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Comment by Dylan16807

4 days ago

There are no successful economies without blue paint, either. As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been enough testing to say much about the importance of ads.

And even if they're necessary at some level, what if the US had 90% less ads, etc.

> There are no successful economies without blue paint

I don't think that is true. The oldest known mass printed advertising is about 2000 years older than the oldest known blue pigment.

> As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been enough testing to say much about the importance of ads.

I think if you look at some early advertising (e.g. BCE), you'll see that most have a painfully obvious functional form of just simply announcing the existence of a product/service for the world to observe.

  • I mean even vaguely vaguely modern-style economy. And you know that's not the point. The point is there's a lot of things that are omnipresent but also not important to the economy.

    > I think if you look at some early advertising (e.g. BCE), you'll see that most have a painfully obvious functional form of just simply announcing the existence of a product/service for the world to observe.

    That doesn't tell us how important it is to have advertising.

    And it doesn't tell us how important it is to have advertising anywhere near current levels.