alt Hacker NewsIs any form of entertainment or art a social good?
People can get "addicted" to practically any type of entertainment in that they spend a massive chunk of their time on it to the point it stifles their development.
Is sports gambling worse than f2p games? Are f2p games worse than regular video games? Is someone addicted to video games worse than someone addicted to reading fantasy novels? What about smutty novels?
I'm not sure is disagree with you but I think it is hard to start drawing these lines without saying you are now the arbiter of good art and bad art and you can ban some forms of art if you don't like them and have decided they are bad.
Now are you just banning things you don't like because you point to the societal harms as a fig leaf defense that could be applied to the art you do like as well?
Is it the % of people who show addictive tendencies to a piece of art/entertainment how we define if it is good or bad?
Is the morality of a form of entertainment defined by how many users show problematic consumption habits, such that in some populations an entertainment product is a moral good and in others it isn't? Is morality that flexible?
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Do any of these industries maintain dossiers on the psychological fault lines of their victims so they can screw them out of extra cash until they're either insane, bankrupt, or both?
The difference between gambling and any other compulsion or addiction is that only gambling can leave you broke and destitute in a single day, without regard for starting wealth. Maybe findom, but going completely broke is generally not the purpose.
The difference between drugs and other addictions is that (certain) drugs greatly increase the risk of death.
So I say let's divide it in two - addictions that can kill you or leave you in financial ruin in a single evening, and those that cannot.
Heck no. This is a version of the slippery slope fallacy.
People can’t get addicted to practically any type of entertainment. There is a range of susceptibility to gambling, amongst “people”.
We have an extensive range of rules and regulations that apply to gambling, and to things that have odds and payout schedules.
It took a while, but eventually lootboxes in games were recognized as a blight, and regulation is addressing their impact.
Generalizing entertainment from gambling is a huge stretch.
Yes they can be, and gambling is definitely a different psychological mechanism with different financial outcomes than hobbies or collecting.
Bowling with friends?
You’re setting up lots of straw men here but it’s not a complicated argument.
Most people feel this is deeply wrong at a gut level and I agree with them. Targeting and squeezing addicts is not moral behaviour.