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Comment by jszymborski | Hacker News Reader

I find it strange that anyone would want companies to accurately model their behaviour and desires so that they might influence you to behave in a way that benefits that company.

The rare time an ad slips past my blocker, (and rarer still when I stop to think about them) I take solace whenever they are irrelevant.

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> I find it strange that anyone would want companies to accurately model their behaviour and desires so that they might influence you to behave in a way that benefits that company.

If the companies in question are billing the ads by impression, as is common, they get paid whether the ad served is relevant or not. If I'm going to be served up native content or ads anyway, I far prefer they be relevant to my interests than they're not.

> I far prefer they be relevant to my interests than they're not.

These companies are trying to extract my attention and money -- both limited resources -- and if I have to see ads better ones that I have no interest in, simply out of spite.

I'm failing to see how this addresses the concern of corporate entities trying to effectively shape my behaviour, with no regard for my well being, to favour their interests.

I'm not sure what particular interests you have in mind, but if I visit a site I don't have to pay for, subsidized by advertising, and that shows me content and ads relevant and tailored to my interests, I consider my own interests pretty well served.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

― Upton Sinclair

Is it possible for us as people to model our own behaviour so we can influence ourselves in a positive way?

Tracking body weight, wearing an exercise band, recording personal bests, counting calories, keeping a journal, counting number of days sober...

Depends on who defines "positive"?

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