Thinking Theoretical economic Anthropology and the Gold star Standard

One of the problems I see in the western world is its dependence on reward.

The internet seems a little better than the real world in this respect, but I suspect its because we dont see the takers doing the taking. We just see the givers being generous. The nature of the stuff up for grabs means that if you take more than you give, theres still exactly the same amount left for everyone else. Open source software is a good example. 

Ive taken much, much, more from the net than I can ever give, but all the stuff Ive taken is still there. 

Which is nice.

But in the real world you take some stuff, and theres not as much left for the next in line. And sometimes there isnt even a line*.  Ive been lucky enough to have spent my formative years living in Papua New Guinea. To say anything about Papua New Guinea is to be wrong about most of it, but Ill say some stuff about it anyway. 

When I was in Papua New Guinea, I was there at a time when the locals were making the transition from the cultures and lifestyles they had been enjoying for the last few dozen centuries, to one that looks and tastes a little more like you might expect in a western city. One of the problems with shifts like this is the clash between the old economic system and the new. From this point is should be noted that when I talk about some attribute of Papua New Guineas culture, I refer to only the bits I know. There are something like a third of the worlds languages (or something) dont quote me)). and many more cultural ... things... paradigms? Anyway. every few hundred people are different. They talk different, they look different, they believe different, and they think different. Not just different as compared to me, but different from all the other different groups. I knew a fishing net merchant who could easily pick a persons birthplace to within a hundred kilometres or so, just by meeting them over the counter. Often with much greater accuracy to the point where they could name the village. Anyway...   One of the most interesting things about the culture clash was the gradual decline in the worth of generosity. Or at least my perception of that decline. There seemed to be some kind of social credit that a person could gain by simply giving stuff away. You might get something back from acts of generosity, but it might not come from the person you gave things to. You still see this in the west in small groups, but once you get to a certain population level, one where everybody can no longer know everyone else, the system breaks down. There comes a point where giving stuff away is no longer useful. 

And here I come to my point...

When youre little, you gain respect and trust within your family and friends, you are rewarded with new responsibilities, freedoms, and smiles. 

You dont need gold stars gummed to your work. 

I think gold stars (or points for Hufflepuff) might be encouraging our kids to seek only monetary reward, or perhaps an Oscar. 

I think we should stop it. 

120 things in 20 years thinks the best part about not being an academic, is that I have no need to quote sources, and I get to say whatever I want. 

*A line has just one characteristic. Its endedness. Two** ends, but just one characteristic. A list of people who can make the most noise from lowest volume to highest could be seen as another line, and often making the most noise gets you first grab at whatevers going. (see baby birds in nests, and political lobbyist)

** a circle is a line with no end. I guess that means I mean a "queue".  

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Epic adventurer New solar panels

Bullwinkle III is about to be born.

Bullwinkle was the first incarnation of my little boat. It was originally a SunDance 4.3m one man racing catamaran.

I went halves in it with a friend.

It was old and slow but built solidly.

We broke it.

We fixed it up, but it wasnt strong enough to put it under the kind of strain that a boat sees when its under sail, so the sail had to go.

I put a 1.8m square of marine grade plywood on it and turned it into a fishing barge. I added a large deep cycle battery and an electric trolling motor. This gave me a range of around 6km which is surprisingly enough to catch lots of fish and more importantly, lots of blue swimmer crabs. This incarnation was Bullwinkle II. With the aid of some rope, and some plastic hand reels as pulleys, two empty milk crates as seats, and a pram wheel as a steering wheel, it was quite comfortable. the only downside was that people kept boating up to us to see if we needed help because we looked like a sinking dingy. A sinking dingy with two people standing on it fishing.

Then came Bullwinkle II.V which was essentially the same as Bullwinkle II but it also had a 3hp two stroke motor, but that was just annoying.

So today I spent the money Ive received from you nice people clicking my blogs ads on two new 180w solar panels. They have apparently been built, and are now being put on a ship in China.

Thanks clickers.

Thanks China.

Thanks boats.

So now I can finally build Bullwinkle III.

I have the hulls, the decking, a motor, the frame of my 1.8m grow house (the one that let the sun dissolve its cover), and an office chair.

That should be plenty enough junk to solar boat the length of the mighty River Murray.


120 Things in 20 years just remembered that I hadnt ever gone camping alone, so the night before last I drove to the river with my swag, and tried it. Nothing bad happened.

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Thinking Solar photovoltaic panels Epic boating adventure Lunacy

I looked away for a bit, and while I wasnt looking the world notched over to complete lunacy.

I bought a solar charge controller that was advertised as being able to accept voltages 12v-40v.

That was nice because my solar panel is 37 volts.

But when I opened it the docs inside said it was good for 12v-20v. I complained and eventually the internationally known E auction site gave my my $70 back, but I had to pay $30 for the return postage.

I sent it back to China.

Today I just got it back in the mail.

Apparently they didnt bother to collect it or they dont really live at their stated address.

So far its travelled 20,000km.

The world is an amazing place.

And a completely loony one.

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Winner The first 120 things in 20 years competition

So a while ago, I bought a MPPT solar charge controller.

It turns out the nice ebay based company I bought it from was a fraud, and sold me a product that wouldnt work with my solar panel in spite of my having asked them and then double checking. My solar panel had too high a voltage, but the listing said it would be fine.

Anyway...

The result was that I was sent a product that didnt work as advertised.

Eventually ebay made them give me my money back. The company insisted I return their product at my expense.

I posted it to their registered address, but the post office in China said there was nobody by that name at that address.

So China Post returned it to sender.

Me.

All this is old news to anyone who follows this blog, but this is the new bit.

I thought Id give it away because its of no use to me, and might be exactly what someone else wanted. But who to give it to?

I thought Id hold a competition, and give it to the winner, but I cant think of a decent theme.

The current plan for the first ever 120 things in 20 years competition is to run it through the invention engine and see what it thinks.

so... stay tuned I guess. Its late, and Im going to bed.

Tomorrow, the competition begins!

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