Comment by drdeca

4 years ago

If you steal only $5 from me, I am still harmed. If you break my computer monitor, then even if I can afford a replacement, I am still harmed.

Wasting time is nor considered stealing. If it were, there is a long queue to collect money from: all the add agencies, telephone menues where you have to go 10 level deep before you speak to a person, anyone who is bothering people on the street with questions, anyone making your possessions dirty would be a criminal. Anyone going on a date that doesnt work out would be a criminal.

  • > Wasting time is nor considered stealing.

    Nor is breaking my computer monitor.

    Theft was meant as an example of a type of harm, not a complete list of all types of harm.

    Something doesn’t have to be illegal to be harmful.

  • > Wasting time is nor considered stealing.

    Sure, but I'm still going to be pretty annoyed with you. And if you've wasted my time by messing with a system or process under my control then I'm probably going to block you from that system or process.

    As a really prosaic example, I've blocked dozens - if not hundreds - of recruiter email addresses on my work email account.