4 ms·

Can we remind ourselves that these platforms, games, websites- whatever form or shape - employ busloads of psychologists and every dirty trick in the book (deve

Can we remind ourselves that these platforms, games, websites- whatever form or shape - employ busloads of psychologists and every dirty trick in the book (developed by, among other things, the ad industry) to get people hooked on the product/service?

lagrange77 3y ago
> busloads of psychologists Aren't they bound to the Hippocratic oath?
- zabzonk 3y ago
  psychologists may well not be medics, so no. psychiatrists very often are medics.
  - sjfjsjdjwvwvc 3y ago
    Even if they were the oath doesn’t really mean anything beyond personal beliefs
- 0xEF 3y ago
  No. The APA has an ethics code, but that's about it. Even the Hippocratic Oath is not as legally binding as we might want it to be.
  - krapp 3y ago
    I should hope a vague ritual invocation of pagan gods wouldn't be legally binding.
  - throwup238 3y ago
    > Even the Hippocratic Oath is not as legally binding as we might want it to be. That's largely because "do no harm" is a really fuzzy concept in a field where treatments like chemotherapy that put patients through absolute hell without any guarantee of remission or even comfort. Other licensed professionals like professional engineers and lawyers have ethical codes with quite a bit more legal heft.
    - sjfjsjdjwvwvc 3y ago
      I got curios and looked it up: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Engineer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Engineer Does not seem to be legally binding, so it’s just nice sounding mumbo jumbo as far as I am concerned. They should make SWEs take it regardless… Edit: quick search gave the same results for lawyers
      - filoleg 3y ago
        > quick search gave the same results for lawyers I mean, it might not be legally binding, but violating it will get you disbarred afaik. And if you are disbarred, you cannot legally practice law, so it is kinda legally binding, just not directly.
      - throwup238 3y ago
        It is legally binding, it's just implemented via professional association rather than a regulatory framework. The US government even sues the NSPE over antitrust violations because of that code of ethics. See National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States 435 US 679 [1] [1] https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/435/679/ https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/435/679/
    - opello 3y ago
      Not that the Hippocratic Oath is required everywhere or even consistently used. > Contrary to popular belief, the Hippocratic Oath is not required by most modern medical schools, although some have adopted modern versions[1] that suit many in the profession in the 21st century. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html [1] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_modern.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_modern.html
  - User23 3y ago
    It’s about as legally meaningful as wedding vows in our legal system.
- Konnstann 3y ago
  Psychologists aren't doctors, just people with phds in psychology. Clinical psychologists might have some version of the oath though.
- anonfromsomewhe 3y ago
  I'm sure even if they do, with help of SE teams they will find tricks to make enough money.
SirMaster 3y ago
I sometimes wonder why no social networking or social media has really ever appealed to me. And conversely what makes it seemingly so appealing to others. I mean sure I use this website, so I suppose that counts to some degree, but not very many hours per week and I use it to keep up on tech news and post occasional comments.
- krapp 3y ago
  Social media is appealing because it provides a means of networking, communication and entertainment that allows people to share and consume media in multiple forms. For instance my mother uses Facebook to keep up with her COPD support group and chat with relatives. Twitter used to be a useful place to follow people in specific fields, I still follow artists and game developers there who haven't moved to Mastodon. Asking what's appealing about social media is like asking what's appealing about telephones. Social media has taken the place of a primary communication appliance for many people. It's useful, despite its many downsides. I suspect most people don't have a deeply pathological relationship with it, either.
  - CaptainFever 3y ago
    > Twitter used to be a useful place to follow people in specific fields, I still follow artists and game developers there who haven't moved to Mastodon. I managed to stay on Mastodon by using bird.makeup to follow people who aren't in the Fediverse. Hopefully when BlueSky opens up someone will build a bridge between it and AP so we can follow them as well!
  - SirMaster 3y ago
    I mean telephones appeal to me but social networking sites like Facebook, instagram, Twitter or any of that stuff doesn’t. Telephone is a communication device, these other services have communication options, but it doesn’t seem to be the main feature. I don’t have any interest in subscribing to someone’s status updates. And I also have no interest in sending status updates out into the internet. I only have an interest in direct messaging which is how I view a telephone.
- 3y ago
neuronerdgirl 3y ago
> employ busloads of psychologists Oh for the love of - no. They do not. As a PhD in psychology I am completely unhireable at these places except maybe as a data scientist because I can do basic statistics. This is completely baseless conspiracy thinking. The people doing the UI and UX work at these companies maybe took a couple courses in basic intro psych and marketing.

