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by sametmax 2537 days ago
Immoral yes. Ridiculous no.

People have a short memory and a strong affect toward symbolism.

Marketing just pulls the desired psychological tricks to reach their objective.

It works. Just like lying in politics works. Just like making corporate PR statements work. Just like in your face ads work. Just like showing boobs work.

It will work as long as people are cruising in their life instead of trying to build it. It will keep working because it goes with the flow of our internal mechanisms, and it takes conscious efforts to not be influenced by it. And it will keep being used because the value of doing so it far superior than the cost.
4 comments
ableal 2537 days ago
"It is worse than a crime,—it is a blunder"

( https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Fouch%C3%A9 and https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Maurice_de_Talleyrand-... )

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xtracto 2537 days ago
> People have a short memory

Just think about the "Sony Rootkit" or countless of other fiascos that have happened over time. Society forgets so easily.

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LordFast 2537 days ago
Can't argue with you, that was very poignant.
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6gvONxR4sf7o 2537 days ago
Immoral-as-the-norm is itself ridiculous.
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sametmax 2537 days ago
I tend to see bad apples just like tornadoes or forest fires. They are natural catastrophes, and they will always be there, not matter the society we build.

The important part is how we react to those people. In that sense, I feel we are more responsible for the problem than them. Indeed, why blame a tornado ? Better learn to behave in case of one, and make houses the proper way.

So I don't think we should focus on the immorality as much as we should make sure we create generations of persons than know how to deal with it: remember bad deeds, detect manipulations, choose what they consume, etc.

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6gvONxR4sf7o 2537 days ago
You're absolutely right to focus on making sure we know how to deal with these things. The difference is that there aren't two sides to a tornado. We should also additionally focus on the people and systems that make this happen.
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sametmax 2537 days ago
Sure, but no matter how much you do this additional focus, there will be always be a few terrible persons going through the net. The only way to avoid it would be to cut down on freedom to an extreme.

It's also very expensive. The legal system, prisons, and the whole gov web is a big, slow and inflexible machine.

Removing the incentive to be an asshole is just better. But it's our job, not the job of some higher power.

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