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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
by oldtownroad 3y ago
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.
- wafriedemann 3y agoJustifying 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.
- scotty79 3y agoNot every explanation is justification.
- just_boost_it 3y agoThat'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 3y agoTo 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 3y agoI 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 3y agoHacker 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.
- JCharante 3y agoWell, if we’re not here to nitpick then what are we here for? Should the comment to upvote ratio decrease?
- rkho 3y agoHello! 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 3y agoNo problem! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
- thibaut_barrere 3y agoI agree! Looks like a variant of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge
- aaomidi 3y agoIs 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 3y agoExplain 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 3y agoFor 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 3y agoUniversal basic income might cleanly solve that problem. Might, because the addict might spend the weekly income on the addiction instead of food and shelter.
- matwood 3y agoIf only people were so simple.
- mplewis 3y agoWhat exactly do you think an addiction is?
- sneak 3y agoWhat exactly do you think happens when someone kicks an addiction?
- zeroonetwothree 3y agoThey 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.
- sneak 3y agoMost 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 3y agoWe 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.)