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Very true. Do you think there is a role for humanity to self-improve the UX? Whether with sufficient technology or collective will? I've heard the idea of cultu

Very true. Do you think there is a role for humanity to self-improve the UX? Whether with sufficient technology or collective will? I've heard the idea of culture as an operating system of sorts (a spin on being a product of your environment I suppose). Could the UX be improved with the right culture? On a bit of a tangent here - is there a brain architecture where a consistently good (and lucid/clear) experience is guaranteed? Is such an experience within to reach of humankind?

agent008t 5y ago
There is, but it presents its own problems. For example - junk food, infinite scroll, instagram, many forms of advertising seem to hijack (for a lot of people, but not all) some of the mechanisms that we have evolved (and that are useful 'in the wild') in a way that does not benefit, and often actively harms, the person. A culture that actively detects and rejects such things can be somewhat effective, as it can make employing such mechanisms unprofitable. It is still unlikely to protect the most vulnerable. One could legislate and make such practices illegal. But that raises the problems of 'who decides' and 'where do you draw the line', and of necessity restricts human freedoms (and also creates illegal markets with organized crime). See, for example, narcotics or prostitution (which both are good examples of the hijacking I described). Should we go back to something like the Hayes code for movies? The fundamental question is whether it is ok to do good to someone against their will.
- desertraven 5y ago
  Thank you for elaborating! Regarding your last question, I never had the clarity of mind to arrive at such a simple question that encapsulates universal wellbeing and freedom. Do you think it's okay to do good to someone against their will? Assuming the mechanism was there to objectively validate what is good, I'd say yes. People come into existence, and much of their experience is against their will. So what's a little more helplessness, especially in the pursuit of their own wellbeing.
afarrell 5y ago
There are ways to improve things but they require: 1. Abandoning the mechanical metaphor you've adopted. The brain is a part of the body with thousands of neural and hormonal connections to the rest of the body. 2. Abandoning the quest for ironclad guarantees. Such guarantees leave no freedom. Good things to google include "embodiment" and "Andrew Huberman" https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/prose/text/thinkingMeat.html https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/prose/text/think...

agent008t 5y ago

There is, but it presents its own problems. For example - junk food, infinite scroll, instagram, many forms of advertising seem to hijack (for a lot of people, but not all) some of the mechanisms that we have evolved (and that are useful 'in the wild') in a way that does not benefit, and often actively harms, the person. A culture that actively detects and rejects such things can be somewhat effective, as it can make employing such mechanisms unprofitable. It is still unlikely to protect the most vulnerable. One could legislate and make such practices illegal. But that raises the problems of 'who decides' and 'where do you draw the line', and of necessity restricts human freedoms (and also creates illegal markets with organized crime). See, for example, narcotics or prostitution (which both are good examples of the hijacking I described). Should we go back to something like the Hayes code for movies? The fundamental question is whether it is ok to do good to someone against their will.

desertraven 5y ago
Thank you for elaborating! Regarding your last question, I never had the clarity of mind to arrive at such a simple question that encapsulates universal wellbeing and freedom. Do you think it's okay to do good to someone against their will? Assuming the mechanism was there to objectively validate what is good, I'd say yes. People come into existence, and much of their experience is against their will. So what's a little more helplessness, especially in the pursuit of their own wellbeing.

afarrell 5y ago

There are ways to improve things but they require: 1. Abandoning the mechanical metaphor you've adopted. The brain is a part of the body with thousands of neural and hormonal connections to the rest of the body. 2. Abandoning the quest for ironclad guarantees. Such guarantees leave no freedom. Good things to google include "embodiment" and "Andrew Huberman" https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/prose/text/thinkingMeat.html https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/prose/text/think...