Incentives Are for Losers
This essay argues that relying on external incentive structures to guide one's life is a sign of weakness. The author suggests that true integrity involves acting based on personal values rather than chasing rewards.
Why it matters
It challenges the prevailing economic and psychological reliance on 'gamification' and incentive-based motivation in modern society.
Article voiceover 0:00 -18:56 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. photo cred: my dad We can all agree: the incentives are bad. Everywhere you look, people are being rewarded for doing the wrong thing. This has become the go-to diagnosis for every problem, from climate change to political polarization to scientific malfeasance—“sorry pal, you’ve got a bad case of the incentives.”
I don’t disagree with this analysis, exactly. Who could? It’s basically tautological. “People do bad things because they are encouraged and rewarded for doing bad things.” Well, why else would you do them?
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