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Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by areyouseriousxx on Monday April 15, 2019 @10:46PM (#19670721)
> Everyone is self-interested

Is there a citation I can refer to about this statement?

I would argue that laws and regulations are to prevent the very impactful minority of actors that would willfully harm others to benefit themselves.

Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by sl1ck731 on Monday April 15, 2019 @11:49PM (#19670993)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_egoism

At this point it is philosophical either way, so you aren't going to get a citation confirming yours or his statements, but this isn't an unheard of belief.

Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by m00x on Monday April 15, 2019 @10:58PM (#19670781)
Neither statement is wrong. Heavily penalizing malicious actions aligns societal, and self-interest.

People don't go out and murder people they don't like because it's both at the interest of themselves, and to society.

Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by bjterry on Monday April 15, 2019 @11:39PM (#19670952)
> Is there a citation I can refer to about this statement?

I recently read The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life, which discusses this topic in great detail.

Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by baroffoos on Monday April 15, 2019 @11:10PM (#19670829)
Businesses that do not fake reviews will be buried in the search results and they will be forced to shut down when their sales stop. Its essentially evolution for companies.
Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by porjo on Monday April 15, 2019 @10:56PM (#19670774)
>> Everyone is self-interested

> Is there a citation I can refer to about this statement?

'The Book of Life', page 1

Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by isoskeles on Monday April 15, 2019 @11:08PM (#19670823)
First, this is quite condescending.

Second, the "self-interest" argument doesn't excuse shitty behavior. It might be in my self-interest to steal my neighbor's wallet he forgot outside. It has money in it! Doesn't make it a good idea nor something I would consider as a "self-interested" person.

Plus, it's also in my self-interest not to contribute to lowering the bar of a review system. As someone who uses Amazon and other review sites, I don't like the idea of phony reviews, so even if I worked for a company that "depended" on these reviews, I wouldn't feel good about adding to the problem (nor would I feel good that my employer supposedly needs to rely on falsified reviews).

Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by TheOtherHobbes on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @03:11AM (#19671709)
It doesn't excuse shitty behaviour.

But if you start from the realistic premise that some actors are bad, the market feedback loop immediately rewards them - which forces other actors to make a choice between acting in similarly unethical ways or being punished for non-compliance.

The real shitty behaviour is Amazon's. It has ultimate control over this fiasco but Bezos clearly has no interest in stopping it - and it can easily be argued that's an example of the same systemic problem with market fundamentalism, but at a higher level.

Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by tern on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @12:26AM (#19671130)
Incidentally, 'The Book of Life', page 1: https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/how-to-love/
Re:Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – report by elhudy on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @01:41AM (#19671386)
I find that people who generally hold this opinion against others are actually projecting their own thoughts.