lagrange77 3y ago

> busloads of psychologists Aren't they bound to the Hippocratic oath?

zabzonk 3y ago
psychologists may well not be medics, so no. psychiatrists very often are medics.
- sjfjsjdjwvwvc 3y ago
  Even if they were the oath doesn’t really mean anything beyond personal beliefs
0xEF 3y ago
No. The APA has an ethics code, but that's about it. Even the Hippocratic Oath is not as legally binding as we might want it to be.
- krapp 3y ago
  I should hope a vague ritual invocation of pagan gods wouldn't be legally binding.
- throwup238 3y ago
  > Even the Hippocratic Oath is not as legally binding as we might want it to be. That's largely because "do no harm" is a really fuzzy concept in a field where treatments like chemotherapy that put patients through absolute hell without any guarantee of remission or even comfort. Other licensed professionals like professional engineers and lawyers have ethical codes with quite a bit more legal heft.
  - sjfjsjdjwvwvc 3y ago
    I got curios and looked it up: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Engineer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Engineer Does not seem to be legally binding, so it’s just nice sounding mumbo jumbo as far as I am concerned. They should make SWEs take it regardless… Edit: quick search gave the same results for lawyers
    - filoleg 3y ago
      > quick search gave the same results for lawyers I mean, it might not be legally binding, but violating it will get you disbarred afaik. And if you are disbarred, you cannot legally practice law, so it is kinda legally binding, just not directly.
    - throwup238 3y ago
      It is legally binding, it's just implemented via professional association rather than a regulatory framework. The US government even sues the NSPE over antitrust violations because of that code of ethics. See National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States 435 US 679 [1] [1] https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/435/679/ https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/435/679/
  - opello 3y ago
    Not that the Hippocratic Oath is required everywhere or even consistently used. > Contrary to popular belief, the Hippocratic Oath is not required by most modern medical schools, although some have adopted modern versions[1] that suit many in the profession in the 21st century. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html [1] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_modern.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_modern.html
- User23 3y ago
  It’s about as legally meaningful as wedding vows in our legal system.
Konnstann 3y ago
Psychologists aren't doctors, just people with phds in psychology. Clinical psychologists might have some version of the oath though.
anonfromsomewhe 3y ago
I'm sure even if they do, with help of SE teams they will find tricks to make enough money.

SirMaster 3y ago

I sometimes wonder why no social networking or social media has really ever appealed to me. And conversely what makes it seemingly so appealing to others. I mean sure I use this website, so I suppose that counts to some degree, but not very many hours per week and I use it to keep up on tech news and post occasional comments.

krapp 3y ago
Social media is appealing because it provides a means of networking, communication and entertainment that allows people to share and consume media in multiple forms. For instance my mother uses Facebook to keep up with her COPD support group and chat with relatives. Twitter used to be a useful place to follow people in specific fields, I still follow artists and game developers there who haven't moved to Mastodon. Asking what's appealing about social media is like asking what's appealing about telephones. Social media has taken the place of a primary communication appliance for many people. It's useful, despite its many downsides. I suspect most people don't have a deeply pathological relationship with it, either.
- CaptainFever 3y ago
  > Twitter used to be a useful place to follow people in specific fields, I still follow artists and game developers there who haven't moved to Mastodon. I managed to stay on Mastodon by using bird.makeup to follow people who aren't in the Fediverse. Hopefully when BlueSky opens up someone will build a bridge between it and AP so we can follow them as well!
- SirMaster 3y ago
  I mean telephones appeal to me but social networking sites like Facebook, instagram, Twitter or any of that stuff doesn’t. Telephone is a communication device, these other services have communication options, but it doesn’t seem to be the main feature. I don’t have any interest in subscribing to someone’s status updates. And I also have no interest in sending status updates out into the internet. I only have an interest in direct messaging which is how I view a telephone.
3y ago

neuronerdgirl 3y ago

> employ busloads of psychologists Oh for the love of - no. They do not. As a PhD in psychology I am completely unhireable at these places except maybe as a data scientist because I can do basic statistics. This is completely baseless conspiracy thinking. The people doing the UI and UX work at these companies maybe took a couple courses in basic intro psych and marketing.