Grasping Reality on TypePad, by Brad DeLong

A Precis of the thoughts that Bill Davidow and Mike Malone have been having recently on how modern high tech information age capitalism is increasingly finding it much more profitable to create evanescent and ultimately pointless desires then to satisfy durable and important needs: William H. Davidow & Michael S. Malone: Dopamine Capitalism https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/new-casino-capitalism-by-william-h-davidow-and-michael-s-malone-2020-04: ‘It is no secret that with the digital revolution has come many new forms of addiction, as users chase after social-media "likes" and other online stimuli. But less understood is the extent to which most of the tech industry now relies on behavioral manipulation to maximize profits at the expense of our wellbeing.... The powerful companies (and, in some cases, governments) that control the Internet have moved from accidentally or unwittingly creating human “robots” to knowingly doing so. Contrary to the usual warnings about artificial intelligence and automation, the biggest near-term threat to humanity is coming not from our machines, but from the people designing them. Those shaping the current technological era have violated the public trust by choosing business models that are openly amoral or even immoral. Following in the footsteps of the tobacco companies and the casino business, they are consciously creating and fostering addictive behavior in the name of profits...