I think this metaphor is absolutely true, and the emphasis on doing The Most Optimal Thing makes it worse.
However on the literal axes of “can you low-effort create value by providing a few snacks?” this was, at least for a while, extremely available. When I started volunteering to be the snack person post-covid, people were overjoyed to give me money to make this happen. When I offered someone the deal “it’ll be about $n, I’m getting what I think is good and I’m not providing receipts”, they were delighted (it ended up working out in their favor, since the other party I was doing that weekend was under-attended and the second party got the excess for free- but my impression is they would have been fine being fleeced on the deal, as long as food showed up at all).
OTOH, I’m not sure this is sustainable. At an event I provide food for monthly (where I’m paying for it, not just handling the shopping), the rate of kudos declined really quickly over the last six months. It went from many people being extremely appreciative, to a handful of people saying “oh hey, thanks for food”, even though the quality is improving as I learn. The core organizer of that event remains very appreciative so it’s not in jeopardy, but if that wasn’t present and the decline in kudos continued indefinitely, I can easily see myself getting fed up and stopping (I also expect it to plateau rather than crater).
I also feel I owe some karmic debt on this, because for years I was a pretty unappreciative party guest. I wasn’t awful, I didn’t make extra work for people, but I didn’t understand the amount of work inherent in running a party and so didn’t give others the recognition for it they deserved, a problem I expect is widespread.
So I think there is low-hanging fruit in the sense of “ways you can create value”, but much less so in the sense of “ways you can generate appreciation in others”.
I think this metaphor is absolutely true, and the emphasis on doing The Most Optimal Thing makes it worse.
However on the literal axes of “can you low-effort create value by providing a few snacks?” this was, at least for a while, extremely available. When I started volunteering to be the snack person post-covid, people were overjoyed to give me money to make this happen. When I offered someone the deal “it’ll be about $n, I’m getting what I think is good and I’m not providing receipts”, they were delighted (it ended up working out in their favor, since the other party I was doing that weekend was under-attended and the second party got the excess for free- but my impression is they would have been fine being fleeced on the deal, as long as food showed up at all).
OTOH, I’m not sure this is sustainable. At an event I provide food for monthly (where I’m paying for it, not just handling the shopping), the rate of kudos declined really quickly over the last six months. It went from many people being extremely appreciative, to a handful of people saying “oh hey, thanks for food”, even though the quality is improving as I learn. The core organizer of that event remains very appreciative so it’s not in jeopardy, but if that wasn’t present and the decline in kudos continued indefinitely, I can easily see myself getting fed up and stopping (I also expect it to plateau rather than crater).
I also feel I owe some karmic debt on this, because for years I was a pretty unappreciative party guest. I wasn’t awful, I didn’t make extra work for people, but I didn’t understand the amount of work inherent in running a party and so didn’t give others the recognition for it they deserved, a problem I expect is widespread.
So I think there is low-hanging fruit in the sense of “ways you can create value”, but much less so in the sense of “ways you can generate appreciation in others”.