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MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

nytimes.com

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Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#541

Post by scottLobster »

memefrog wrote: post #154
scottLobster wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they'll resent you and watch it on their friends' phones anyway when they can. And they'll suffer socially because they won't be able to talk with other kids at the lunch table about the most recent episode.

Your children aren't going to resent you because they can't watch a YouTube channel. Nobody has ever resented their parents as an adult because of something like that. My parents didn't let me watch adult-rated movies or play adult-rated games (eg The Godfather, Call of Duty) as a child, while others' parents did. You'd have to be insane to resent them for that. How far do you take this? No rules? "Sorry, no chores i…

If all their friends are watching said youtube channel and they have to sit quiet at the lunch table, yes they will. I was often the low one on the totem pole as a kid in large part because my parents wouldn't allow me to participate in practically any pop-culture my friends were into. I had to be the relatively quiet one at the lunch table more often than not while everyone else was constantly talking/laughing at references I wasn't allowed to get. It sucked. If I had grown up in the smart-phone age I totally would have used my birthday money/occasional lunch treats to bribe my friends for time on their phones, and not told my parents.

And where do you get "No boundaries at all" from "perhaps you should let your kid watch Mr Beast because it's relatively harmless and allows them to connect with their peers"? You seem to have a very binary mindset.

If letting your kids watch Mr Beast is the deciding factor that makes them incapable of hard work then you're a horrible parent.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#542

Post by scottLobster »

sneed_chucker wrote: post #170
scottLobster wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they'll resent you and watch it on their friends' phones anyway when they can. And they'll suffer socially because they won't be able to talk with other kids at the lunch table about the most recent episode.

ah yes, the modern western "I can't do my job as a parent" excuse

Your job as a parent is to train your kid to be a functional adult, not impose counterproductive and arbitrary restrictions because you're frightened by something you don't understand.

Any parent who goes to war with their kid over the mere watching of Mr Beast really needs to consider their priorities in life, and if they're just taking out their insecurities on their kid.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#543

Post by scottLobster »

olyjohn wrote: post #110
scottLobster wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they'll resent you and watch it on their friends' phones anyway when they can. And they'll suffer socially because they won't be able to talk with other kids at the lunch table about the most recent episode.

If you're worried about them resenting you, do you just let them do anything they want?

Of course not. But building up resentment over an ultimately useless restriction is just a waste of resources and time. Make them resent you for smooth-brain restrictions and they won't listen to you when it actually matters.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#544

Post by scottLobster »

memefrog wrote: post #263
inconceivable wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not letting your kids watch saturday morning cartoons because you find them to be annoying seems pretty dickish and seems like it has an extremely asymmetric possible negative long run consequence. you're talking about it to this very day in a way that seems like you can't wait to enforce these rules on your own children. i can't recall a single thing my parents did along these lines. this is just not how they operat…

> not letting your kids watch saturday morning cartoons because you find them to be annoying seems pretty dickish and seems like it has an extremely asymmetric possible negative long run consequence. What negative long run consequence could possibly be created by not being able to watch noisy, annoying, brain-mush kids TV? I'm glad I was discouraged from watching TV on a saturday morning. I didn't miss it at the time…

[flagged]

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#545

Post by scottLobster »

kelnos wrote: post #228
scottLobster wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they'll resent you and watch it on their friends' phones anyway when they can. And they'll suffer socially because they won't be able to talk with other kids at the lunch table about the most recent episode.

I dunno, my parents didn't let me watch The Simpsons when I was a kid. Sure, there was occasionally talk about the latest episode at the lunch table, but it wasn't a big deal, and I turned out ok. One of my closest childhood friends watched it, and we're still friends now, 25+ years later... he's never held my lack of Simpsons knowledge against me. I think the idea that "parents won't let kids watch X" is somehow dam…

Depends on their friends. I was for all intents and purposes banned from virtually all the pop-culture my friends were into as a kid, it essentially forced me to sit quiet at the lunch table and I was left out of a lot of stuff because I wasn't allowed to participate (what happens on the latest episode of X, movies, concerts, game nights, etc). It sucked.

I fully intend to give my kids the tools and access they need to relate to other kids, with the understanding that I don't always get to decide what that is. I might draw the line at something particularly egregious, like an R rated movie when they're 9 or something, but if my kid and their friends want to watch Power Rangers Mega-Samurai-Viking-Cosmic-Super-Force, I'm not going to ban it because I find it mildly annoying and eye-rolly.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#546

Post by reureu »

dymk wrote: post #337
reureu wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what makes me uncomfortable -- if you have to be seen giving something away then you're not really doing it for altruistic purposes. Also, this isn't strictly a Christian concept, but similar ideas exist in Judaism: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/256321/jewish... Buddhism: https://www.learnreligions.com/perfection-of-giving-449724 Islam: https://www.quranexplorer.com/blog/Education-In-The-Ligh…

Are major religions really the only place you can derive your morals from?

