this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
955 points (98.6% liked)
Curated Tumblr
4932 readers
303 users here now
For preserving the least toxic and most culturally relevant Tumblr heritage posts.
The best transcribed post each week will be pinned and receive a random bitmap of a trophy superimposed with the author's username and a personalized message. Here are some OCR tools to assist you in your endeavors:
-
FOSS Android Recs per u/m_f@discuss.online: 1 , 2
Don't be mean. I promise to do my best to judge that fairly.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Yeah, I've seen a lot of people react like the treats are indignifying, as if positive and negative reinforcement only happen in a lab or something.
Yeah, the single m&m is a little weird but how is it really different than seeing someone in a bag mood and telling them a joke or something to lift their spirits?
Pretty sure it's the lack of consent of the intent that is undignified. Just like many woman prefer to not have their date pay for their meal because it sets the implication that they have to pay via other ways and they didn't consent to this.
Okay, I asked somebody else, maybe you can help.
Consent to what? What is he supposed to be consenting to? That she thinks thoughts in her head? M&M's are not actually magic, he does not have to be any happier if he doesn't want to.
Like, let's look at another act of subtle coercion: the advertising industry. An ad agency's entire job is to either directly or indirectly prime and condition you into believing certain things about whatever it is they're selling.
Maybe they want you to believe it's a good product. Maybe they want you to believe that Apple is "clean" and "cool" and "for creatives." Maybe they want you to believe that protesters are crazed lunatics throwing firebombs and flipping cars all the time.
And, while this is deliberate manipulation, I've never heard anybody talk about how they didn't consent to it. If a salesman is trying to coerce you into something, your consent is the contract you sign.
And likewise, I don't see how this guy isn't consenting to M&M's making him happier when they either did or did not do that in the first place.