Wish I had seen this one a few months ago. Would have bet hard NO.

two points: first, from the whole Neal Postmanesque “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” he’s definitely making the world dumber.

Second, none of his “philanthropy” works at scale. None of it affects actual societal change, it just amounts to a few bandaids, the end result creating a culture of young people who think the only way to get ahead is to get lucky. Possibly true, but if so that is a very serious net loss for humanity.

@Eric_WVGG I don't know much about Mr Beast, just what I read on Dominic Cumming's blog and the time Jimmy went on The Yard podcast. But, from what I've read, he's very open about how his success comes from insanely hard graft, a degree of dedication which beggars belief, and forming partnerships with other similarly dedicated people who'll be willing to put a dozen hours per day into figuring out what's working this month and what will work next month.

As such, I'm not sure "creating a culture of young people who think the only way to get ahead is to get lucky" applies?

Maybe his actual videos give a different impression.

@traders The poll has been created and closes in one week: https://manifold.markets/patrik/is-mrbeast-a-net-positive-for-the-w-EZlnNP8sRd?play=true

Assuming this resolves YES with a simple majority of the poll at end of year?

Exactly

Another point is that Mr Beast shows a brutalized form of capitalism in which people can be pushed into any form of undignified work if they are lured with money. This can be a negative role model because money appears to be quick way to power over people and a replacement for other values and social connections.

Put your mux where your mouth is.

this question will be resolved by a poll and not my opinion. And I think most people aren't so critical about ideology.

It's possible that under standard eg EA values his counterfactual impact is positive (people watch MrBeast gameshows instead of watching other youtube videos and playing mobile games, so they aren't hurt that much, and he donates more and more effectively than other creators) but there's a sense in which what he's doing is "unvirtuous" anyway, and that talented people shouldn't be doing stuff like this! I think that counts as 'net positive' though

I honestly think average mobile game is less harmful for brains than average MrBeast video. They are flashy, they are aimed to short attention span, they are passive activity, they teach "all for the money" behavioural model.