[481092]

They should make youtube great again. It used to be that I could watch 911 videos on the anniversary and there'd be real heart-felt personal videos from actual people involved and now most of that's been censored by dramatic conspiratorial junk.

It'd also be great if it didn't recommend for every video I watch, Jordan Peterson on his social justice sprees complaining about the newest thing that he's offended by this week. That got old last year.

[microcolonel]

> Jordan Peterson... That got old last year.

No, it did not. By some takes, society is in its most dire crisis ever and he's telling people they can do something other than panic. That's popular, get over it.

[481092]

Out of all the crises society has ever faced, you're talking about one of the most peaceful times in mankind. This is why people are getting annoyed at youtube's recommendations and part of the problem. People like you and Peterson trying to fight over people's minds and telling them you need to be offended by this or you need to do that. No, I just want to watch my nature docs, I don't need people trying to recruit me to fight in their own personal culture wars.

[microcolonel]

> Out of all the crises society has ever faced, you're talking about one of the most peaceful times in mankind.

The crisis is beneath your nose.

> No, I just want to watch my nature docs, I don't need people trying to recruit me to fight in their own personal culture wars.

That is a healthy attitude, good for you! Jordan Peterson's not reaching out to people who are well adjusted and who have something going on in their lives. He's presenting an alternative to resentment, the particular kind of resentment that lends all too well to scapegoating.

If you are not put upon by his ideological opponents, that's great; but many people are, and I like personal responsibility as a message a heck of a lot better than blaming a merchant class, a race, or an unfalsifiable conspiracy: the latter of which seems to be the popular alternative to a narrative of self-ownership.

The fact that you, a particularly unusual person, are not interested in his work is no indication of whether or not it is popular enough to warrant promotion by YouTube's algorithm. Because people YouTube considers similar to the natural audience of that work, will tend to watch it at length when given the choice, YouTube figures it ought to promote it. That seems like the way a recommendation engine ought to work. If not that way, then how?

Added: to sum; I think it is at least morally acceptable that YouTube has a recommendation system based largely on how much time you are likely to spend watching the content. If that content is monetized, it is not pleasant that they would prefer monetized content, but it is at least defensible. The fact that you do not like the particular content mentioned by the parent comment is neither here, nor there.

[silveroriole]

What is he telling people they can do? Other than stand up straight and ignore the crisis until they’ve cleaned their rooms? (I’ve already read the book.)

[microcolonel]

What on Earth do you think broken people, coiled up in self-pity are going to do to alleviate a crisis?

Who do you think the book is for? Successful, productive people who know why they wake up in the morning?

If you had nothing to learn nothing from his mass-market self-help book, good for you! Congratulations on being well-adjusted.