Re:Renting a car will be a pain until at least 2022
by WalterBright on Friday September 17, 2021 @06:22PM
(#28571575)
Helping out your friends and locals now and then is also normal human behavior. But it does not extend to running a society that way, and never has. It is rooted in building a network of mutual obligation, a common trait in small communities. It's not really considered a "reward" or payment.
> Unwillingness to work without immediate reward not an immutable fact of human nature.
Yeah, it is, as no society has managed to make that work as an organizing principle. Even the Israeli kibbutzen have failed. Altruism rarely extends beyond family and close friends, and even then, it isn't reliable.
Re:Renting a car will be a pain until at least 2022
by xwdv on Friday September 17, 2021 @10:13PM
(#28572971)
Altruism basically means you are working for favors instead of money. However, people are much more likely to default on favors owed to you because it is harder to compare the value of one favor to another, and this creates opportunity to return a favor that is worth less than the one you were given.
Re:Renting a car will be a pain until at least 2022
by WalterBright on Saturday September 18, 2021 @12:02AM
(#28573581)
The weird thing about reciprocity (exchanging favors) is the value of the favor is rarely considered. For example, the exchange of pizza for help in moving.
Of course, if you're too cheap over too long a period, people may stop doing favors for you.
Re:Renting a car will be a pain until at least 2022
by BuyMyBitcoins on Friday September 17, 2021 @11:36PM
(#28573438)
>” However, people are much more likely to default on favors owed to you”
I’ve never thought about it this way before, and it’s a pretty profound quote.
This I agree with.
> That's an immutable fact of human nature. Even cradle to grave propaganda doesn't change it.
This I disagree with. Past societies saw far more social cohesion at points than our modern one. Especially on certain smaller scales, people were more willing to assist one another in the act of remaining alive without being compensated financially.
For instance- many people now think it would be unreasonable to help a friend move without some form of reward (money, food, etc.) This sort of value exchange for reward would be considered disrespectful in many past cultures and even some present cultures. Unwillingness to work without immediate reward not an immutable fact of human nature.