[mattgreenrocks]

> the whole debacle of beta vs alphas was based on studies on wolfs on stressful conditions (i.e., cages).

The whole alpha/beta meme is a perfect microcosm of what we see today: ardent denial of the complexities of reality. It is a half-truth (some people fare better in the sexual marketplace) that gets elevated to the status of belief. When it becomes a belief, then intellectual heels are dug in. Conflicting information is downplayed, and no amount of reality seems to shift opinions. Perception is twisted to confirm pre-existing beliefs.

The belief must be held. It has been made to serve some psychological purpose for the holder, even if it just a subconscious justification for their own behavior.

You need humility to transcend the local maxima that every human falls into. It's the only way to counterbalance the prone-to-flaws hardware our brains run on. But a lot of our society tries to beat it out of people.

[spacemadness]

That’s because no amount of reality can make its way into someone’s algorithmic feed. On every social media platform I’ve been on with engagement algorithms, the algorithm creates an intellectual prison where bad ideas that speak to our emotions get reinforced. I see this in my own feeds where it decides, since I like video games and fitness, that I probably should check out these alt-right grifters and the manosphere. Once you click on one of those videos, you quickly get locked in to that content. And unfortunately, I don’t think people have a clue that it’s happening as it speaks to their pain, delusions, what have you.

[fifteen1506]

It's one of those cases, "people should know better". I think targeted advertisement and social media must be regulated, if not for everything else only to dictate the amount of non-chronological events allowed per items.