Yea, about that. I have a channel that no matter how many times i say "don't recommend me this channel" i would keep getting it, to comedic effect. Like i would press the button and then immediately get the same channel 4 times in a row. I have now pressed that button maybe 30 times and it is still showing up. Fuck YouTube.

True but one can mitigate engagement. View < comment < like < share < follow and so on (not exactly sure of the order but you get the idea). Maybe the best would be to block the account after following or report the content, that is short of leaving the platform all together.

Why'd you specify shorts? That's a thing normal videos too (both "not interested" and "don't recommend channel").