this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2025
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Mildly Interesting

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The idea feels like sci-fi because you're so used to it, imagining ads gone feels like asking to outlaw gravity. But humanity had been free of current forms of advertising for 99.9% of its existence. Word-of-mouth and community networks worked just fine. First-party websites and online communities would now improve on that.

The traditional argument pro-advertising—that it provides consumers with necessary information—hasn't been valid for decades.

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[–] PunkRockSportsFan@fanaticus.social 39 points 16 hours ago (1 children)
[–] zqps@sh.itjust.works 16 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I've always thought of it as waste of our mental resources. But pollution describes it even better.

Pollution specifically engineered by psychologists to maximize its impact.

[–] Christobootswiththepher@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Emotional pollution Mind pollution SOUL POLLUTION

[–] LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee 1 points 23 minutes ago

Advertising might be similarly harmful as lead in drinking water.