Discuss Benjamin Franklin's claim that "he that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another than he whom you yourself have obliged."
Thoughts and links:
I chose to do this topic for my second blog because I'm very interested in the concept of Karma but also what motivates us to do things for/to others. While this statement isn't exactly discussing Karma, it's definitely related in my opinion. I think that hate breeds hate and love breeds love and I'm reassured of this every single day. Acts of kindness, generally, are embraced positively, whereas harmful acts are not. These are just some general and beginning thoughts for now but I've found some links as well which I hope are of interest to you. Enjoy!
~The Benjamin Franklin Effect
-http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/ben_franklin_effect.htm
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_Effect
-http://psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-4195.html&fromMod=popular_relationships
~Karma
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma
-http://www.buddhanet.net/fundbud9.htm
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2 comments:
Hi Ruth, I have voted on your poll and wanted to share this story with you about the kindness paradox. About 3 years ago I partipated in a team building exercise with work. We were attending a conference at Icebergs (Bondi Beach) and the task was given to us like this. We were to be paired up with another team member then we were given a t-shirt that had our team name on it including a team photo with the words 'Random Acts of Kindness' across the front of the t-shirt. Our task was to give away items in the backpack to complete strangers. We were given a timeframe to do this in so off we went walking along Bondi Beach complete with our matching shirts and backpacks. It was interesting how many people we confronted who did not want to take part in talking to us as they thought we were trying to sell them something. It was so hard to give things away. We had lolly pops, chocolates, beach jewellery like shell necklaces, stickers, hats yet we had no takers. So my team member that I was paired up with was actually my manager from interstate so we devised a concept where we would explain to individuals that we had a 'random act of kindness' task to do and we would hope that they would assist us by accepting a gift...this was something that we had to say straight away and engage the individual before producing any goods. We ended up taking photos of those who did take our goods (with our mobiles) to show the team when we went back to the conference. It was truly hard work in the beginning trying to get people to actually take the time to stop and listen to you without brushing you so to speak. The people who did take the gifts were very appreciative of the task that we were given and particularly excited about getting something for nothing. I also believe in Karma and believe that the individuals who received gifts that day may at some point do something for another individual for nothing other than altruistic reasons. Its like the movie 'Pay It Forward' with Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey and Hayley Joel Osmont. Good luck with your research. Cheers Michelle
Hey Michelle, thanks so much for sharing that! It's so interesting to see how people react to different behaviours and also how cautious we are when approached by strangers. We generally don't think that people are genuinely performing random acts of kindness which I think is quite sad:-( I would have taken your chocalates and beach jewellery, no worries! Lol.
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