• Flamekebab@piefed.social
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    15 days ago

    I’m curious what hooks people with gambling. Trying to prevent exposure feels like security through obscurity.

    To me gambling is boring but that’s not helpful for people vulnerable to its hooks.

    • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      14 days ago

      The “exposure” has been every mobile and multiplayer game for the last 15 years being loaded with it.

      It’s no surprise that they eventually start gambling with real money. It’s like having adverts for BetFred in between episodes of Bluey.

      • Flamekebab@piefed.social
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        14 days ago

        Sure, but how does that relate to my comment regarding hooks?

        I understand exposure. I’m not disputing that that’s a problem. Like, no shit, priming children to gamble is bad. I assumed that didn’t need stating.

        What I’m interested in is what specifically about gambling is it that appeals to or targets those susceptible to it. I am not susceptible and find it actively boring so I was hoping to get some other perspectives to better understand that side of the issue.

        Edited to add some clarity because my question came off as snarky. I feel like we need the opposite of sarcasm tags on here - something to say “sincere” or “actual question, not being a dick, honest”.

        • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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          14 days ago

          That’s the hook isn’t it. They’ve been doing it for years, no harm done.

          That’s how most addictions seem to start anyway.

          • Flamekebab@piefed.social
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            14 days ago

            Plenty of people have the same exposure and are not hooked by it. That’s my point. I’m happy to be rid of the exposure, I’m not defending it, but it doesn’t address what makes a subset of people susceptible to it. My general point is that if the strategy boils down to “make sure people don’t find out gambling is an option” then I think it’s a pretty primitive strategy.

            Let’s be clear, I don’t think advertising this garbage is in anyway okay, however there’s probably a lot more we can do than simply reducing exposure to adverts. Banning gambling outright seems like it wouldn’t really work (prohibition, etc…) but there’s probably more levers that we could use. Possibly taxing the ever-loving crap out of gambling companies for a start, but this kind of policy isn’t my area and I defer to people with the background.

            • ᓚᘏᗢ@piefed.social
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              14 days ago

              Yeah but actually addressing the route cause of addiction would require isolating the genes responsible and removing them, which is basically eugenics, no?

              The other way of combating this would be for quality of life to increase dramatically across the board for everyone, as debilitating addiction is a trauma/stress response. But no government is going to do this, so it’s probably going to be eugenics if it is attempted.

              • Flamekebab@piefed.social
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                14 days ago

                Do we have the data backing up that it’s genetic?

                Edit: Someone doesn’t like me asking…

                It was not a rhetorical question. If we know susceptibility to gambling is genetic that changes the approach we need to take as a society.

                • ᓚᘏᗢ@piefed.social
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                  14 days ago

                  I don’t know, honestly I was just guessing it was linked to various gene expressions. Many folk with adhd are very susceptible addictions, so I was kinda assuming if there was a gambling gene so to speak, it would be linked to that.

                  • Flamekebab@piefed.social
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                    14 days ago

                    I could absolutely see it having a genetic component, but without data to support it I’m not going to start suggesting policy (even if policy was my area!). If we could prove it was genetic then we could start putting policies in place that treat gambling as what it is, predatory, and have an unassailable reason to not tolerate its current place in our society.

                    I have nothing moral against gambling in and of itself but I do have something against preying on our people.

    • Horse {they/them}@lemmygrad.ml
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      15 days ago

      a few different reasons, some get a thrill from the risk (similar to people who do physically dangerous things like bungee jumping), some are desperate for money, some see it as a get-rich-quick thing

      to me, it’s a tax on hope