Reddit Volition
Free yourself from groupthink
I'm creating this extension under the GNU General Public License v3.0 to free myself and others from Hivemind, Point Systems Addiction, and other negative implications of Reddit's karma.
Table of Contents
- What is Reddit Volition
- How to use Reddit Volition
- License
- What is Groupthink
- How is Karma Addictive
- How to report a bug
- How to contribute
What Is Reddit Volition
Reddit Volition is (for now) a chrome extension that removes several key reddit features from the user's view as these features may be percieved as toxic, manipulative, and contribute to systematically warping a persons mind.
How To Use Reddit Volition
Currently, the extension is not yet availible through the chrome store, however you can fork this repository and compile the extension privately within your own browser.
To compile and install your own version of Reddit Volition follow this guide.
To enable Reddit Volition's feature blocking capabilities, all you need to do is open the extension pop-over through your extension menu, and click the buttons that block the undesired features.
What Is GroupThink
Per Wikipedia:
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness, in a group may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs.[1] This causes the group to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation.[2][3]
Groupthink is a construct of social psychology, but has an extensive reach and influences literature in the fields of communication studies, political science, management, and organizational theory,[4] as well as important aspects of deviant religious cult behaviour.
How Is Karma Addictive
We are all social creatures with a desire to create social capital, belong within a group, and contribute to said group.
The body's response to a sense of belonging and affirmation heavily rewards people with very similar feedback as it does with drug consumption.
My hot take is that receiving feedback that your contribution was valuable, helpful, or agreed with gives you a rush of endorphins nearly as addictive as some chemical substances like meth, cocaine, and alcohol. I'm not making an argument that these responses to social behavior are as damaging as those other chemical addictions. They aren't, they are the basis for the social tendencies of humanity. However, they are also a weakness to be exploited for profit.
As a human you have an inherent addiction to the chemical response of social validation at some varying level. Regardless of how effective it works on you, karma is a tool to deliver and exploit that validation and encourage you to spend more time on the Reddit platform interacting with others within your chosen social circles.
How To Report A Bug
How To Contribute
License
Copyright (C) 2021 Timothy Beck
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.