

Is Carrot Dating, the Bribe-Based Dating App, Really So Bad? - Jun8
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/is-carrot-dating-the-bribe-based-dating-app-really-so-bad

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pg
What a curious example of symbiosis. Guy trolls journalists with a
deliberately controversial app, knowing he can count on their indignation to
make them write about how awful it is and thus send him lots of traffic. And
then an "edgy" publication passes on the troll directly to us by defending it,
thereby getting attention for themselves as well.

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w1ntermute
I've never understood why prostitution is still illegal. A mutually acceptable
transaction between two adults shouldn't be regulated.

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shitlord
I am willing to bet that in the vast majority of cases (in the US), it is
exploitative to women. Women who stand on street corners and sell themselves
are usually not doing it because they think of themselves as liberated. They
do it because they need to make ends meet, and because if they don't, they
will get in trouble with their boss. When people on HN think about
prostitution, they think of escorts, not $50 hookers (or women who don't even
get paid).

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Amadou
That's why in many of the countries where prostitution is legal, pimping is
still illegal.

On the other hand, the results of at least one study suggest that prostitutes
who work with pimps earn more, work less hours and have lower rates of injury.

Extreme Prelimary Study here:
[http://economics.uchicago.edu/pdf/Prostitution%205.pdf](http://economics.uchicago.edu/pdf/Prostitution%205.pdf)

Note, for better or for worse, one of the authors is associated with
"freakaonimcs."

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Jun8
The crudeness of the intro video on the site and the PR material aside (quite
successful in its sensationalistic goal) it's really interesting to read
people's reactions to them. The idea is in fact prevalent in the animal
kingdom, e.g. male spiders routinely give presents to females to mate with
them
([http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0214_050214_...](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0214_050214_valentines.html)).
The notion, of course, is that us, being humans, are way above these
animalistic methods. Are we? As the Merovingian puts it: "And this is the
nature of the universe. We struggle against it. We fight to deny it, but it is
of course pretense. It is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance, the truth is
we are completely... out of control".

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mildtrepidation
It's kind of hilarious to see a Merovingian quote here, but I agree that the
ridiculous "we're people, not animals" argument can't be disparaged enough. A
limited but very significant example of this is the fact that the vast
majority of money made on mobile apps and games depends on behavioral
conditioning. You know... ring the bell, dog salivates? We've been doing this
for decades -- just look at my Final Fantasy collection -- but only now is it
really juicing us for cash at optimal levels. And it's not because we're
Impressively Sophisticated.

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alecsmart1
I don't understand what's wrong with this. Of course it is crude and the
creator comments are offensive. But the creator does not sugar-coat the
product in any way. He clearly says its a dating app to bribe woman. He's
calling a spade, a spade. And I am sure there will be enough men who want to
use this to get dates. If you don't like the idea, don't use it. Why bash the
creator. Let the idea die because of lack of attention.

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ArekDymalski
I find it funny that (as I expect) there would be much less buzz if they have
used "gift" instead of "bribe". I'm really curious what the final reaction of
the potential customers (of both sexes) will be. My guess is the majority of
both man & women will reject such unromantic way to find the "other half". Of
course if this app is about long-term relationships at all.

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tn13
Even if it is prostitution what is wrong with it ?

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yetanotherphd
Pretty funny, I'm not a feminist or a conservative so I don't think there's
anything wrong with this, although it looks like a recipe for getting ripped
off.

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jka
Without invoking any feminism or conservatism, I think it's fair to say that
encouraging personal relationships to involve bribery (even if the use of the
word is in a tongue-in-cheek manner) devalues them and pushes them towards
being transactions. Call me old-school, but I do not want my personal, friend,
or business relationships to be transactions.

My opinion would be that this seems like a very slick way (by both the app,
and it's colourful carefree branding, and the article, written carefully to
benefit from controversy and deflect criticism) to gloss over a fundamentally
ugly idea.

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Amadou
Looking at the list of incentives, I see that it starts off with paying for a
meal. I've always thought that the societal expectation that (1) men should
ask women out on a date and (2) because they made the invitation they are
responsible for picking up the bill is just a form of low-rent prostitution.

I've only dated women who were willing to go dutch and I'm glad that society
has been moving away from that norm because it belittles women, particularly
the ones who don't recognize it as such, because it says you are valued simply
for being female (like 50% of the population) rather than valued for what
makes you uniquely you.

