Procrastination
Nov. 6th, 2006 08:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrewduckerAfter I posted about NoScript, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cairmen commented saying that I'd disabled all analysis scripts, including the one that he used on his site (Google Analytics). To which my response was that while I'd never have got around to downloading something to prevent javascript tracking, the chances of me specifically turning tracking on were zero.
I thought of it as the difference between actively going out and buying a tin-foil hat to stop the satellites tracking my every move (could do it, can't be bothered) and deliberately carrying a small black box to make it easier to tell where I am (not going to happen without a darn good reason).
Which is the kind of inertia I see all the time in computer users of all types. Trying to explain to people that they ought to switch to Firefox is nigh-impossible, because they're 99.9% ok with things the way they are, nothing is causing immediate harm and they're happy to carry on without thinking about things/making a decision unless something forces them to. Unless you have security by default 99% of users will never be secure.
And in fact you can generalise that into real life - people just don't like thinking about things - and they don't like making decisions. So if something you want depends on a large proportion of people spending time thinking about something that's not overtly urgent/immediately important then it's not at all likely to happen.
cairmen commented saying that I'd disabled all analysis scripts, including the one that he used on his site (Google Analytics). To which my response was that while I'd never have got around to downloading something to prevent javascript tracking, the chances of me specifically turning tracking on were zero.I thought of it as the difference between actively going out and buying a tin-foil hat to stop the satellites tracking my every move (could do it, can't be bothered) and deliberately carrying a small black box to make it easier to tell where I am (not going to happen without a darn good reason).
Which is the kind of inertia I see all the time in computer users of all types. Trying to explain to people that they ought to switch to Firefox is nigh-impossible, because they're 99.9% ok with things the way they are, nothing is causing immediate harm and they're happy to carry on without thinking about things/making a decision unless something forces them to. Unless you have security by default 99% of users will never be secure.
And in fact you can generalise that into real life - people just don't like thinking about things - and they don't like making decisions. So if something you want depends on a large proportion of people spending time thinking about something that's not overtly urgent/immediately important then it's not at all likely to happen.
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Gosh really? *</sarcasm> :-)
Date: 2006-11-06 11:05 am (UTC)A big part of the NLP stuff I did was training in how to spot the "automatic reactions" and then making a conscious choice which (one hopes) would lead to achieving one's goals. E.g. if you're looking for a long term relationship, hanging out in singles bars, or at home in front of a computer are probably not the most successful strategies. If I'm trying to "impress" a woman with how wonderful I am, 15 minutes of bad puns is unlikely to be a good idea (or, for others, belching the German national anthem after 15 pints of lager!)
Influence: The Power of Persuasion is a great book explaining how people use this mental version of Newton's First Law to sell you things or persuade you to do things.
People don't want to think so they
a) do what they did last time
b) do what someone they trust tells them ("8 out of 10 dentists recommend this")
c) apply short cuts ("if there are two items, and one costs twice as much, the more expensive is probably higher quality/more reliable")
d) etc. (there's lots of stuff about, e.g. sell them the expensive item first, then sell them all the cheaper accessories, rather than trying to get them to buy it all at once. Get them started with something small so that they are invested in it, and then keep ramping things up (like drugs, getting involved in politics etc.)
I have *mostly* switched to Firefox (I haven't figured out how to change file downloading so it works like it does in IE, and there are a small number of apps at work that work only with IE, and yes, there's an IE plugin for Firefox to run those). But it was the tabbed browser that pulled me across (so that unbalanced force required by Newton's First Law to move me from the path of IE).
Re: Gosh really? *</sarcasm> :-)
Date: 2006-11-06 02:26 pm (UTC)Re: Gosh really? *</sarcasm> :-)
Date: 2006-11-06 02:36 pm (UTC)Re: Gosh really? *</sarcasm> :-)
Date: 2006-11-06 02:35 pm (UTC)How does the file downloading work differently in IE? I can't actually remember.
Oh - and I don't use IE from within Firefox - but I do have a right-click menu to open IE pointing to a page if it resolutely refuses to work in Firefox.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-06 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-06 06:34 pm (UTC)Isn't a part of having a mobile phone/credit card these days about carrying said small black box? Or is that still on the tinfoil hat end of the scale?
One of the neat things about those Oyster cards in london is that as long as you pay cash to get/put money on it, the thing is pleasantly anonymous.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-07 07:46 am (UTC)I heard that with Oyser cards you have to specifically request an anonymous one, and most people just hand over their name/address when they get one, without thinking about it.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-07 06:16 pm (UTC)I paid cash, got given one.
No name, no anything.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-07 06:20 pm (UTC)(Or they've made it easier - I believe that to start off with Oyster Cards were applied for and attached to a name/address)