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“I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

washingtonpost.com

131–140 of 265 posts

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#131
post #2

A perfect application of the Forer effect: humans have an amazing ability to interpret what can apply to anyone as having special significance for themselves. It's the same reason why horoscopes and fortune cookies work. Stepping back and thinking logically, it's easy to see why their messages might apply to a lot of people. But when you're reading one, you can't help but think, "Ah! It says that I would encounter ad…

Same thing with the "crossing over" folks who claim to talk to dead relatives right?

"You had a family member who passed recently right? Or someone really close to you"

"Yes, yes! My aunt passed away earlier this year!"

"Ah, yes! And... and... she was sick right? Or in pain close to her death?"

"Wow, yes!!"

"You were close with her, or you were close with her family right?"

...etc

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reminded me of that too, since I read the article to the end.

Ha, reading the comments it reminded me of Her too and I was wondering why no-one was mentioning the similarity.

Because it's already discussed in the article itself.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#133
post #9

It's surprising how many people are dateable once you remove looks from the equation.

For most people, looks ARE part of the equation. It's like removing Pi from an equation. I wonder what's going to happen when science makes looks whatever we want, like hair color.

Agreed, I think there are two things at play when (some) people say looks don't matter. 1) It's a holier-than-thou attitude where they are trying to come off as non-superficial like everyone else. And 2) They believe that there is some universal definition of beauty, which there is no such thing. But mainstream media would have us believe otherwise. Everyone finds who they are attracted to "beautiful."

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#134
post #9

It's surprising how many people are dateable once you remove looks from the equation.

For most people, looks ARE part of the equation. It's like removing Pi from an equation. I wonder what's going to happen when science makes looks whatever we want, like hair color.

Ted Chiang's story "Liking what you see" speculates about what it would be like if science messed with the other side of the equation. How would we relate to other people if we silenced the part or our brain that recognized physical beauty? (shadysite transcript of story: http://www.ibooksonline.com/88/Text/liking.html)

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#135
post #78

5000 users signed up in a day and it's $25 for 100 text messages in a month. That's bank.

Understatement of the century here. That's 1.5MM USD in annual reoccurring revenue made in a day. Currently companies are being valuated at as much as 10x ARR. That's a 15MM USD company risen from the ground in 24 hours.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#136
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "and they think that this is what they want, but I honestly believe that nobody want to risk to fail in love for a nobody..." Wow, that's a whole lot of bullshit right there. That kind of thinking is why we have religion and politics. Men thinking they know what is best for everyone else.

Sorry, as you can see that is just what I believe. Of course I don't force anybody, it is just my opinion, I believe that I have the right to have an opinion... Anyway, I would like to suggest you to use a language a little more cordial.

It's not about forcing, it's the arrogance that you inherently think somehow know better than the people that want to consume the service. People who think like that are the people who vote like that and suggest that I change my behavior because they don't think I'm capable of making the assessment on my own. Kinda like what you just did with my language.

You can have any opinion you want, but the moment you put it out there, someone else gets to have an opinion about your opinion. My opinion can be that your opinion is dangerous, and "bullshit".

We would do far better in society if we actually believed in our fellow man, rather than thinking we knew better than them.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#137
post #19

Reading this all I can think of are the "ractors" in Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age ).

I'm reading and loving that book. Of all the technological wonders of the setting, "ractors" are what amazed me the most. It's the perfect interactive experience, a full-time "Wizard of Oz"[0]. Maybe we can see something of the kind in the following year with the advancement of VR thechnology.. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_Oz_experiment

The first third or so of the Diamond Age is one of my favorite things I've ever read. It's full of great ideas.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No matter how deeply we trust our logical conclusions, our emotional response remains the same. We can't help but feel worthier when we're being praised (even by computers ...), hurt when we're being insulted, and connected when we're being connected with. I just started playing The Walking Dead. In one scene, after another character saved Clementine from a zombie before I could, the game said, "Clementine remember…

You should try "Wolf Among Us" as well. It was amazing how that game tricked my normally passive personality into acting out in anger, chasing down leads for revenge instead of justice and then feeling like the monster I had become. By the end, I felt redeemed, but still vulnerable because my weaknesses had been exposed. All of that and I played the entire thing on nothing more than a tiny PS Vita screen.

You should try reading a book.
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