If you really want it to motivate, the funds should be sent to some group you detest if you fail. I.e. the DNC for a staunch republican, or the NRA for someone who believes in gun control.
Take my thoughts on this with a huge grain of salt, given my conflict of interest, but I really dislike commitment devices that destroy things — either information or other forms of value. StickK’s anti-charities seem the most egregious, actively harming the world. I’m certainly motivated to not allow the world to become a worse place, so it’s not that it would be ineffective as a commitment contract. Just that I’m also motivated to prevent things that don’t make the world worse in any way, like paying money to a third party (who’s not evil).
> StickK’s anti-charities seem the most egregious, actively harming the world.
That assumes that (1) there are "good" charities and "bad" charities, and (2) that most of Stickk's users are good people who end up benefiting "bad" charities when they fail.
Point (1) seems hard to prove and point (2) is impossible to prove without detailed info about how Stickk is used.
It seems like you're in this market, so perhaps you have data like this. Do you? If not, how do you justify the above assertion?
dreeves|8 years ago
Excerpt:
Take my thoughts on this with a huge grain of salt, given my conflict of interest, but I really dislike commitment devices that destroy things — either information or other forms of value. StickK’s anti-charities seem the most egregious, actively harming the world. I’m certainly motivated to not allow the world to become a worse place, so it’s not that it would be ineffective as a commitment contract. Just that I’m also motivated to prevent things that don’t make the world worse in any way, like paying money to a third party (who’s not evil).
gnicholas|8 years ago
That assumes that (1) there are "good" charities and "bad" charities, and (2) that most of Stickk's users are good people who end up benefiting "bad" charities when they fail.
Point (1) seems hard to prove and point (2) is impossible to prove without detailed info about how Stickk is used.
It seems like you're in this market, so perhaps you have data like this. Do you? If not, how do you justify the above assertion?