[alphazard]

I remember reading this closer to 2015. I'm convinced that these sorts of mental gymnastics and philosophizing are an info-hazard for otherwise smart and thoughtful people. Not a particularly dangerous one, but time that you won't get back.

Unless you are a psychopath, your human instincts will alert you to when you need to show respect or gratitude, or reciprocity is expected from you. You don't need to try to think your way in or out of those things, especially when the other party is a large corporation bothering you over the internet. The whole premise of the article is just nuts.

TLDR: You should blocks ads because they are annoying. Don't overthink it.

[themafia]

I'm not blocking ads.

I'm blocking unaccountable third party advertising networks that let random javascript code run in my session.

If site operators want to put their ads inline then there really isn't anything I can do about it and I doubt I would even try.

[nosioptar]

I would make no effort to block ads if they were either static images or text, required no js, and were clearly marked as ads.

[JdeBP]

When one is (in 2015) a doctoral candidate in ethics at Balliol, there is not really any such thing as overthinking this. (-:

[martin-t]

> You don't need to try to think your way in or out of those things

I think the danger is the opposite. Normal (non-psychopathic) people are prone to being manipulated into feeling for inanimate objects, such as corporations, especially if those are driven by exploitative incentives where humanizing _itselves_ is beneficial.