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> but employers aren't going to tell you they're digging into your personal life or why you were turned down for the job. So I don't learn why I didn't get a j

> but employers aren't going to tell you they're digging into your personal life or why you were turned down for the job. So I don't learn why I didn't get a job I definitely wouldn't want. Perhaps not the ideal outcome, but not far from it. I really don't understand what the problem is here. Would I prefer if I accidentally ended up working for an awful person because I never gave them a chance to reveal their awfulness? Absolutely not. I don't want to work for an awful person even if they never get a chance to be awful to me personally. > even [if] you know it's happening you're still influenced by manipulation I reject your framing but to the extent there's any truth to it, I'm going to be manipulated by ads no matter what. Given that, I'd rather be manipulated by ads that are better targeted to me. This is an important point — manipulation is mostly orthogonal to targeting. Especially since hyper-targeting quickly becomes overtly creepy and loses its manipulativeness. Considered holistically, there's no downside for me being targeted rather than broadcasted. In fact if targeting means that a company's customer acquisition costs are lower, there's a non-zero chance it could result in me paying a lower price for something I would have bought anyway.

autoexec 3y ago
> So I don't learn why I didn't get a job I definitely wouldn't want. Perhaps not the ideal outcome, but not far from it. Would you say the same about the house you wanted to buy/rent or the loan you needed? It just makes it easier to hide discrimination that would otherwise be illegal. At least the bigoted HR person in charge of screening applicants is probably not someone you'd interact with once hired. > I'd rather be manipulated by ads that are better targeted to me. I doubt I can change your preference for targeting advertising, but I will offer you a few perspectives on the subject you might not have considered: It was manipulation through ad targeting that made that whole Cambridge Analytica situation such a problem. Targeted ads artificially limit what new products and services you get exposed to only those things companies "think" you want, or what advertisers want you to buy, or whatever will make them more money vs things you might really be into or prefer if you'd had the opportunity to hear about them. It allows them to shape culture and segregate populations. This is a similar problem to the "filter bubble" found in search engines. knowing that we're vulnerable to advertising, I'd much rather be tricked into forming an irrational association linking happiness, or acceptance, or well-being and a product that I know I'll never or rarely buy than have that kind of trickery influence my choice between two products of a category I buy often.

autoexec 3y ago

> So I don't learn why I didn't get a job I definitely wouldn't want. Perhaps not the ideal outcome, but not far from it. Would you say the same about the house you wanted to buy/rent or the loan you needed? It just makes it easier to hide discrimination that would otherwise be illegal. At least the bigoted HR person in charge of screening applicants is probably not someone you'd interact with once hired. > I'd rather be manipulated by ads that are better targeted to me. I doubt I can change your preference for targeting advertising, but I will offer you a few perspectives on the subject you might not have considered: It was manipulation through ad targeting that made that whole Cambridge Analytica situation such a problem. Targeted ads artificially limit what new products and services you get exposed to only those things companies "think" you want, or what advertisers want you to buy, or whatever will make them more money vs things you might really be into or prefer if you'd had the opportunity to hear about them. It allows them to shape culture and segregate populations. This is a similar problem to the "filter bubble" found in search engines. knowing that we're vulnerable to advertising, I'd much rather be tricked into forming an irrational association linking happiness, or acceptance, or well-being and a product that I know I'll never or rarely buy than have that kind of trickery influence my choice between two products of a category I buy often.