[oldtownroad]

Addiction isn’t rational so the answer may be as unsatisfying as “people got addicted because they got addicted”. Many people addicted to real slot machines are addicted because you press a button and something happens, the fact that you can win real money is not much of a differentiator between these apps and real slot machines — because addicts in a casino aren’t walking away in profit either.

[sneak]

Most pleasure-seeking isn’t rational. I don’t understand why we single out this form of irrationally wasting money but not all of the other ones that are common.

[zeroonetwothree]

We don't single out this form. Many other addictive forms of pleasure seeking are also negatively portrayed (e.g., smoking, alcohol, drugs, video games, TV, etc.)

[wafriedemann]

Justifying their behaviour with 'addiction' makes them completely unresponsible for their actions. If that's the case you'd have to declare them incompetent for doing business and assign them an agent.

[just_boost_it]

That's a fairly unempathetic view. I don't know what it's like to be a gambler, but I do know that anyone who thinks they are completely rational is only fooling themselves. We are emotional animals with a tiny rational voice that can only shunt our emotions in a better direction.

[aaomidi]

To add to your point, these are companies with the ability to spend millions to get research done on the most efficient way to manipulate people.

This isn’t just gambler vs some other person.

This is one person against a resource pool worth millions of dollars. No individual in aggregate has a chance against that.

[Waterluvian]

I think my number one pet peeve of this species is that people are so strongly inclined to assume that everyone’s experience is about the same as their experience. Empathy can be such an uphill battle.

[rjh29]

Hacker News isn't really representative of humanity as a whole. It is a very thin slice of intelligent and creative but also cynical and pedantic people with low empathy and emotional intelligence. That is not a value judgement, that is just what it is. Virtually every top comment in every article is nitpicking or dismissal; positivity, especially blind positivity without any evidence, is not valued here.

[rkho]

Hello! I apologize for this being extremely out of context but five months ago on one of my comment threads you recommended Takayama Showa-Kan and I wanted to let you know that I visited it last month and loved it (and Takayama as a whole). Thanks again for the rec!

[rjh29]

No problem! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[JCharante]

Well, if we’re not here to nitpick then what are we here for? Should the comment to upvote ratio decrease?

[thibaut_barrere]

I agree! Looks like a variant of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge

[aaomidi]

Is it a net benefit for society for folks to lose out on all their assets and money for the sake of gambling?

This is generational wealth that gets lost in gambling. It is the responsibility of a strong society to prevent scams, and to protect people from very damaging forms of manipulation.

[lotsoweiners]

Explain why that is a “responsibility of a strong society” rather than simply a fool and his money are soon parted. I like having the option to throw my money in a wishing well if I were so inclined.

[wussboy]

For real?

Because when a fool is parted from his money he and those who depend on him starve to death, and that, dear friend, is the part a strong society should be concerned about.

[xapata]

Universal basic income might cleanly solve that problem. Might, because the addict might spend the weekly income on the addiction instead of food and shelter.

[scotty79]

Not every explanation is justification.

[mplewis]

What exactly do you think an addiction is?

[sneak]

What exactly do you think happens when someone kicks an addiction?

[zeroonetwothree]

They aren't "completely" non-responsible, but they are somewhat because they are being taken advantage of in a predatory and almost fraudulent way.

Just like if you fall victim to a phone scam, sure it's somewhat your fault, but clearly it's mainly the fault of the scammer.

[matwood]

If only people were so simple.