5 ms·

This reminds me of the evolution of the slot machine (as read in Matthew Crawford's The World Beyond Your Head). A rough analog would be: 1. Medium: Mechanical

This reminds me of the evolution of the slot machine (as read in Matthew Crawford's The World Beyond Your Head). A rough analog would be: 1. Medium: Mechanical reel > Digital reel 2. Gameplay: Fixed odds > Adjustable odds > Programmatic adaptive odds 3. Experience: Pull the lever and win or lose > Pull the lever and win even if you lose (e.g. get back change) > Swipe a card and win even if you lose > Swipe a card and watch the game auto-play until you're out of money After reading that book (in 2014), I made my last Facebook post (the history of the slot machine) and promptly downloaded my data and deleted my account. I'm paraphrasing but Crawford's point was basically that social media is a socio-emotional slot machine.

BigHatLogan 4y ago
Fantastic book. The stories about the slot machine players who wear black pants so that they can urinate without being noticed was shocking, to say the least. They are so addicted to the machines that they won't even get up to use the restroom. The phrase he used, "playing to extinction", very much reminds me of what's happening now across most entertainment categories, broadly speaking (autoplay, loot boxes, slot machine-style gaming content, etc.)
- HappySweeney 4y ago
  It isn't so much that they are addicted (though they are), but that someone will take their spot while they are up.
  - jonny_eh 4y ago
    That's just a rationalization they tell themselves.
    - HappySweeney 4y ago
      It's more than that. In a game like roulette, probability has no memory. In slots, the payout must come eventually, and playing losing rounds only brings you closer to that. There are slots players just waiting for others to go bust so they can swoop in. Also, one would hope that those that are so addicted that they are fine to just haul-off and piss themselves would be able to think ahead and simply wear a diaper.
      - drekipus 4y ago
        > In slots, the payout must come eventually, and playing losing rounds only brings you closer to that. Riiiigggghhhhttttt
        bigtunacan 4y ago
        The payout is always less than the take, but the parent is correct. In most areas (of the US at least) casino slot machines are pretty tightly regulated to have to pay out a certain percentage of the take. To give an example, slot machines in Nevada must pay out a minimum of 75% of the take. Additionally, no programming/odds updates or machine resets may be made to the slot machine until the machine has sat idle for a minimum of 4 minutes; and if an update/reset is being made the machine _must_ clearly display that this is occurring. So the sick thing here is that each loss does in fact bring you closer to the winning spin. One of the only real strategies of slot machines (in the sense that there can be a strategy to a game of luck) is to stand around idling watching other people lose, then after someone leaves a machine with a bad run you immediately drop in to the spot and start playing the same machine.
        guelo 4y ago
        The 75% isn't calculated per player or per session. It's the theoretical minimum payout over the long run. Basically it's just code that does win = rand() < .75
        whoisburbansky 4y ago
        Why does the GP's comment strike you as implying that the minimum is calculated per person or session?
        bigtunacan 4y ago
        Yeah, I was a bit confused why they thought that is what I was implying. I was just trying to explain high level how it works. I previously worked on a couple of online "slot machines" and several of my former colleagues write software now for WMS on physical machines.
- nraford 4y ago
  Brings to mind the old Bruce Sterling answer to the Fermi Paradox. Why haven't we discovered life yet amongst the vastness of the stars? Because they wanked themselves to death in VR pleasure palaces.
ryandrake 4y ago
Reminds me a little of Star Trek TNG's The Game[1], where the crew becomes addicted to an automated AR/VR game that just sits there autoplaying, directly manipulating the brain's pleasure sensors. Something like this, but one that also slowly transfers the contents of the user's bank account to a corporation, could be the ultimate end-result of our current capitalist-technologist trajectory. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_...
- beckingz 4y ago
  "To unlock more Dopamine Crystals, please do this Mechanical Turk task and complete a side quest for Pepsi flavored Vat Fluid"
  - hiptobecubic 4y ago
    Isn't this what a job already is?
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  > Reminds me a little of Star Trek TNG's The Game[1], where the crew becomes addicted to an automated AR/VR game that just sits there autoplaying, directly manipulating the brain's pleasure sensors. Huh. That appears to be a mostly-accurate summary of Wikipedia's description of the episode, which heavily features the term "addicted". But it's an awful summary of the episode itself, which doesn't use the concept of addiction at all. (Also, the game doesn't autoplay; it is shown on screen requiring effort from the player.) The game is a malevolent agent which intentionally makes very specific modifications to the players' minds. The relevant concept is infection, not addiction. The plot of the episode is essentially identical to that of the TNG episode Conspiracy[1], or the Buffy episode Bad Eggs[2]. And while not completely identical, the plot is also very similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers[3]. It's a very, very common theme. (As shown by the fact that TNG did it twice!) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(Star_Trek:_The_Nex... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Eggs_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Eggs_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Sl... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchers
gammarator 4y ago
A related academic work is “Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas” by Natasha Schull.

