blog.mikro2nd.net

The Stupidity Manifesto

Somewhat related to my own interests is this Stupidity Manifesto. Go; read it; it's about a 2 minute read, and likely not what you're expecting.

How does it connect to what I think and do? Well, it's related, in my mind, to the Complexity Issue, mainly to the last kind of Complexity I described there -- Intentional Complexity: the kind of things that companies (a.k.a. OSAIs) do to make us feel stupid so that we'll buy their shit.

  • Make the offer so complex that nobody can understand it, and then weave in a bunch of Dark UX Patterns so that we're "guided" into "choosing" the options which are most lucrative/profitable to them, but not usually so good for us mere Human Beings. (see: cellphone contracts, banking packages.)
  • Make us feel stupid so that we feel compelled to ask somebody for help -- and, by massive coincidence, that selfsame OSAI has just the consulting services we need. All we have to do is sign this annual contract (renewed automatically unless we notify them of our intent to cancel at least 90 days in advance of the renewal date by sending a hand-written letter together with recent DNA sample and 3 forms of proof of residence to...)

No, really! Go and read the Stupidity Manifesto, then sign it.