4 ms·

Its interesting to think many of the techniques the casino's used to keep people gambling going back to the 60's and 70's are the same ones facebook, twitter an

Its interesting to think many of the techniques the casino's used to keep people gambling going back to the 60's and 70's are the same ones facebook, twitter and youtube all employ now in one way or another today. I had the same reaction you did in your data science class when I took several psychology classes and they talked about the same psychological tricks. You quickly realize how easy it is to manipulate the human brain and by proxy, human behavior. Reminds of the quote from Joshua the computer in War Games: "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

scarby2 2y ago
Best course I ever took was one on how to counter your own cognitive biases
stickfigure 2y ago
If it's so easy... surely you've figured out how to become fabulously wealthy? I'm curious which tricks you use. I am calling bullshit here. There's a popular narrative that we've somehow hacked the code of the human brain and can program people to do anything we want, against their will. Nonsense. The best you can do is move the needle a few percentage points across a statistically large number of humans. This is not something to worry about.
- AlbertCory 2y ago
  > surely you've figured out how to become fabulously wealthy You mean, by starting a big casino, hiring thousands of people, advertising all over, etc.? A small investment like that? > The best you can do is move the needle a few percentage points across a statistically large number of humans. That may be true, but a "few percentage points" is enough to create enormous profits, if you do what I said above. Giving the house a 54% advantage instead of 51% makes a big, big difference.
  - stickfigure 2y ago
    It's obviously not that easy. Casinos go bankrupt left and right. Hell, one famous former president is responsible for three of them.
    - Spivak 2y ago
      Yes, but those casinos didn't go bankrupt from players collecting too many winnings. It's still a business and if you don't get enough customers in to keep the lights on you fold. Customer acquisition and retention is still hard. Especially when you're not the only gambling parlor in town. You're selling an addictive product which is extremely effective over a population but you don't have a moat to make sure they're addicted to specifically you. But government and society don't care about a specific business, they're counting the number of people addicted by the industry in total. This thread is fun because the kind of black and white thinking neuro-spicy internet commentator on HN doesn't have an intellectual framework that can capture why alcohol, cannabis, and Oxy might be allowable but not heroine. And then an analyze gambling and sports betting in that framework. It's why the arguments keep circling forever.
      - AlbertCory 2y ago
        Thanks. Having a good average profit over a player's bets gives you a head start, but (a) the amount of their bets, (b) the number of players, and (c) their loyalty all determine your gross profit. All of those are factors you have to work on. And then your costs have to be less than that.
mrgoldenbrown 2y ago
Most mobile games too, not just the social media apps.

scarby2 2y ago

Best course I ever took was one on how to counter your own cognitive biases

stickfigure 2y ago

If it's so easy... surely you've figured out how to become fabulously wealthy? I'm curious which tricks you use. I am calling bullshit here. There's a popular narrative that we've somehow hacked the code of the human brain and can program people to do anything we want, against their will. Nonsense. The best you can do is move the needle a few percentage points across a statistically large number of humans. This is not something to worry about.

AlbertCory 2y ago
> surely you've figured out how to become fabulously wealthy You mean, by starting a big casino, hiring thousands of people, advertising all over, etc.? A small investment like that? > The best you can do is move the needle a few percentage points across a statistically large number of humans. That may be true, but a "few percentage points" is enough to create enormous profits, if you do what I said above. Giving the house a 54% advantage instead of 51% makes a big, big difference.
- stickfigure 2y ago
  It's obviously not that easy. Casinos go bankrupt left and right. Hell, one famous former president is responsible for three of them.
  - Spivak 2y ago
    Yes, but those casinos didn't go bankrupt from players collecting too many winnings. It's still a business and if you don't get enough customers in to keep the lights on you fold. Customer acquisition and retention is still hard. Especially when you're not the only gambling parlor in town. You're selling an addictive product which is extremely effective over a population but you don't have a moat to make sure they're addicted to specifically you. But government and society don't care about a specific business, they're counting the number of people addicted by the industry in total. This thread is fun because the kind of black and white thinking neuro-spicy internet commentator on HN doesn't have an intellectual framework that can capture why alcohol, cannabis, and Oxy might be allowable but not heroine. And then an analyze gambling and sports betting in that framework. It's why the arguments keep circling forever.
    - AlbertCory 2y ago
      Thanks. Having a good average profit over a player's bets gives you a head start, but (a) the amount of their bets, (b) the number of players, and (c) their loyalty all determine your gross profit. All of those are factors you have to work on. And then your costs have to be less than that.

mrgoldenbrown 2y ago

Most mobile games too, not just the social media apps.