Reading this article made me think of how different you tn felt to use YouTube without ads. So much so that I'd consider paying a bit more to be free of search ads. And Twitter Ads.
Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
41–50 of 359 posts
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#42I spent a lot of time in Vermont many years ago. I'd been there a little while, blissfully unaware, before someone told me "yeah, they banned billboards here in the sixties - you didn't notice?" I hadn't consciously noticed, no, but I'd spent my time there until that comment driving around stunned at how beautiful the place was. Now I knew the reason for that (well, partial reason - billboards or not, it's a pretty p…
This is why I take 280 instead of 101 when traveling to and from SF to South Bay even though it's slightly longer.
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#43Isn't that the primary goal of most advertising? To create a dissatisfaction in people in such a way that they're driven to buy your product in an attempt to fill that void?
Yes, advertising creates a tension by creating needs. Excessive tension creates stress, which leads to unhappiness.
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#44Even if you yourself are not too directly affected by advertising, it can still affect your friends and family members. Collectively, it can create expectations and social pressure on you which makes your life less pleasant and more complicated than it needs to be.
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#45This reminds me of an anecdote a friend told me: This friend dedicates his time in going to very rural areas/towns here in Mexico to implement government programs. At some point in the past he got to a town were the cantina had just gotten the only TV in town... apparently people in the town were generally happy, and they had everything they needed... so in their view they were not poor. But once they started watchin…
Another example, Apartheid South Africa got TV in 1976, six months later the riots started, coincidence? I think as soon as black people in South Africa could see how black people in America lived, they truly realized how bad they had it. Here it contributed to the undoing of an unjust government, so it's not always a force for evil. I think the most dangerous thing to North Korea is western media. I know the South K…
They probably got more of their aspirations from sitcoms featuring black families and less from advertisements.
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another personal anecdote: once I stopped watching TV I stopped feeling self conscious about driving a 10+ year old car, and no longer yearned to buy a new one.
Driving a newish car is a pretty good idea though, they are generally way safer.
If you are talking about one from the 80s probably yes, 2009 not so much.
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#47I think this video points out Epicurus' opinions on advertisement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L3dLWwmDDw.
I don't have time to re-watch the video, but I remember the gist being that the _point_ of advertisements is to make you feel like you're missing out on something. If an ad can't make you feel that way, how will it sell you on its product? Someone who feels they have everything doesn't need to purchase anything to fill a need/want.
Really it's simple when you think about it. Company wants to sell you a product. You think you don't need anything else in your life because you're content. Company tells you your life could be better with their product; therefore, your life is missing something (said product). You are no longer content until you have said product.
It's nice to have evidence that supports an idea proposed centuries ago.
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#48Advertising is so pervasive in our lives that it’s become like water for fish - it is hard to imagine a world without ads.
Even bigger problem with advertisement - it is (indirectly) driving climate change.
Most likely we’d be happier and safer without ads. Sigh.
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#49This reminds me of an anecdote a friend told me: This friend dedicates his time in going to very rural areas/towns here in Mexico to implement government programs. At some point in the past he got to a town were the cantina had just gotten the only TV in town... apparently people in the town were generally happy, and they had everything they needed... so in their view they were not poor. But once they started watchin…
Another example, Apartheid South Africa got TV in 1976, six months later the riots started, coincidence? I think as soon as black people in South Africa could see how black people in America lived, they truly realized how bad they had it. Here it contributed to the undoing of an unjust government, so it's not always a force for evil. I think the most dangerous thing to North Korea is western media. I know the South K…
I was listening to the Unchained podcast when DPRK defector Yeonmi Park was a guest. She escaped from the DPRK when she was 16 and just having watched the movie Titanic (that her uncle had gotten hold of) once as a kid influenced her thinking a lot.
https://unchainedpodcast.com/yeonmi-park-on-why-doing-busine...
Re: Researchers find inverse correlation between advertising and life satisfaction
#50New animated ads and videos in the street are just horrible. Eyes follow movement automatically. You have to consciously avert you gaze constantly to not look into them. Two hours in the city and you start feeling tired from the cognitive load and the resistance towards impulse buy decreases a little. * Walking on the street looking down is the only defense in the streets. * Online only ad-blockers keep you sane.
The book 'The Space Merchants' (1952) from Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth describes this type world.
World is run by ad companies (FB, Google,...) who select political leaders. People have to be careful on the street not to be trapped by highly aggressive ads.