No, obviously not. I'm unclear how you got to that conclusion, or what your point is. I was responding to someone who was quoting the Bible regarding philanthropy and wanted to point out that it's not just Christianity that makes this point. Further, the fact that it's such a ubiquitous view means that it probably represents a more fundamental value that cuts across cultures and beliefs.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#547

Post by reureu »

Invictus0 wrote: post #234
reureu wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what makes me uncomfortable -- if you have to be seen giving something away then you're not really doing it for altruistic purposes. Also, this isn't strictly a Christian concept, but similar ideas exist in Judaism: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/256321/jewish... Buddhism: https://www.learnreligions.com/perfection-of-giving-449724 Islam: https://www.quranexplorer.com/blog/Education-In-The-Ligh…

Mr. Beast's philanthropy is specifically enabled by his audience (sponsors contribute to the philanthropy in exchange for short ads), his videos bring awareness to the issue he is donating to, and his philanthropy is amplified by viewers donating their own money in kind to the cause. None of these things could happen (neither the large donations nor the awareness nor the amplification by ordinary viewers) without mak…

My point in mentioning that all major religions frown on making a show of your giving was more to point out how ubiquitous and culturally cross-cutting that belief is than to say "some ancient books" should dictate our values or beliefs. Regardless of what you believe, hopefully you can acknowledge that there's a meaningful signal in Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism all agreeing about a particular point.

Mr. Beast doesn't do _philanthropy_, he makes entertainment videos. His niche is giving money away in exchange for challenges or stunts. This gets him views, and has created a profitable business for him. That's not altruistic at all, it's just a business guy who is quite good at knowing his audience and executing his trade. "thousands of people regaining their sight" is a glorified marketing campaign.

Yes, money goes to causes; but the fact that money wouldn't otherwise go there is a policy decision that we've collectively made. We could tax billionaires and use the revenue to fund health, education, housing, infrastructure, research, or whatever. I'd much prefer to see us do that than wait around until we see Mr. Beast's Children's Hospital pop up somewhere.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#548

Post by chrismcb »

xrd wrote: post #4

My kids love Mr Beast. I'm uncomfortable with it and can't put my finger on it. It feels like he makes life look like you stand a good chance of having someone walk in and give you $100,000. Maybe there is no harm in thinking that? But it feels like the same thing as buying a lottery ticket. I guess YouTube is free? But is the time spent on that channel worth it over doing other things? I admire the approach he takes…

Is the time didn't on the channel worth it? Probably not, but it is entertainment. If rather watch it than half of the stuff in YouTube.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#549

Post by memefrog »

em-bee wrote: post #539
memefrog wrote: post #537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is the responsibility of the individual to ensure his needs are met. If he is incapable of doing so, then charity (collectively or individually) may be necessary. I am not opposed to a social safety net but what you propose and what we have (all over the Anglosphere) is a system where people are told and believe that they are entitled to have their lives funded by others with whom they have no personal connection.…

people are told and believe that they are entitled to have their lives funded by others with whom they have no personal connection if they are incapable of doing so on their own, then i very much believe that they are entitled to help. the reverse is the problem. people believing that they have no responsibility to help others who are not capable to support themselves. as a society we do have that responsibility. It…

Nothing that needs to be provided to you by others can be a "human right". Human rights are inherent to being human, hence the name. You do not have a human right to every nice-to-have service that you think ought to be government-funded. You have a better argument in the US that you have a human right to be provided with a gun.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#550

Post by TheLML »

scaredginger wrote: post #50
xrd wrote: post #4

My kids love Mr Beast. I'm uncomfortable with it and can't put my finger on it. It feels like he makes life look like you stand a good chance of having someone walk in and give you $100,000. Maybe there is no harm in thinking that? But it feels like the same thing as buying a lottery ticket. I guess YouTube is free? But is the time spent on that channel worth it over doing other things? I admire the approach he takes…

For me, the discomfort is that Mr Beast's content relies on exploiting people's desperation due to the lack of social safety net. It's not his fault that they're in such dire straits to begin with, but he's nonetheless behaving opportunistically and his actions have no chance of changing the system that landed these people in such tough situations

The basic counter point to that is that dozens of millionaire content creators partake, too. For many people it's also a novelty to be in a MrBeast video. For those already rich content creators an additional motivator may be the clout, of course.
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