henryaj comments on Happiness and Productivity. Living Alone. Living with Friends. Living with Family. - Less Wrong

19 Post author: diegocaleiro 19 November 2013 01:35AM

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Comment author: henryaj 20 November 2013 03:07:21PM 5 points [-]

We have social norms of ... rewarding each other for doing good things (and a "gem economy" for this purpose)

I must hear more about this.

Comment author: Vika 20 November 2013 06:22:48PM 11 points [-]

There is a house economy of shiny gems that are used for positive reinforcement. People get reinforced for things like helping others with tasks, initiating activities, or expanding their comfort zone (e.g. trying a dance for the first time). Everyone has their personal stash of gems that they can use to award others, and there is also a house vault. Once a week, you are allowed to take a gem from the house vault (instead of your own stash) and award it to someone.

We originally planned to use poker chips for this purpose, but decided that gems are much more conducive to staying within the domain of social norms - poker chips are like money, while a gem is more like a gift. The gems don't have to stay within the house, and are sometimes awarded to guests.