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I have heard the story about gin carts and the analysis about how gin was used to quell social disquiet at the beginning of the industrial revolution and the ur

I have heard the story about gin carts and the analysis about how gin was used to quell social disquiet at the beginning of the industrial revolution and the urbanization of the English public. Even if that is historically accurate, it seems a long jump to move from there to the eventual institutions like public libraries. Producing require motivation, while consumption is passive. It doesn't seem guaranteed to me that people will be motivated in their free time in the way that will result in Wikipedia. In fact, it seems that leveraging passivity is probably more valuable. For example, the way TikTok gets people to rate videos is a byproduct of passive consumption - it requires no motivation at all. This article also flies in the face of the normal attribution of 90% lurkers, 9% up voters, 1% creators [1]. I don't see any trends moving those numbers in the short term. Even a "sharing" action is in the 9% bucket. So I share the skepticism against this idea. I don't see free time shifting away from passive consumption to content production anytime soon. 1. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/participation-inequality/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/participation-inequality/

shermantanktop 3y ago
This article is a classic instance of a thought-provoking thesis that is supported by interesting assertions that don't hold up to scrutiny. See Yuval Noah Harari, Malcom Gladwell, Jared Diamond, etc. Every single one has included dilettante-level ideas that make a lot more sense when holding a beer. The thesis is still interesting, and I don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
- jameshart 3y ago
  The purpose of the gin anecdote is less to provide an airtight proof of a scientific correlation, and more as a warmup act to get your mind to think about social behavior in a different way than you might naturally be inclined to. The author getting you to walk through a warmup exercise to get you ready to follow the argument they are about to make. Not every piece of writing is meant to function as an academic thesis.
  - shermantanktop 3y ago
    Hopefully it's clear that I agree with you - many critics are quick to make well-ackshually comments about this type of warmup content, and it misses the point.

shermantanktop 3y ago

This article is a classic instance of a thought-provoking thesis that is supported by interesting assertions that don't hold up to scrutiny. See Yuval Noah Harari, Malcom Gladwell, Jared Diamond, etc. Every single one has included dilettante-level ideas that make a lot more sense when holding a beer. The thesis is still interesting, and I don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

jameshart 3y ago
The purpose of the gin anecdote is less to provide an airtight proof of a scientific correlation, and more as a warmup act to get your mind to think about social behavior in a different way than you might naturally be inclined to. The author getting you to walk through a warmup exercise to get you ready to follow the argument they are about to make. Not every piece of writing is meant to function as an academic thesis.
- shermantanktop 3y ago
  Hopefully it's clear that I agree with you - many critics are quick to make well-ackshually comments about this type of warmup content, and it misses the point.