a needle are a thing. Look at how quickly the Rockefeller name faded: to people not particularly interested in the era, it's barely more a family that was so important they sponsored a cute ice rink.

pdonis 5y ago

> in theory companies like Facebook are worth hundreds of billions despite making many people miserable and actually lowering productivity by wasting time They are "worth" that amount not because they are creating that much wealth, but because they have developed a system that allows them to transfer that much wealth from others to themselves in a zero sum game. > Customers and markets aren't rational if the people are driven by addiction In the sense that people can be manipulated, sure. But "addiction" is by no means the only way to do that. Advertising in general (which is how Facebook makes much of its money) attempts to do the same thing. > in which case it would make sense for the government to intervene. But, as your example shows, we know what it takes for government intervention of this sort: it takes being China, i.e., having a government with virtually absolute power. And that is not a viable long term solution, because a government with such power, even if it uses it to do some good things, will use it to do many more very damaging things, and everyone ends up worse off on net.

mdavis6890 5y ago

In 1000 years people will see most of our current internet the same way we see the pyramids at Giza, and they will wonder why we spent so much effort on something with no obvious value.

peteradio 5y ago
And then they find all the porn and it starts to make sense.
usrusr 5y ago
I doubt it. Those rock piles are seriously famous! Landmark achievements of our internet will perhaps be known on the level the highlights of medieval scholasticism are known: experts exist, but people like me know as much as that Occam wasn't a barber and that somehow jokes about angels dancing on a needle are a thing. Look at how quickly the Rockefeller name faded: to people not particularly interested in the era, it's barely more a family that was so important they sponsored a cute ice rink.