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Rewarding Behaviour
In developed countries, social cohesion has been sacrificed on the altar of individual gratification. Individuals wanted more and better. Inventors and entrepreneurs rallied to serve our desires. We progressed – pulled along by our hunger for improvement. This strategy worked well for centuries. Survival rates benefitted more from technological advances than from recognising individual social contributions. But the paths of ‘what we want in the short term’ and ‘what is good for us in the long term’ diverged. As we moved forwards, we increasingly abandoned non-commercial activities – regardless of their contribution to social wellbeing.
We’ve now reached point where the benefits of technological advances are becoming outweighed by the disadvantages. New consumer inventions make us less active. Improved food production is turning us fat. Social media is stopping us socialising. Even medical advances will become less important to the majority – focusing, quite rightly, on a shrinking minority of ill people or providing more years of relative infirmity for the very old.
The wellbeing of the majority during the majority of their lives can now be improved more by positive social interaction than by technological advances. To do this, we need to amend our reward system. We need to provide additional motivation for carrying out beneficial social activity. Although many already help others altruistically, there’s no moral reason why they shouldn’t receive further tangible rewards. And tangible rewards might encourage even more people to help one another. This would deliver additional social benefits – thereby improving general wellbeing.
We’ve now reached point where the benefits of technological advances are becoming outweighed by the disadvantages. New consumer inventions make us less active. Improved food production is turning us fat. Social media is stopping us socialising. Even medical advances will become less important to the majority – focusing, quite rightly, on a shrinking minority of ill people or providing more years of relative infirmity for the very old.
The wellbeing of the majority during the majority of their lives can now be improved more by positive social interaction than by technological advances. To do this, we need to amend our reward system. We need to provide additional motivation for carrying out beneficial social activity. Although many already help others altruistically, there’s no moral reason why they shouldn’t receive further tangible rewards. And tangible rewards might encourage even more people to help one another. This would deliver additional social benefits – thereby improving general wellbeing.
ebook
Published June 27, 2016
About the author
Alex Burrett
16 books9 followersMy first collection of short fiction, ‘My Goat Ate Its Own Legs’, was published in the UK in 2008 by Beautiful Books. In 2009 it was published in the US and Canada by Harper Perennial. In 2015 it was published in translation in France by Aux Forges de Vulcain.
I write to reflect on what it means, for me, to be human. It is my hope that others will find my reflections entertaining and engaging… thought provoking, even. This is what I get from my favourite books and comics such as The Outsider / L'Étranger, Candide, The Wasp Factory, Animal Farm, anything by Kafka, Anna Karenina, Lucifer etc.
Poetry is very dear to me: reading it and writing it. In September 2021, I challenged myself to write a sonnet every day for a year: lovessonnets.com.
My writing explores the human condition:
The Titans, a novel that examines the relationship between truth and megalomania.
Axel is Free (sequel to The Titans), an existential supernatural novel with a psychopathic protagonist who possibly wants to change.
Outstared by a Bullfrog, a novel that challenges the fallacy of an omnipotent god.
A damaged boy, a second collection of short fiction covering multiple themes.
Fedw, a collection of poetry about being human that covers several poetic genres.
Gothic Reflections, a Gothic novella that reflects on the human treatment of animals.
The Year My Tears Failed, five short stories and five poems about human struggles.
Rewarding Behaviour, a non-fiction proposal for a more rewarding monetary system.
I write to reflect on what it means, for me, to be human. It is my hope that others will find my reflections entertaining and engaging… thought provoking, even. This is what I get from my favourite books and comics such as The Outsider / L'Étranger, Candide, The Wasp Factory, Animal Farm, anything by Kafka, Anna Karenina, Lucifer etc.
Poetry is very dear to me: reading it and writing it. In September 2021, I challenged myself to write a sonnet every day for a year: lovessonnets.com.
My writing explores the human condition:
The Titans, a novel that examines the relationship between truth and megalomania.
Axel is Free (sequel to The Titans), an existential supernatural novel with a psychopathic protagonist who possibly wants to change.
Outstared by a Bullfrog, a novel that challenges the fallacy of an omnipotent god.
A damaged boy, a second collection of short fiction covering multiple themes.
Fedw, a collection of poetry about being human that covers several poetic genres.
Gothic Reflections, a Gothic novella that reflects on the human treatment of animals.
The Year My Tears Failed, five short stories and five poems about human struggles.
Rewarding Behaviour, a non-fiction proposal for a more rewarding monetary system.
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