Torrents

[farla]

So I've been taking advantage of my new internet connection by downloading truly massive files. It used to take me maybe three days or so to download an episode. I just downloaded all of CCS's first season in a day. Which is lovely.

The interesting thing is I've currently uploaded about two and a half more than I've downloaded - 44.4 gigabytes so far, in part because I leave files up if there aren't many seeds available. For something like, say, Loveless, the seed/peer ratio is pretty reasonable. On the other hand, I tried downloading Pokemon Advanced because it's canon and I felt I should check it out (incidentally, OW, I needed those brain cells). There are a lot of people downloading and few or no seeds. Once I finished downloading, I tried leaving it up until a few other people had a full set, only to see them drop off immediately after hitting a hundred percent.

Which made me think of two things - one, from a narrow standpoint, the people who download Pokemon Advanced (ie, eleven year olds) and the people who download Loveless (ie...well, I certainly hope they're a lot older) show very different patterns. The general anime downloads will have several people at a hundred percent who are seeding, and you can download it without too much trouble, while the Pokemon crowd seems interested in screwing over others, trying to download without uploading. In the short term, this is (arguably, since there's little sacrifice in leaving it to upload) advantageous behavior, since there are no repercussions. In the longer run, it's self-destructive, since it makes the files harder to download and pretty soon the complete file won't be up at all. The anime fans show a more mature attitude. For a small sacrifice from the individual, the community benefits, leading to individual benefit. And since the group at large is more mature, there's little loss to being altruistic, which, in turn, encourages individual altruism, just as the Pokemon crowd's tactics encourage selfishness.

Two, from a wider standpoint, why am I leaving the files up in the first place? That's my precious bandwidth. It's slowing down my file downloads as well as my internet browsing in general. My individual advantage is maximized by stopping once the download completes regardless of which group I'm involved with. And to be perfectly honest, I really don't much like people. My classmates would enrage me if their existence didn't also depress me so much. I don't like my neighbors, extended family, random strangers, or the general population at large. It's not so much that I dislike them, but I don't like them either, and odds are, if I do feel one way or the other, it's edging toward dislike. Why aren't I selfish?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Say, I've had a thought. (It may be a bit of a late thought now, but nevermind.) The Pokemon downloaders are generally younger, so they're generally more likely to be using a family computer. Even though my laptop's mine alone, the first time I torrented a file, my mum was anxious about having a computer on downstairs overnight. (Electricity bill, vague fear of errors, ill will and night terrors...) When the download eventually finished, she didn't ask me to close the program, she asked me to turn the computer off for a while. It always did put a bit of a stain on the atmosphere in the main room downstairs whenever the computer was on for too long. (Things are easier now, with wireless.) So, if some of those Pokemon downloaders are using shared computers, with parents and siblings wanting their turns... Well, for a greater proportion of the general anime crowd, leaving the file to upload while they surf or work on something else in their rooms/dorms/apartments might be an easier decision. (You get older, you get freedom, privacy...) It may not quite account for all the kids, but I'd bet it's a factor.

As for the second point - you answered it yourself, with that bit about individual long term advantage, didn't you? And if you think better of those who support the system (and it's not majorly inconvenient), why wouldn't you include yourself in that category?

[farla.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's a good point. Even those with personal computers could run into parental opposition if those parents were fearful of viruses and aware of the computer being left on, so that would account for a sizable proportion of the crowd.

Unfortunately, in the long term, there's no real benefit for me-the-single-person. It's the tragedy of commons. Basically, although we all lose if we all act selfishly, if everyone but me acts selfishly, I benefit, and if everyone else acts selfishly and I act altruistically, I lose. Due to the volume of torrents, personal selfishness won't even reduce my future options. In all situations, it's best to act selfishly.

And as to thinking better of, I've found that, like most people, I'm able to be appreciative of others' decisions without necessarily altering my own. I'm not a vegetarian, for example.

[(Anonymous)]

Still, you get better download speeds if you have better share ratios. With the one I'm using, at least.

Do you criticise anyone for not being vegetarian, though?

People may be hypocritical when it's significantly more convenient (and worrying about suffering nutrient deficiencies if you don't plan meals well enough... that can be quite an inconvenience), but seeding torrents is easy enough that I wouldn't think that would come into play so much.

[farla.livejournal.com]

Ah, really? That's a good feature. There's still a way to abuse the system, but it would require more effort.

I don't criticize, although I do use information on the subject to hurt people, which is a sort of indirect proselytizing. And if I was a vegetarian, I probably would criticize.

Mm, I wouldn't quite say hypocritical. Being admiring or impressed by a group's actions is somewhat neutral. Unless you're insulting of those who don't emulate the group without doing so yourself, it's not really being hypocritical. I'm happy that people spent years up in redwood trees to protect them from logging but it's not something I personally want to do. As to seeding torrents, well, who knows? A more pessimistic possibility is that it's deliberate. Some people would like to feel they're getting away with something, and others enjoy abusing the help of others. How widespread those behaviors are is unknown, though.