I honestly couldn't say.
I feel that's a major issue you'll have to face.
For an example of an obvious case of homo sapiens being led into things against his best interest consider smoking.
Sure. People have smoked a variety of dried plants (including but not limited to tobacco and marijuana) for a very long time. Much, much longer than advertising has been around. So, what's the "best interest" here, who decides what it is, and who "leads" people into something against their best interest?
Note, by the way, that if you honestly can't say who decides what's in a person's best interest (other than herself, of course) then the phrase "It is extremely rare that smoking is in anyone's best interest" doesn't mean anything.
Ideally I would measure best interest compared to the human utility function, but we do not have the luxury of a fully unpacked utility function. In the mean time I'll just go with (length of life x happiness) - (very large number x atrocities committed). As to who leads someone against their best interest, that would be advertisers as the agents of companies who wish to sell people things. Some advertisers also move people towards their best interest. The point is that the best interest of the buyer and the best interest of the seller are rather disconnec...
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
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