10 Commandmends for a digital age
10 Commandmends for a digital age
I came up with this a couple minutes ago. I think its funny and maybe helpful? Please be gentle. Have a good one.
- You shall not join corporate social media
- You shall not subject your children to predatory marketing techniques
- You shall spend up to 10% extra to shop locally or with small companies, more if you can
- You shall voice your support for fairness, equality and against bullying wherever you go
- You shall not think of living things in hierarchical order (x is better than y)
- You shall not compromise freedom and privacy for comfort or "sAfEtY"
- You shall pay techy friends for their help - at least in food
- You shall install an ad blocker
- You shall not praise big tech, proprietary products or IP law.
- You shall not use proprietary software if a good FOSS alternative exists
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Ouch, number one hits hard. Sure, I don't personally use predatory marketing techniques on my kids [edit: or other people's kids either!] but I don't know how to fully protect them from others that do so.
After that hit of existential guilt your other dictums seem easy! đ
How will they learn to healthily deal with it, if you don't subject them to it in a controlled and safe environment?
They dont. They vote with you to abolish this shit.
In an ideal world, I agree with you.
But in the real world, it ain't gonna happen, so you have to do your best to make your children capable of functioning in their own interest in a mentally hostile environment.
By that definition one could argue you should abuse your children to the maximum possible extent. This is flawed logic imo.
Besides, Iâm talking about mechanics that are borrowed from gambling. Loud âplingâ sounds, overly shiny colors and generally stuff that grabs attention.
This is not something a child needs to grow up. a parent can absolutely be expected to check games for these things before buying them. If others subject the kid to it the parent cant really do a lot but I feel like taking all responsibility isnt smart at all.
I didn't state that "logic". Per default I assume that everybody understands that we are talking about everything in moderation. Also I specifically stated some boundaries in my original statement, ensuring the mental safety of children during exposure to manipulative ads.
I assume no parent in their right mind would push their child off a cliff to make them stronger. But parent let their kids test their physical limits by providing them with a safe environment (e.g. playground or backyard) and adult supervision.
When somebody states "stay hydrated" it is not only pedantic, but also somewhat schizophrenic to reply with "By that definition we should all constantly keep drinking, but too much water too quickly will cause you to die, so your logic of staying hydrated is wrong."
source in case you didn't know: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
Sure, warping my argument ad absurdum helps you get around it.
I stand by my opinion. Dont subject your children to predatory marketing.
Have a good one.
Thanks for the feedback. Had a good chuckle.
Iâm talking about i.e. ingame purchases and more specifically lootboxes.
To make the logic dead easy (i know raising kids is never easy): if all kids in class got heroin to feel better due to the schools inability to provide heating, would you agree?
Didnt think so. Thats how loot boxes work. Companies are broken and have a virus called shareholder primacy. Due to that, they need to exploit children to survive atm. I wouldnât participate in this so no lootboxes for children, same for other ingame purchases actually but loot boxes in particular.
Yeah, I get the logic and I thank you for the example (shudder!). Again, those techniques are so pervasive, so normalised that no amount of parental guidance and handholding can really safeguard a kid.
I'm not arguing against you at all, it's just a chilling realisation that I can't realistically co-sign and live by a statement that I would hope to be basic decency...
I get you. The idea of having to raise a child in this situation is distressing.
To make another example: watching countless hours of tv is normalized for some people. This doesnt mean it has to apply to your kids as well. You can guide the kids to play only things that fulfill a minimal requirement. You wouldnât let them play porn games as well I suppose so just because âthe othersâ are allowed doesnt mean you need to allow it. Its a slippery slope for sure but our society is very dangerous for kids. The alternative is to make games be totally sanitized (minecraft bedrock for example which bans people from the game they bought if they get reported in chat and it still has microtransactions) which rids them of all originality imo.
But I digress. I can imagine how daunting this all must be. Maybe you can find other techy parents that will work on a guidance plan with you. You could even propose that on parents night (if that is a thing where you live).
Desperately searching for /c/[email protected] as we speak
You know the rules then. Make one. :)