51–60 of 109 posts
I'd like to first see all advertisements for gambling banned. Then lets take a look at the data after 1-2 years. Or if you allow it put a warning like the surgeon generals warning on tobacco. Clearly state that most people lose money. Smoking is legal but advertising cigarettes is illegal. I grew up in the 1980's where smoking was everywhere. We even had a smoking area at school. Today I don't know anyone that smokes…
I'm surprised prediction markets don't get more support here on HN. There's a lot of benefit in having a probability estimate for various kinds of events. One example of many: https://polymarket.com/event/may-2026-temperature-increase-c These markets are a straightforward way to cut through all the noise of the current media conglomerates. Rather than getting bombarded by inflated headlines a glance at polymarket or…
2. I think the existence of prediction markets can change the outcome of events. See the Super Bowl Streaker as an example.
3. I don’t have a strong use for prediction market odds. In the few areas of my life that require forecasting I have sources of information i understand and trust more, sometimes with private data not available to the general public.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As much as I hate what gambling does on the society, I'm still not sure if banning this activity counts as freedom. I believe that grown consenting adults do have a free will and should have the ability to destroy their lives if they so choose. OTOH allowing those kind of activities WILL end up with people opting in for the greater evil and thus some kind of limits should be enforced by governments. I have no idea wh…
> some kind of limits should be enforced by governments I'm not sure why we think this works. Gambling is considered bad, and banned in many states, but many of those states run a lottery. This is just a straight up theft from the poor who are least well equipped to understand they are playing a rigged game, and not rigged in their favor.
I'd like to first see all advertisements for gambling banned. Then lets take a look at the data after 1-2 years. Or if you allow it put a warning like the surgeon generals warning on tobacco. Clearly state that most people lose money. Smoking is legal but advertising cigarettes is illegal. I grew up in the 1980's where smoking was everywhere. We even had a smoking area at school. Today I don't know anyone that smokes…
As I get older I'm starting to realize, the Christians were right about everything.
As I get older I'm starting to realize, the Christians were right about everything.
Not sure I'd go as far as "everything" but the wisdom on how to live, how to treat others, behaviors that are good and bad, etc. is all pretty solid.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some prediction markets can be gambling, some not. Gambling is a broader category that does not include all of the prediction markets.
Can you provide examples of prediction markets that aren’t gambling?
Obviously, insider trading, but as a society we have long decided that this is evil.
And if we compare markets where I am ready to put my money where my mouth is, then this actually is called gambling. Just not a game of chance but rather game of skill.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As much as I hate what gambling does on the society, I'm still not sure if banning this activity counts as freedom. I believe that grown consenting adults do have a free will and should have the ability to destroy their lives if they so choose. OTOH allowing those kind of activities WILL end up with people opting in for the greater evil and thus some kind of limits should be enforced by governments. I have no idea wh…
> I'm still not sure if banning this activity counts as freedom. I believe that grown consenting adults do have a free will and should have the ability to destroy their lives if they so choose America is the land of the free, but I think there have been and will continue to be reasonable disagreements on the question of, free to do what? It's evident that "freedom" isn't a pure, unrestricted thing in the anarchist se…
We intentionally put a lot of roadblocks in the way of the democratic process. The constitution, and amendments place limits on what the democratic process can do - they can be changed but that takes a lot of time/effort which in turn slows things (for both good and bad). Even that we are a representative democracy vs a pure democracy slows things down.
The above is a slightly US perspective, but most others reading this have similar things in their process to slow down "fad" laws.
Neither conservative nor Mormon, but online gambling is an addictive scourge that ruins lives, and I'd love to see it banned broadly. And go ahead and ban paid loot boxes as well. I don't love casinos or lotteries, but at least there's the friction of having to travel to a physical location to feed your addiction. And then there's the whole "insider trading" and "gambling on war" angles that come into play with predi…
As much as I hate what gambling does on the society, I'm still not sure if banning this activity counts as freedom. I believe that grown consenting adults do have a free will and should have the ability to destroy their lives if they so choose. OTOH allowing those kind of activities WILL end up with people opting in for the greater evil and thus some kind of limits should be enforced by governments. I have no idea wh…
I don't think it is freedom. But. If someone destroys their own life the rest of us who share the same society pay a price, be that government money supporting their rehabilitation, incarceration, or the non-financial impact of people being homeless on our streets etc.
So as much as I favor freedom I also think there should be limits. I think "freedom always without exception" is a pithy statement that doesn't lead to positive outcomes in reality.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As much as I hate what gambling does on the society, I'm still not sure if banning this activity counts as freedom. I believe that grown consenting adults do have a free will and should have the ability to destroy their lives if they so choose. OTOH allowing those kind of activities WILL end up with people opting in for the greater evil and thus some kind of limits should be enforced by governments. I have no idea wh…
> some kind of limits should be enforced by governments I'm not sure why we think this works. Gambling is considered bad, and banned in many states, but many of those states run a lottery. This is just a straight up theft from the poor who are least well equipped to understand they are playing a rigged game, and not rigged in their favor.
Is there some actual evidence that poor people are under the impression that they have a meaningful chance of winning significant money the lottery?
I see this line a lot and it’s extremely patronizing. I’m not even pro lottery but this “poor people are too dumb to understand” does not strike me as a sound argument.