Friday, January 20, 2023

consumer choice is dangerous


In the last whatever, few days, because apparently (I'm told) the tennis is on, there have been headlines about people winning tennis matches, indeed the newspapers (which I don't read in paper form but which are websites to me with things I click on) seem to be leading with various announcements of what seem to be people winning tennis games. Every time I see this, just like every time I go to the home screen of my so-called smart TV, I think wouldn't it be excellent if I didn't have to ever hear about sporting events, and yet they are constantly being peddled to me, not because of my age or gender but because there is an assumption that this might be of interest to me or at least that I won't be offended by it. But I am actually offended by the whole thing, the faces being pulled and the logos and the gestures and everything about it. 

I suppose there might be an argument, somewhere, that my interests are different from most interests but of course also that I craft my interests precisely for that purpose, to make myself feel more interesting than and just generally different to general interests. That same argument might posit that I then sometimes align my interests with the mainstream solely so I can feel like / present as someone who's made a sensible, sensitive curatorial decision about what I will and won't like. 

But I also think frankly that I need that reality check. I need to be reminded that my tailored algorithm is not reality and that most people like sport and when I'm out in the street looking at the faces of other humans well, most of those people like and pursue and tolerate things I just could not even consider bearable. 

I suppose most of us believe most people essentially think what we think. I don't know. What do you think? I suppose I think I know. 

3 comments:

Wayne Davidson said...

I get these same banner promos which certainly can't be based on my internet searches/interests. If they were I'd be getting ads for Dead End: Paranormal Park. I assume they're just paid ads sent out to a nation of sports lovers. Well colour me a hater.

From my days working in TV I had to deal a lot with sport, not at all my jam. One thing that used to particularly bug me was the way the promos were always presented with a biblical level level of heroism - rousing classical music, commentators yelling, players on the brink of exhaustion, crowds cheering and the assumption we should all be unquestionably awed by the sportspeople and glued to every whack of the bat. Yeah, nah.

David said...

I always think of how, you know, in my personal opinion everyone should worship whatever musicians or actors I like, because they're GODS, the difference being I don't expect the world to agree with me. But I guess enough people feel that way to make it make sense to just act like everyone does. Aren't we a couple of philosophers Wayne.

Anonymous said...

From project manager perspective I could tell that if you didn't consciously chose a goal all your actions probably would be random and in a long distance lead to the very same starting point.

From evolution lover, passion player of card-based games perspective I could tell that in a long distance there are only one strategy that really survives at a time if there's no serious fluctuations appears.

From beginner in trading routine perspective, I could tell that success of your actions aka most benefiting actions is based on finding that one strategy a bit earlier than everyone else, see how interest in it grows, with additional investment warm up interest and than live a happy live of having something that everyone else wants.

So probably interest in tennis and tennis business itself winning over your personal interests and you just receive your daily reminder.

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