Perhaps you're right about the stories. People don't want to read real life horror stories. I have actually wondered if VR with realistic reconstructions of war might be of value, to shake them up viscerally, which is really where people think from.

Privacy, well I guess it's up to you in that if others are willing to sell themselves you can't stop them but there's a lot to be gained by blocking ads/JS/cookies in your browser and not having a smart phone. Although as ever there's a cost to doing that, one I'm ok with but others aren't. Good luck with whatever you do.

I hear you. That cost was a lot easier to evaluate when I only had myself to consider.

It seems it really depends on how you sell privacy. For example, my wife did not get why I was playing with setting pihole, but she did notice lack of popups on her kindle and liked that.

As for VR, I think I agree that if it could make you feel sensations, maybe could achieve what stories could not (then again, would people pay to smell the air after D-day?). Right now, gaming allows you to feel detached from your decisions.

And as if by magic https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21504678 "What It’s Really Like to Fight a War (nytimes.com)"