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In what way do your arguments not also apply to cocaine?


> Billions of people like using the product and it hasn't hurt their lives. In fact, it has improved them.

I don't believe Facebook or TV are equivalent to cocaine. I don't think your argument is made in good faith.


> I don't believe Facebook or TV are equivalent to cocaine.

Exactly. You were making a broad claim that it is "paternalistic and elitist" to decide what is "good for you" vs "bad for you". If it is paternalistic and elitist in some cases, but appropriate in others, then don't we need a way to figure out what side of that line various things fall on?


> In what way do your arguments not also apply to cocaine?

This is the comment to which I was responding. As I see it, there are two premises here which both have to be accepted (i.e. it is an "AND" not an "OR"):

1) Facebook/TV is analogous to cocaine

2) Cocaine is bad for you

If I reject that Facebook/TV is analogous to cocaine, I reject the entire thing. I was not making a broad claim about people's autonomy vs. paternalism. I was making a narrow claim in relation to two (at worst) benign things: smart TVs and Facebook.


Bingo.




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