Balancing Benevolence and Personal Gain
I have been reading (cherry picking) through Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations to try to understand economic theory as it relates to what we do. The following paragraph is copy and pasted: . In a famous passage, Smith remarks that a human being needs the "help of his brethren, so that "it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favor, and show them that it is to their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them". Our goal (and our success) are dependent upon attracting people to what we do. This is in the context of a social group where healthy tension exists (in reciprocity) between helping others for one's own benefit. This is a core construct and this is how all economies function. The dynamic between self-gain through advancing the goals of others in a group cycle over and over and over again. The "marketing angle" or the message here nee...