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RE: Thoughts on Steem's Gift Economy

in #steem6 years ago (edited)

Wow! I was going to comment, but then got distracted by extremely well-written dissertations in the comments section that brought up many interesting points. Many of those points were extremely well-reasoned, some very valid considerations, but mostly ultimately flawed.
Which brings me back to your post about Luz’s philosophy.
As deeply ingrained as ‘taking’ is in our society, gifting is ultimately the best form of altruistic selfishness or as the Dalai Lama would say ‘selfish altruism,’ in that everything we put out does inevitably come back (often 100 fold). It just seems to be the way the universe works, despite our indoctrinated objections.
I find it hard not to fall into the traps you speak of, like @selfishprickuser not commenting on my post after I comment on their’s, nor even giving a response to my comments certainly pushes buttons overtime.
Does that mean I should cease commenting on their posts?
Yes, I probably shouldn’t comment on their posts anymore, but not because of lack of reciprocity or some form of parsimoniousness, but more because it’s clear that this person doesn’t wish to establish any form of relationship with me and there are plenty of others that do. After all, time is limited.
Although there’s a valid argument that could be made about commenting on other’s posts being important, because even if they don’t reply or comment back themselves, your comment (if it’s a good comment) will get noticed by others and can spark relationships with other people. (Just negated the point with a better reasoning. Lol)

There’s something I learned over the years about giving that must be made clear.
Like the understanding of yin-yang giving and receiving must be balanced.
Giving too much too often can cause a dysfunctional disbalance (a disturbance in the force), especially if the person doing the giving is not receptive to receiving.
Receiving is as vital in the process as giving.
Think about it.
If someone wishes to give me a compliment, “wow! You’re so incredibly talented! That was the best show I’ve ever seen!” but I deflect or reject the compliment, “thanks, but nah! I was shit!” Then I have robbed that person of the joy of giving. In that instance, I have inadvertently become a ‘taker’ under the guise of being a ‘giver’ simply because of a distorted or myopic view of receiving.

I’m all for a gifting economy.
In fact, I think it’s an inevitable future for our species, but it won’t work without a deep understanding of balance between giving and receiving.

Yet another thought provoking post. Love it mate!

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I'm very acquainted with your philosophy and I'm lucky to call you a friend... Its hard to objective about this subject you know, at least for me.. because I can see both sides of the coin, I just prefer one over the other a lot more.

That being said, the answer as with many things probably lies in the middle in a balanced compromise...

Naaaw! Love you too mate.
I can see both sides of the coin too and I have to agree that it's always going to be better to lean, or rather, reach towards the positive utopian side of things because inevitably the negative indoctrinations out there pull the result back so that it falls short of the actual ideal...
That's how we get balance by shooting for total positive.