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Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by red-montaigne on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:06AM (#26153945)
Great example of how language is a tool for thinking, but it's also a tool for not thinking. If you want to ignore or obfuscate something, you can seal it off with euphemisms and misrepresentations, kind of like putting an interface in front of an implementation. And as you pointed out, you can use this tactic to deceive not only others but also yourself.
Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by hakeberio on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @12:23PM (#26156262)
Definitely. It reminds me of Orwell's Newspeak in 1984- although the novel itself shows that having a "clean" vocabulary doesn't completely prevent "unclean" thought deemed by the authorities, having a censored set of language can "nudge" people to certain propaganda.
Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by dleslie on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @10:31AM (#26154766)
Casual game design uses many of the same nouns as casino operators.
Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by techer on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @11:30AM (#26155579)
“Compelling”
Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by xwolfi on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:29AM (#26154139)
Let's say language is a tool to convey information regardless of truth or precision.

You can disguise negative information giving it the appearance of a usual positive one (the fake discount).

It's more a property of information than of language, or rather a property of our information processor, so lazy it doesn't check every single piece 3 times but instead rely on habit and context

Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by red-montaigne on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:41AM (#26154230)
I'm thinking more of a writer sitting down and struggling to choose the correct word to identify a thought. I wouldn't say they're "conveying information." At that point they don't have information. I would say rather that they're attempting to refine the raw material of the flow of their thought-consciousness by using language. You can use words to assist that refinement. (I'm doing it now, for example.) But you can also use words to divert your thought stream away from potentially uncomfortable ideas, or someone else can do that to you.
Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by m463 on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @06:14PM (#26160056)
"we're supported by advertising" (pervasive surveillance and tracking)
Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by efreak on Saturday February 20, 2021 @04:19PM (#26208087)
The surveillance and tracking complement advertising, but aren't necessarily part of it. I'd call it brainwashing instead.