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Comment by nmeofthestate | Hacker News Reader

We need to ban the word "creepy" - it's lazy and vague.

I could write an article about how, in order to buy something in a store, you're expected to queue up and present your chosen products to a human who picks them up and scans them - wow, "super creepy", right. An actual human running their hands over your stuff, glancing at your face and probably thinking about who you are, and why you're buying these particular products. The human might even get a look at your bank card. "What a bunch of weird nonsense" is the idea that is probably going through your head (see how I lazily assume you think like me, the article author).

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In you example it's obvious what is happening.

On the web, it's not.

Both are kind of creepy though. It's a meaningless and lazy descriptor in the way it's currently being (ab)used.

The real world example would only be creepy if the cashier was keeping detailed notes of what you bought, and suggesting related products the next time you visited the store. It's not creepy because the vast majority of cashiers don't do that. The online example is creepy because almost all vendors are doing this, and even worse, they're sharing the data with each other to build detailed customer profiles so they can sell you more products.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-targ...

You are basically relying on the cashiers poor memory to stop them from recognizing you. If you live in a small town, or even just an efficient city that sees you going to the same store often, people will recognize you.

This would be creepy if the cashier had an eidetic memory and after only visiting the store once while scanning items said: "Hi nmeofthestate, do you want to process this order on your card that ends with 1234 again?"

But we're aware of the employee's involvement in the transaction process. Imagine the same retail transaction but a manager is spying on the two of you (and every other transaction) from a peephole in the ceiling. That's why "creepy" is an effective word.

Agreed, and see my point above. Used to be creepy required some creep to look through a peephole. Now they've automated it.

"Creepy" is one of those things that's impossible to clearly and objectively define. I know it when I see it.

> I know it when I see it.

I would counter that you often think you know it when you see it, but may be incorrect. Knowing more about the circumstances and why something is done often reduces or eliminated the creepiness, in that what you assumed was the reason behind the behavior wasn't correct.

Creepy is a subjective descriptor. One person's creepy is another person's not-creepy. Things may be both creep and not-creepy at the same time, depending on who is observing it. I don't know that you can say someone's perception of creepiness is incorrect as that implies that there is an objectively correct label for creepiness.

ummm, human interaction is creepy? You have heard that we are a social species, yes?

The notion of "owning" something is a social construct.

The concept of transferring ownership from the store to you is likewise a social construct which requires a social action/interaction.

The stuff isn't your stuff until the transaction is complete. That would be after they "ran their hands all over it".

the concept of lining up imposes a standard of "fairness", another social construct which most apes seem to share. Because you aren't the only person buying stuff.

What is creepy is when a party deviates far from the norms established over roughly 100,000 years of trading/social interactions. Creepy is when one side uses a data collection asymmetry in ways which violate social expectations.

And yes, 100 years ago it was possible for a store clerk to be creepy. But back then, most store clerks weren't. Today, the company automates this data collection so every (large) store is effectively super creepy.

I think you misunderstood nmeofthestate's comment. They're not saying that they think human interaction is creepy. They're using it in an example where where creepy could be used in a sentence, but doesn't make sense if you think about the paragraph as a whole.

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