[elliotec]

Money.

[swyx]

i think the more accurate answer is Engagement. we made it maximize paperclips, it maximized paperclips. sadly the most engaging is the most extreme.

[un_montagnard]

I agree with that. I think the question that's left unanswered is "why can't we make educational/scientific/historic content that drives up engagement?"

[breuleux]

Probably because reality is complicated, confusing and boring. What drives up engagement are clear, coherent stories and narratives with twists and turns that leave us shocked or awed. If you want educational content to be engaging, you have to find a way to make a good narrative out of truth. That's what this documentary and all other successful documentaries attempt to do.

But sometimes (most of the time, really) truth just doesn't fit this structure, so to make it engaging, you have to deform and twist it a bit. And if reality is really, actually, mundane, there's not much you can do to make it engaging, whereas it's extremely easy to make engaging, convincing falsehoods about nearly any subject.

[swyx]

i mean, we kind of can. 3blue1brown is amazing and popular. Dan Carlin and Hardcore History.

its just that the 7 sins always win hands down. even for someone who's aware of their corrupting influence.

[gtsop]

I think money is more accurate really since noone cares about engagement for the sake of engegement, but rather for the money engagement generates.

[pseudalopex]

Money is the root cause. Engagement is the direct cause. Both are important.