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Can we pause and note the absolute race to the bottom that America is gunning for with its culture here? The consequences of this technology will be ruinous for whole generations. “Let’s persuade people to use a platform where we entice them with the most addicting possible videos and text, the kind of stuff that glues them to their phone” is something Satan would cook up. It is the most abysmally bad idea humanly possible. It will show the low self esteemed the exact, razor sharp, minutely precise content to keep their self esteem low and their eyes glued to the phone. It will show whatever keeps fat people fat, and consequently glued to their phone. It is going to show you whatever leads to the most drama, which glues you to the phone. It is going to show you content that makes you despise your neighbor and community, because the algorithm knows such content reduces sum total phone gluey time. Anything that promotes you to engage in a hobby is going to be at the bottom of the algorithm, because such content takes you off your phone. The algorithm and its brainpower of 20,000 PhDs has one purpose: to keep you on your phone. Its purpose is to, literally, reduce your happiness and engagement with the world as much as humanly possible, so that you will stay on your phone. And, because it’s an intelligent algorithm, it does this with the artful subtlety of a sociopath with an expertise in Stockholm Syndrome.
I don't think anybody set out to intentionally make everyone unhappy so that they're glued to their phone. If not anybody, then most of them.
At worst, I can see them being agnostic on the matter, if they could have you hooked to Insta while also getting fitter they would. It would at least serve as a marketing point.
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The sad thing is I think many people truly believe they’re doing good work in social media companies. We have an amazing ability to rationalize evil.
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