That was Reddit. Related to

Although smart people don’t tend to believe outdated race science either so I guess that’s pretty self-explanatory

Conventionally intelligent people are actually more likely to believe race science because they’re more likely to have fringe beliefs in general. Turns out being good at manipulating logic makes you good at deluding yourself, too.

I know this wasn’t the point of your post, which I agree with in general. Just a common way for us to slip into the mindset that rationality is a trait rather than a skill which needs to be consciously used.

Maybe someone can dig up sources. I don’t have time to atm. But piracy increases media consumption and those who pirate are also more likely to buy.

Anecdotally, if I pirate a game and don’t enjoy it, but it was a more indie title, I’ll still go and buy it if I have the money.

One time some dude at a bar was giving me a hard time for “not supporting devs”, so I looked up one of the pipeline artists for the corporate studio on LinkdIn, asked for her Venmo, paid her the MSRP for the game, and then showed the guy. I said, “and none of that went to the executives who didn’t do the work, so in a way, I’ve supported this game more than you ever have.” And of course, he still thought I was an asshole who “didn’t support developers”. And he was right about the asshole part But it quickly became clear that he was upset that I didn’t support the company itself. It’s bootlicking all the way down.

That last one is probably not a great anecdote for your partner, but goddamn it really lays bare how much the whole “support artists” thing is bullshit for so many people