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Comment by areeved | Hacker News Reader

You mean the same way that fashion and automobile companies prey on those who want cars and clothes to combat their own desires or fears (e.g. lack of self-esteem)?

Shameful.

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It's all relative, including everyone's perception of ethics.

This 'game' sounds more like a fruit/slot machine, but much more sophisticated and accessible.

Gambling and addictive drugs are regulated because, ultimately, they rely on a clear failure mode in cognition. Collapse the action-reward feedback loop and you run the risk of losing a productive member of society. It passes from internally negative to a proper externality. Governments are interested in the latter.

No, there isn't a clear categorisation rule to say what's exploitative and what's just people who need to take responsibility for their own actions. That's because the world is fuzzy and isn't made of syllogisms.

Gambling and addictive drugs are regulated because, ultimately, they rely on a clear failure mode in cognition.

This is the official line; it's not the real reason. The real reason has a lot more to do with racism (in the case of drugs), cronyism, pork-barrel politics and protectionism.

You're injecting a parochial view of political history. The path dependency varies from country to country. That there is convergence to me suggests that it's an attractor in the space of policy settings.

Hence the official line comment. Obviously, the issue is a lot more complex than we've described here because it involves so many competing interests and all opinions are shaped by the whims of a vast cultural-political machine.

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