Hacker News Reader

Comment by oleganza | Hacker News Reader

People want to be hooked up on subscription because schools and parents do not preach long-term values (well, maybe only orthodox religious minorities do).

We are in this situation because of a shrinking time horizon for the modern society (aka "high time preference"). People want instant gratification, buy-now-pay-later, pay attention to the packaging, not content. Most citizens are conditioned to live here and now. Even climate change activists frame the issue (that is supposed to be about long-term thinking) on a very short scale: do something hysterical right now, otherwise the world's gonna end tomorrow.

View on HN

> Even climate change activists frame the issue (that is supposed to be about long-term thinking) on a very short scale: do something hysterical right now, otherwise the world's gonna end tomorrow.

This looks more like a consequence of the issue you described previously, than part of the issue itself. If everyone is concerned only with the next 5 minutes (and even if they are with the next 5 years), how would you possibly get them to care about the next 50 or 500 years? So you frame it in terms that align with the modern approach of "only here and now exist".

It's normal and expected that people won't care much what happens in 50 or 500 years. You will possibly be dead and it's too far away to reliably predict the consequence of event in that time span.

“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” — Greek Proverb

Despite the tagline in various points of history, we seem to have in fact not grown great, especially not great again.

Customers generally do not want to be hooked on subscriptions, that's a choice that's forced on them by the "you will own nothing and be happy" rentier faction.

> Even climate change activists frame the issue (that is supposed to be about long-term thinking) on a very short scale: do something hysterical

No need for "hysterical" in there. But the more and sooner action is taken the better the outcome.

I disagree. Netflix is successful because you get a never ending stream of entertainment for a predictable cost. No need to make consumer decisions on each and every piece of fun.

It takes extra effort to avoid this trap. I and my wife had to make a conscious decision to abstain from watching any TV shows because of their addictive structure - same goes for the algorithm feed of reels. If we need to watch a movie in the evening, it must be a complete thing in itself, not a beginning of a 5-season saga.

>Customers generally do not want to be hooked on subscriptions,

Gamepass seems to disagree. You are free to buy any game so far that has been on gamepass but people would rather buy a rental Smörgåsbord than keep some sense of ownership of the game. I don't think the choice is force; it just aligns with most people's real feelings on the media they consume.

interesting seeing these terms here. I came from reading The Bitcoin Standard book

The best part about this book is the first half, about the history of currency, economy and indeed, the concept of time preference. How inflationary or deflationary economies affect human psychology and spending patterns.

I recommend it even if one is not really interested in cryptocurrencies. Or watch the author's (Saifedean Ammous) interview on Lex Friedman if you prefer.

Good read but Saifedean is very opinionated and will be probably off putting to the average orange Redditor. I for one can't stand him for more than a few minutes. You always know he will start blabbering about carnivore diets within 5 minutes.

I never heard him talk about carnivore, but then again I'm pro carnivore so you might conclude my opinion is worthless as well.

The average orange Redditor likes an echo chamber, so one should not be concerned about their opinion. The pro-Bitcoin will adore him, the anti-Bitcoin will hate him, a priori and nothing will change their mind.

You don't have to put cranks in your informational diet.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com