- I have been thinking a lot about [[Alex Danco]]'s writing on "[[Gift Culture]]." The fundamental point of his writing on this subject is that innovation depends on people generously supporting and building on each other's ideas before knowing whether they will pay off. - When enough people approach each other this way, it changes what a place feels like. There's a shared sense of possibility: you can bring up something half formed and expect people to be curious, take it seriously, and help it become something. That makes you more willing to try, too. The place feels alive with potential because the people there, at that moment, are giving each other reasons to believe and act on it. - I feel this is correct, but I think there is more to explore here. Specifically I have thoughts on the precursor events that lead to a culture like this. You cannot create it by saying, "we need a gift culture here." That's not how this shit works. - You also cannot create it by giving away your time and energy continuously. Go ahead, just try it in Toronto, I have over the last 2 years and it is not effective enough and it becomes such a drain. I've seen others do this too, they commit, giving the community as much energy as they can, they get frustrated or don't see what the point is, it becomes a bottomless pit of energy drain and within a few months they get on that plane to San Francisco, and when they land, oh baby, they breathe in that crisp California air. - The reason this does not work is because an ecosystem can absorb enormous amounts of generosity without changing what it considers possible or worth pursuing. You can give your time and energy continuously while the same expectations, ambitions, and behaviours remain in place. - I do not think generosity or "gifts" are enough to create the conditions that [[Alex Danco]] describes. I do not think that is how culture changes. What's needed is something more specific. Something more progressive. In the early stages of a change, the actions have to build on each other, they have to push on existing expectations and make things imaginable that weren't imaginable before. And when you're doing it, it feels more like breaking the law than it does giving a gift. I believe the precursor to any gift culture is not the desire for a gift culture, but rather the creation of legends and outlaws.