It's a really interesting problem and runs pretty deep, imo. People have these different kinds of machinery in their heads about this stuff. The example I like is that if a friend asks you to help her move, and you do, and then she tries to pay you cash afterward, you will probably feel insulted: you did the labor as part of your "friendship contract" and you were probably even kind of glad to do it; and the "obligation" your friend assumes is to buy you beer and pizza, and to return the favor -- or some comparable favor -- some other day. This is very deep, neurologically, in how social primates work.
But for a whole other class of interaction, and transaction, we have this glorious thing called money, which is just amazing that it can even work as a concept, and it encodes how much we value things, so you give me a pizza and I give you money, and it's amazing. But it taps into a very different vibe.
And so how do those things interact in a community? And esp one like SN? My sense is that even though there's money at the heart of it, it's this real human sociality that is the key, and how can "real" money help that to flourish, and how can they interact?
There's like 5 PhD theses in this project you're building. Maybe more. Makes me think that that's an area of opportunity, to tap into that expertise / labor. Hmmm.
if a friend asks you to help her move, and you do, and then she tries to pay you cash afterward
She is me lol. I'm aware of the problems with this enough that I'll usually disguise it as a dinner or drinks or something, ie I know people actually do these things to accumulate social capital (even if they aren't conscious of it) ... my reciprocation drive is so high though I need to literally spend it down.
There's like 5 PhD theses in this project you're building. Maybe more. Makes me think that that's an area of opportunity, to tap into that expertise / labor. Hmmm.
If you have any ideas about how I'd begin to do that, I'd be very interested.
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my reciprocation drive is so high though I need to literally spend it down.
Ha! Well, to give you a tiny bit of psychotherapy, as long as the favor is freely given, doing a favor for someone you care about really is a gift to both parties. The relationship is enhanced by it. Both of you become closer as a result. That's a hard thing to internalize, I know (I'm kind of like you in my aversion to being socially indebted) but it really is true. That truth, plus the traditional potlatch of pizza + beer, is enough.
If you have any ideas about how I'd begin to do that, I'd be very interested.
I am about to hire an economist who's a very creative thinker. I'll discuss with him, I'm sure he'll have a bunch of ways to make this concrete. Will get back to you!
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