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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

#141

Post by gimmeThaBeet »

amanzi wrote: post #55

I don't mind MrBeast, but what I really hate is how every other YouTuber has decided to copy his "screaming face" thumbnail strategy. My YouTube home page is full of screaming faces and bright text with some clickbait title. Even middle-age woodworkers (the polar-opposite audience to MrBeast) fall prey to this strategy, and I've started to unsubscribe from channels that insist on doing this.

I agree, like you can stow whatever commentary of envy and capitalism, I can tell you the precise reason I don't like MrBeast is the thumbnails.

Absolutely sets off the uncanny valley alarms in my dumb lizard brain. And then like you mention, people have latched onto the aesthetic because it works, so it's all over the place. But it's just instant unease and feeling of "Absolutely not." that I don't get from something like e.g. this person does not exist. Very anti-asmr like.

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

#142

Post by lazyasciiart »

Wow. Cataract surgery? Australia provides cataract surgery free under socialised healthcare. The big concern is that some patients wait up to 2 1/2 years after diagnosis for the surgery, and that indigenous Australians lack access to medical care for even diagnostics. But to just say, we know what's wrong, and how to fix it, and have available doctors nearby, but nah the kid just gets to grow up blind? What the fuck.

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

#143

Post by KeplerBoy »

spencerchubb wrote: post #31

In my mind, Mr Beast is like CGP Grey (in the sense that they both do high quality videos). Except Mr Beast is far more hedonistic. Maybe it's my immaturity as a 21 year old, but I love Mr. Beast videos. Whenever I remember he exists, I go to his channel and watch a few videos. The videos are super high quality. Instead of spamming like a lot of YouTubers do, he invests a lot into each video.

imo cgp grey was a lot better 5-10 years ago, before it got too clickbaity.

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

#144

Post by motoxpro »

chimen wrote: post #80

It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…

I find this take on him so strange.

I also don't understand the take that altruism/philanthropy has to be zero sum. i.e. true altruism means that I lose something and you gain something.

Maybe it is a hold over from religion and the idea of sacrifice being the ultimate good. The times I have had the most impact (helping people in need, teaching, starting my own NPO) it has been very much positive sum.

If he has zero impact, then everyone else here has negative impact. I certainly haven't cleaned up an entire beach.

Can someone give me some examples of philanthropy that is NOT predatory/extractive?

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

#145

Post by HDThoreaun »

chimen wrote: post #80

It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…

His videos make hundreds of millions of people happy and probably more likely to donate or be charitable. That seems like more than zero impact to me.

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

#146

Post by brvsft »

andersrs wrote: post #93
amanzi wrote: post #55

I don't mind MrBeast, but what I really hate is how every other YouTuber has decided to copy his "screaming face" thumbnail strategy. My YouTube home page is full of screaming faces and bright text with some clickbait title. Even middle-age woodworkers (the polar-opposite audience to MrBeast) fall prey to this strategy, and I've started to unsubscribe from channels that insist on doing this.

[flagged]

Also known as "poggers"

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

#147

Post by chongli »

ta8903 wrote: post #125
Timber-6539 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Despite what you've been taught, every act of charity comes from a selfish need (ego). Whether that is predatory or not from the standpoint of the donor, I'll leave that up to you to decide. And to be clear, his acts of charity have made an impact in the people who have benefited from it. Whether the public response is positive or negative is besides the point.

>Despite what you've been taught, every act of charity comes from a selfish need (ego). True. Which is why a lot of people recognize this and perform acts of charity anonymously. I don't mean to say there is anything wrong with non-anonymous donations by the way.

True. Which is why a lot of people recognize this and perform acts of charity anonymously.

Curb Your Enthusiasm did a whole episode on anonymous donations. Absolutely roasted the entire premise! The ego of anonymous donors is just as big, if not bigger! The anonymity is worth even more ego points!

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

#148

Post by jquery »

edmundsauto wrote: post #109
chimen wrote: post #80

It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…

Iono, this is definitely a grey area… but he definitely impacted the lives of peoples who sight restoring cataract surgery he paid for. I agree there is something icky (discussed in the article) but it’s weird to say zero impact.

And people saying "it should be free though", maybe should read Mr. Beast's tweet on the issue... he *agrees* it should be free and is advocating for that.

I'm glad MrBeast is the top YouTuber, it could've been anyone, but philanthropy and a spirit of giving took the #1 spot. Good on Gen Z.

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

#149

Post by vfinn »

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…

1) His way of giving away things for free undermines the suffering people go trough to make a living; it makes effort and hardship look like a joke (maybe in the future no effort is required, and we are reminded about this possibility here, and it's sad); 2) It promotes consumerisms: getting stuff (phones, cars) is supposed to liberate us, and doing it in this way reveals how empty it all is; 3) It feels rarely personal and well-thought: he just throws away stuff, so it undermines the gift giving culture also.
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