https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/iphone-addiction-may-virtue-not-vice-investors-231609443--sector.html
Some excerpts...
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc <AAPL.O> investors are shrugging off concerns raised by two shareholders about kids getting hooked on iPhones, saying that for now a little addiction might not be a bad thing for profits.
Still, the investment community is increasingly holding companies to higher social standards, and there is some concern that market-leading tech companies could draw attention from regulators much like alcohol, tobacco and gambling companies have in the past.
The idea that companies are to blame for peoples' own individual lack of judgement.
We're not talking about cigarette companies who might say smoking is healthy.
Now that's just plan misrepresentation and outright lying.
But if we look at Apple, Facebook, Snapchat, whatever... these are just social media products, very much like TV, cable TV, Netflix...
You wanna watch it, you continue, you don't want to watch it, you turn it off.
Even for smoking, you wanna smoke, you smoke, else you stop.
That's assuming the cigarette company spells it out that cigs could be addictive and aren't healthy the customer makes an informed decision.
But you see, anything can be addictive.
If you race cars, you may be addicted to the adrenaline of driving at fast speeds.
If you gamble at casinos, you can get addicted to the thrill of gambling, that's why there's regulations in Singapore.
If you go shopping, you might get addicted to the dopamine which the body gets when buying stuff.
When you eat you can get addicted to food as a comfort food and overeat.
It's like... have people and regulators all gone mad?
That people don't need to be responsible for their own decisions anymore? We aren't able to judge what is good for us or we don't have discipline to control our own intake of any product?
I mean, that's just ridiculous.
People can also get addicted to dumpster diving and hoard, cos it's fun and there's lots of dopamine getting free stuff, it's not like I don't like the thrill of finding free stuff, but I have some bloody common sense and pass on stuff that I don't want to others and manage my inventory.
There's fast food, sugar consumption, sweet breakfast cereals, all highly addictive and we have minimal regulation for that.
The idea that people are blaming companies for their lack of control over their kids or their own personal lack of control over how much they consume is pretty ridiculous and disturbing.
I think about it slightly further. If we aren't smart enough and disciplined enough to take care of ourselves and think for ourselves.
And we require people to tell us what is the right amount to eat, drink, watch TV, etc...
This means companies tell us what is a fair amount of consumption...
This also breeds the idea that companies can also tell you other stuff which might not be in your best interest.
Like putting a best before date on consumables. People just stop thinking about whether the food is safe to consume and just "listen" to the companies.
Just cos people can't think for themselves anymore.
And it's happening.
No one puts an expiry date on fresh chicken sold at wet markets. People who buy it use common sense. They freeze it, and eat it later or they don't preserve it and eat it within 2-3 days.
Food turns bad when it turns bad, not when a date passes.
The idea that if a food expires on 8 Jan 23:59:59, and 1 second later, 9 Jan 00:00:00 the food is now inedible, that idea is just plain stupid.
So what am I trying to say?
It's pretty much, we are human beings with the ability to think and decide for ourselves and make intelligent decisions.
People who can't should maybe be allowed to eat bad food and weed themselves out of the gene pool.
As humans, who are supposed to be highly intelligent species, they should be able to made decisions and be responsible for our own decisions.
And by being responsible, we take control of our own lives.
The more we blame others, the more we give away control.
Basically, it makes people think that it's someone else's fault, I had no control over the situation and I, myself am not to blame.
So does this breed a whole new generation of fools? Maybe... I mean, I don't know.
But if we think about it, the more we give away control to people whom we deem as "authorities" or "experts" in the field, the more we, humans are easily manipulated.
Cos people just trust in the "experts".
So some people might think... oh it's just about addiction when you read the article.
For me, I think it's a bit deeper than that.
I think it's breeding irresponsibility. That people don't think for themselves anymore, that we blame someone else or we don't know what's good for us so we trust someone else to tell us what is good for us.
And it results in things like...
Expiry dates manipulating people thinking that food isn't consumable. Cos someone says it has "expired". It's about educating ourselves to identify WHEN food is deemed not fit for consumption.
Or investment is confusing and risky, so you should trust your fund manager and financial adviser, I'm not saying don't trust them, but rather, educate yourself to understand finances a bit first so that you would not be so easily fooled.
Or... Yakult/Vitagen aids digestion... Does it?
Yakult contains more than 10 billion of probiotics, L. casei strain Shirota which have been scientifically proven to survive the journey through the gastric juice and bile to reach the intestines alive. There, they top up the good bacteria already present in the intestines and help to normalise the balance of intestinal bacteria by keeping the harmful bacteria in check. A bottle of Yakult daily can help to maintain a healthy digestive system.
--http://yakult.com.sg/product-faq/
Pre/Pro-biotics is to help improve the fauna/flora of the gut. If taken on a regular basis, it's suppose to displace the bad bacteria and allow the good bacteria to grow.
So, yes, I reckon, I could read this as maintain a healthy digestive system.
But if you think that you ate a lot today and you're feeling a bit bloated, and you down a bottle of pro-biotic drink to relieve yourself... That's not going to do much for you.
Anyway, what I'm trying to get at, is pretty much, people, in general, need to read more and think more and practice critical thinking about stuff, they need to be responsible for their own actions and be able to be disciplined and learn more about other stuff and not just leave the "thinking" to the so called "experts".
Addiction and all that... use some common sense and think a bit more about it.
Question why you think a certain way. Is it due to conditioning from a young age? Due to "experts"?
I was talking to my friend and I was talking about marijuana use in the US and that it was going to turn legal.
And she was horrified and entirely against it.
And I asked... Why? And she said, it's a drug, it's illegal...
But why? What's wrong with it?
Essentially, it came down to ... cos the Singapore Government said so...
And then next the question becomes... what so bad about marijuana?
As compared to alcohol and cigarettes?
Anyway, I've rambled long enough. It just boils down to... if people can't control themselves, or have low discipline, or are unable to think for themselves, and don't take control of their own lives, then other people will be happy to manipulate them to do stuff that they want them to do, via other forms of creative marketing.
And, I think, we, as humans tend to be walking in that direction.
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