[darawk]

> Also, out of curiosity, looking at all your comments in this thread - is all this discussion a one big exercise at applying stuff from Scott Alexander's "Varieties of Argumentative Experience"? ;).

Haha, well, I did say this in the discord channel I share with some friends about an hour ago:

> whew boys, i'm arguing on like 87 fronts on hn simultaneously

> rly stirred up a hornets nest

> told them using ad blockers was stealing

> not even sure if i believe it, but makes for a good tussle

And I am also a pretty religious reader of slate star codex :).

[TeMPOraL]

Hah :).

> And I am also a pretty religious reader of slate star codex :).

So am I!

> > not even sure if i believe it, but makes for a good tussle

So are you now more, or less sure if you believe it?

[darawk]

> So are you now more, or less sure if you believe it?

Haha well....I'm not sure i'm any closer to an answer, other than of course that the label 'theft' is slippery and labeling something "theft" or "not theft" is kind of meaningless [0] (except insofar as the whole prison thing is concerned - it's kind of meaningful there). It is theft in the sense that something has been taken from someone under conditions other than those they specified. It is not theft in the sense that maybe they didn't really specify it clearly, or maybe society has decided to limit the media within which such terms may be specified? But why did we decide to do that? It all seems a little arbitrary, and really kind of boils down to the way certain mediums make people "feel". People (myself included) "feel" like digitally copying something is not the same as taking a physical object. Partly maybe because digital goods are non-rivalrous? I'm not sure.

There is actually a physical world example of this exact sort of thing: time share presentations. They often will give you some reward like a trip for sitting through their presentation. The dynamics are a little different, because you can't get the reward without sitting through the presentation. But what's really going on there? Is it the physical gating mechanism that gives it moral force? If they said "On the honor system, don't take any free meal coupons unless you watch the whole presentation", does that change the moral dynamics of the situation? I think the answer is probably no, but i'll tell you that it makes me personally a whole lot more likely to skip the presentation :p.

[0] http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/11/21/the-categories-were-mad...

[shkkmo]

> of course that the label 'theft' is slippery and labeling something "theft" or "not theft" is kind of meaningless [0] (except insofar as the whole prison thing is concerned - it's kind of meaningful there). It is theft in the sense that something has been taken from someone under conditions other than those they specified.

The label "theft" is not like the label "feesh". Words carry weight beyond the category to which the refer.

If I say "You're an asshole! (btw, by 'asshole' I mean anyone who enjoys arguing on the internet)".

That is not the same as saying "You're a genius! (btw, by 'genius' I mean anyone who enjoys arguing on the internet)".

When you choose to use an morally (and legally) loaded term, you are doing more than just opening up a pointless semantics debate, you are striving for an emotional impact.

Why would you choose to use such a loaded term as "stealing", rather than the more clear and accurate term "breaking contract" when that much more clearly describes what you mean?

[darawk]

> When you choose to use an morally (and legally) loaded term, you are doing more than just opening up a pointless semantics debate, you are striving for an emotional impact.

I didn't originate the term, the comment I was responding to initially did.