BigHatLogan 4y ago

Fantastic book. The stories about the slot machine players who wear black pants so that they can urinate without being noticed was shocking, to say the least. They are so addicted to the machines that they won't even get up to use the restroom. The phrase he used, "playing to extinction", very much reminds me of what's happening now across most entertainment categories, broadly speaking (autoplay, loot boxes, slot machine-style gaming content, etc.)

HappySweeney 4y ago
It isn't so much that they are addicted (though they are), but that someone will take their spot while they are up.
- jonny_eh 4y ago
  That's just a rationalization they tell themselves.
  - HappySweeney 4y ago
    It's more than that. In a game like roulette, probability has no memory. In slots, the payout must come eventually, and playing losing rounds only brings you closer to that. There are slots players just waiting for others to go bust so they can swoop in. Also, one would hope that those that are so addicted that they are fine to just haul-off and piss themselves would be able to think ahead and simply wear a diaper.
    - drekipus 4y ago
      > In slots, the payout must come eventually, and playing losing rounds only brings you closer to that. Riiiigggghhhhttttt
      - bigtunacan 4y ago
        The payout is always less than the take, but the parent is correct. In most areas (of the US at least) casino slot machines are pretty tightly regulated to have to pay out a certain percentage of the take. To give an example, slot machines in Nevada must pay out a minimum of 75% of the take. Additionally, no programming/odds updates or machine resets may be made to the slot machine until the machine has sat idle for a minimum of 4 minutes; and if an update/reset is being made the machine _must_ clearly display that this is occurring. So the sick thing here is that each loss does in fact bring you closer to the winning spin. One of the only real strategies of slot machines (in the sense that there can be a strategy to a game of luck) is to stand around idling watching other people lose, then after someone leaves a machine with a bad run you immediately drop in to the spot and start playing the same machine.
        guelo 4y ago
        The 75% isn't calculated per player or per session. It's the theoretical minimum payout over the long run. Basically it's just code that does win = rand() < .75
        whoisburbansky 4y ago
        Why does the GP's comment strike you as implying that the minimum is calculated per person or session?
        bigtunacan 4y ago
        Yeah, I was a bit confused why they thought that is what I was implying. I was just trying to explain high level how it works. I previously worked on a couple of online "slot machines" and several of my former colleagues write software now for WMS on physical machines.
nraford 4y ago
Brings to mind the old Bruce Sterling answer to the Fermi Paradox. Why haven't we discovered life yet amongst the vastness of the stars? Because they wanked themselves to death in VR pleasure palaces.

ryandrake 4y ago

Reminds me a little of Star Trek TNG's The Game[1], where the crew becomes addicted to an automated AR/VR game that just sits there autoplaying, directly manipulating the brain's pleasure sensors. Something like this, but one that also slowly transfers the contents of the user's bank account to a corporation, could be the ultimate end-result of our current capitalist-technologist trajectory. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_...

beckingz 4y ago
"To unlock more Dopamine Crystals, please do this Mechanical Turk task and complete a side quest for Pepsi flavored Vat Fluid"
- hiptobecubic 4y ago
  Isn't this what a job already is?
thaumasiotes 4y ago
> Reminds me a little of Star Trek TNG's The Game[1], where the crew becomes addicted to an automated AR/VR game that just sits there autoplaying, directly manipulating the brain's pleasure sensors. Huh. That appears to be a mostly-accurate summary of Wikipedia's description of the episode, which heavily features the term "addicted". But it's an awful summary of the episode itself, which doesn't use the concept of addiction at all. (Also, the game doesn't autoplay; it is shown on screen requiring effort from the player.) The game is a malevolent agent which intentionally makes very specific modifications to the players' minds. The relevant concept is infection, not addiction. The plot of the episode is essentially identical to that of the TNG episode Conspiracy[1], or the Buffy episode Bad Eggs[2]. And while not completely identical, the plot is also very similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers[3]. It's a very, very common theme. (As shown by the fact that TNG did it twice!) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(Star_Trek:_The_Nex... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Eggs_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Eggs_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Sl... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchers

gammarator 4y ago

A related academic work is “Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas” by Natasha Schull.