Hey Will, I’m enjoying your thinking and your questions.
This one in particular, “How do we create an economy where network participants are motivated by intrinsic will as opposed to extrinsic reward?” is very similar to something I’ve been grappling with in the context of social permaculture design.
From my perspective, motivation naturally arises when it’s safe to be vulnerable, to dream. It follows the ‘call to adventure’ of learning and opportunity. It doesn’t need to be manufactured; yet it can be corrupted through such a reward-mechanism (or punishment-avoidance) as you discuss in this piece.
When there is adequate access to resources and the right conditions to support a project in its immaturity, the natural drive doesn’t need to be coerced from us. We can, however, enjoy learning from our mistakes and celebrating our successes. I distinguish celebration from rewards, and reflection from punishment. They’re my wholesome alternatives :)
I do seek feedback from the environment about my actions, but overall, I have the ability to discern whether the feedback will influence my choices or not. This has grown out of a livelihood where there is less consistency in structure, and the adventure-cycle is completed more often.
I can track my progress through smaller projects, and notice what I’m learning, as well as being flexible in what to do next. Many creative and freelance jobs provide this type of adaptable livelihood structure, and there is more chance for reflection and satisfaction.
On the contrary, many companies are fixed in their growth mindset. Rather than being able to take so many risks, their centralized structure uses (possibly wastes) ample resources to maintain territory and predictability.
I question whether it’s possible that predictability — or coherence — be an objective for a distributed society (the domain of the community rather than the market), and of course for territory to return to being collectively managed as a commons.
If that were the case, would we see an increase in smaller, temporary projects, led by the intrinsic motivation of stewards? And if the economy were based on completing a higher frequency of interconnected projects, rather than upholding corporate longevity, would motivation also follow; given that the completion of each project innately returns us to the phase of ideation?
I would like to know whether this makes sense in how you’re structuring the network.
