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The moral problem may be when the value provided does not match the cost (in this case to the slot user). Just because a slot machine is able to rewire some neu
by avivo 11y ago
The moral problem may be when the value provided does not match the cost (in this case to the slot user). Just because a slot machine is able to rewire some neural circuitry in the user so that he thinks the value matched the cost...doesn't mean it actually does.
It's as immoral as selling a car for 10x an appropriate price, by not voluntarily revealing a critical flaw. Both involve "cheating" someone based off a sort of information/computation asymmetry.
Addicting someone's brain in way that creates value (e.g. getting them to exercise) is obviously worth a significant cost - and I'm totally ok with someone making a profit on that!
- avivo 11y agoTo expand a bit - in the car selling example, it's an information asymmetry, known and ignored by the seller. In the slot example, it's an "information-computation asymmetry" - the slot machine literally knows how you think and is pushing your psychological buttons in order to cheat you. It's even rewiring your brain (your dopamine response AKA your computation) so that it can push your buttons more effectively. In both cases, the "cheater" is enabling and taking advantage of asymmetry. They are explicitly harming the other party in a way that benefits them. (If you have a better term than information-computation asymmetry I'd love to know what it is!)
- killface 11y agoMy family has several addicts in it. Some recovered, some not. Whenever you ask them "why?," it's usually "because it makes me feel normal." This is the re-wiring. Your body just becomes used to the dopamine party, and you feel kinda crummy when the dopamine is gone. The only way to get back to feeling normal is to do the addictive behavior. Left untreated for a long enough time, this can be a big factor in clinical depression.