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Comment by Quizz | Hacker News Reader

Researchers have nothing better to do than explore the harmless neuroses of the middle class?

Oh, this research is very much in the interest of the businesses — because staying at home also means spending less money. The idea is that if the taboo around "having fun" — aka spending money — alone is broken, then well… profit! This article of course contributes to these interests.

Personally I think time spent at home is can be as good as time spent out side of home. The article in question does not do any comparative study — it is just assumed that staying at home means not having fun.

Ya, I agree with you. I have to call bullshit on the part that says, "In the fifth, Ratner and Hamilton put the preferences to the test by gauging whether people actually enjoyed visiting an art gallery more when they were in the company of others, compared to when they were alone."

I used to have a museum membership so I could go everyday for free if I wanted to. I often went every other day just to get coffee, or to use the free wifi for work. It was subjectively a very different experience than being with someone.

I am pretty sure if you measured something like endorphins or blood pressure, you'd see there was more enjoyment with someone than without. There are tons of studies that already do this, e.g. the ones written up by UCSF profs in "A General Theory of Love."

Maybe they should do some research on staying at home and quietly meditating. Simple, probably rewarding, but doesn't cost any money. :)

At least the entertainment business can console itself with the fact that they're pirating less.

If the research can yield ways to improve the happiness of society, then I would say it is worth doing.

Then everything on HN caters to the neuroses of the middle class.

You got food 'n' shelter, what more do you want? Why you interested in Rust or Elon Musk?

Everybody wants to be Elon Musk but the way post-industrial unregulated capitalism works leads to a handful of Musks and their corporate entities controlling, well, pretty much everything, and fierce competition among the masses for scarce resources. AKA feudalism.

The era of the middle-class was a blip on the historical radar. Feudalism ruled supreme for thousands of years and couldn't be clearer that we are currently backsliding into an era of "digital feudalism".

It's not like Google, to name the obvious example, is really hiding their intentions. Larry Page just a few weeks ago said he thinks government is becoming more irrelevant and "outdated" and nobody even blinked. Well who's going to replace the outdated dinosaur government? The writing is on the wall. Anyone who seriously believes in the pipe dream of a libertarian utopia is a deluded fool. The innocently named "Internet of Things" is bringing the big SV players into every corner of every home and it's not about controlling your toaster with a smartphone, but it most certainly is about control. How exactly things will play out is impossible to predict - I mean a 2010 podcast of academics and students discussing Facebook Twitter and MySpace sounds quaint and old-fashioned - but history shows what happens when power is concentrated in a few hands. And the USSR was supposed to be a Utopia too...

Personally I quite enjoy living in tumultuous times but it's worth remembering the Chinese saying "may you live in interesting times" was used as a curse ;-) Don't be evil, now!

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