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by jasonlotito 1299 days ago
> Don’t try to deny it, if it wasn’t what you wanted you wouldn’t be doomscrolling so much, would you?

This is the most ignorant and idiotic[1] take I've seen on something like this.

Don’t try to deny it, if it wasn’t what you wanted you wouldn’t be smoking so much, would you?

Don’t try to deny it, if it wasn’t what you wanted you wouldn’t be drinking alcohol so much, would you?

Don’t try to deny it, if it wasn’t what you wanted you wouldn’t be taking oxy so much, would you?

Don’t try to deny it, if it wasn’t what you wanted you wouldn’t be seeing ads so much, would you?

> These ML models know what you want and that’s what they show you.

No, they don't. This is 100% wrong, and coupled with the previous comment, shows a complete lack of knowledge in this area.

These ML models don't know what you want.

They know what you engage with. What you engage with isn't necessarily what you want. And ANY suggestion otherwise is wrong. Simply put, engaging with something doesn't necessarily mean you want to see more of it.

[1] Yes, that's a hard stance to take, but I stand by what I said. But you read this comment, which means you wanted it. Don’t try to deny it, if it wasn’t what you wanted you wouldn’t read any part of it, would you?

2 comments

Interventions to modify behavior (at least successful ones) that I'm familiar with start with understanding that you do want these things (or are at least ambivalent about them) and then getting to how you have conflicting desires and the behavior you want to modify may be incompatible with something you want more if you cling to it.

If smoking had no side-effects, I certainly wouldn't care if my family smoked. But I'm trying to get the one dying from pneumonia to understand that smoking suppresses her immune system. Trust me: she wants that cigarette though; someone doesn't go that far out of their way to hide the lighter and the pack if they don't want to.

People aren't sure what they want. In particular, you 20 years from now might not agree with what you think you want right now. See https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/03/22/why-love-hurts-eva...