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Comment by didericis | Hacker News Reader

I don't think companionship can be commodified, and I think any attempt to do so would be the equivalent of an opiate. While there may be specific contexts where it could have utility, I think it's far healthier to encourage those who lack the inclination or willingness to join communities to do so. That's why I mentioned leadership. I think we have a responsibility to give lots of opportunities and encouragement for those lacking the initiative or will to socialize, and should try to diminish a lot of the status barriers and animosities preventing such socialization.

We've had many decades of psychological and behavioral science now. Instead of using it to get people to click buttons for hours and talk to a screen, maybe we could figure out how to use it to encourage healthier behavior.

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I don't know about actual companionship, but I'd say that one could commercialize the facade of one. Youtube and Twitch's live streaming mechanisms certainly seem to push it; a few dollars to briefly interact and hold the attention of the streamer's attention. At the far end I'd wonder if even prostitution could arguably fit under that idea of commercializing intimacy.

> I think it's far healthier to encourage those who lack the inclination or willingness to join communities to do so. That's why I mentioned leadership. I think we have a responsibility to give lots of opportunities and encouragement for those lacking the initiative or will to socialize, and should try to diminish a lot of the status barriers and animosities preventing such socialization.

It's a noble idea, but begs the question why a community would want to have responsibility to individuals that they may not want to have in their presence in the first place.

... Amusingly it also it just now occurs to me now that what you describe sounds similar religion, specifically to the the Abrahamic faiths and their derivatives.

Yes, there are ways to try to commercialize intimacy, but they're horrible and don't actually achieve it.

> It's a noble idea, but begs the question why a community would want to have responsibility to individuals that they may not want to have in their presence in the first place.

If you help build up the people around you into better people, and get to know them, they tend to reciprocate. It can take a very long time, not everyone reciprocates equally, they may be coming from a very different place that's hard to understand, and it can be painful. But it's intrinsically rewarding to pursue the companionship of others genuinely, as hurt as you might get doing so. What you gain when you're honest makes up for it. Trying to do so in the proper manner takes constant reevaluation and work, but we're not here to just sit in front of a computer and buy stuff, we're here to interact with those around us and try to get as close as we can to fulfillment.

If I lack willingness it's because I don't want to. Why are you trying to force me to do something I don't want? Just let me have the AI companion I long for.

There are multiple reasons why people might be unwilling to cure their loneliness with others, most of which I think relate to past rejection, lack of willingness to adapt and/or incompatibility with the people around them.

I’m not advocating force to address those issues. If you want an AI companion instead of people then that’s your choice. I just think it’s a poor substitute for actual human companionship and will not engender positive growth.

I keep coming back to the narcotic analogy. They have their place, and people are going to do what they’re going to do, but I don’t think encouraging the widespread use of narcotics in the future is a great idea.

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