Quote:
Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot  Indeed it is perfectly possible to provide a lot of value without making any money (and this is a bad thing only if you WERE expecting to make money out of providing that value).
For example, people who volunteer their time and effort through charitable works are adding important value to society, however, they aren't getting paid anything. |
Absolutely.
I was just thinking, also, do you think that the reason the belief in the requirement to provide "value for money" is so common is due to it's visibility? Meaning, if person A makes $40k/month by providing value to 10,000 people, and person B makes $40k/month without providing any extra value, the way person A makes money is visible to 10,000 people, but the way person B makes money is not. It may only be visible to those who closely know person B, people who are mentored or coached by person B or if person B decides to "go public" with the way he makes money.
Also, due to the "make money for nothing = evil person" bias, person B would probably be less likely to "go public" compared to person A who is in alignment with society's view of what makes a good "village member".
What book was I reading on this....hmmm... maybe "Blink" or "Tipping Point" or some marketing book. I can't remember now, but I remember the author talking about how certain "Stories" or beliefs spread and are believed by many people not because they are true, but because they inherently contain a self-reproducing quality in them. For example, consider these two beliefs:
Belief 1 - It is proven that by telling other people publicly in front your kids that your kids are really smart, it improves their IQ by an average of 20% within their lifetime.
compared to:
Belief 2 - It is best not to ever publicly talk about how smart your kids are as it talking about the subject could negatively affect their IQ levels.
These are of course just made up, ficticious beliefs, and they may not be the best example of what I'm trying to say, but what this author was trying to point out was that something like Belief 1 above might NOT be true but it would spread a lot faster than Belief 2 since it encourages "publicly talking" about something which other parents might ask about and you might tell them "By the way, in case you're wondering why I always praise my son at how smart he is, it's not because I'm showing off, but I read a study that said it improves their IQ levels to praise them publicly in front of people."
And then the other parent goes "Really? Man I gotta start doing that!" and the cycle continues.
So the author talks about the fact that beliefs which contain self-spreading mechanisms built into them are more likely to get accepted as truth.
I dont' know why I thought of that, but it could apply in this situation. Steve makes money by providing value to thousands, and so thousands see that as a way to make money. If I create money out of nothing, or you make money out of nothing, unless we talk about it publicly, nobody knows.