Hacker News Reader

Well, actually his greatest skill is to give people something and make them believe it is what they want.

Isn't that the same thing? What's the difference between wanting something and believing you want it? Doesn't one imply the other?

(Note: we're talking about wants here, not needs. It's quite possible to believe you need something and be mistaken. But wants are subjective beliefs, so almost by definition, wouldn't believing you want something mean that you do want it?)

Snake oil. False advertising. Advertising that stokes and intensifies desires far beyond the point at which they would exist sans advertising. Wanting a marshmallow now vs. two marshmallows later. Pepsi doing better on one-off taste tests, Coke doing better when consuming a 12-pack. Buying into the hype for something and deceiving yourself into believing it delivered. Misinterpretation. Projection. Insufficient information.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com