[EventH-]

The fact that instinct's heuristics are not well-adapted to every situation does not change the above point that the various algorithms which nudge may (do) also detract from one's freedom.

And there is an important difference between the two: instinct has been trained over eons to select for what is good for the organism (heuristic trade-offs notwithstanding). The algorithms have not, and often nudge toward choices that someone else would prefer we make.

[voxic11]

Read your Dawkins, evolution does not "select for what is good for the organism".

[EventH-]

Sure it does — there is a noisy optimization process, but more importantly an undeniable general trend which is the point.

[roenxi]

> instinct has been trained over eons to select for what is good for the organism

They have not, they've had around 2 centuries. There is very little about the current world that instincts have been trained on. They are misleading and unhelpful on almost every topic. We keep seeing stupid mobs form and ignorantly break stuff for no useful reason which should be #1 on everyone's threat model.

The algorithms are positively benign compared to something like the US war frenzy after 9/11, or the constant rolling back of industrial prowess that the US has managed for the last 50 years because people keep accepting death-by-thousand-cuts because they don't have instincts for risk assessment. Communism was welcomed in with cheers, killed millions and we still struggle to convince everyone to have a positive gut-feel response to capitalism and free markets.