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Eric Darwin's avatar

I recall reading waaaay back in University an account of a Potlach gift giving ceremony in western Canada. Possibly the article was by David Thompson, explorer. In his account, the chief talked up the value of a sacred object and its totemic significance, and then gifted it to the best fisherman in the tribe. Everyone, especially the chiefs friends and family, ohh'd and ahhh'd over the magnificent gift. In return, the fisherman was expected to reciprocate with a very valuable gift, but alas, while well fed he had few possessions except is canoe, which he gifted to the chief, to much applause. Next morning he could not go fishing as the chief's family had taken the canoe. The chief then graciously allowed him to borrow it, provided he paid for it with a certain percentage of his catch.

While I appreciated the norm of social reciprocity while running my business, I was always wary of the relative value of the gifts to me and the cost of the gift to the giver. Often, I observed the gift had little to no monetary cost to the giver but my return gift had a cost to me.

I am always wary now of how mutual gift giving can be a form of social exploitation in the hands of a dark triad personality who somehow ends up having all the wealth.

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Karl Gallagher's avatar

A flip side of gift exchange is that it can be a way of testing if someone can be trusted. There was someone in a reenactor group who stiffed me of the promised value in an exchange. I consoled myself with the reflect that now I knew not to trust him. In a society where trust can be a matter of life and death, giving gifts and judging someone by how he reciprocates (or doesn't) can be buying valuable information.

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