Beyond brand-hungry strivers, masses of free laborers—from coders building Linux open-source software to editors fine-tuning an entry on Wikipedia—continue to toil without ever seeing a payday, or even angling for one. Many find compensation in currencies that predate the market economy. These include praise from peers, a respected place within a community, victories in online contests, and satisfaction from helping others.

This is a really fascinating topic for me, people's motivation on the internet which is often not tied to monetary compensation. In fact, depending on the exact situation (as the article notes) money would upset the relationship. It does get much harder when the site itself -- unlike Wikipedia or open source projects -- is directly trying to make money.

Indeed. I suppose he doesn't believe in evolution either, not because he's conservative, but because evolution inherently follows the path that produces the most prosperity in a competitive medium, and it has come up with a balance of socializing infrastructure and risk with a layer of free market competition on top of that.

In unregulated, purely free markets, it isn't prosperity that is rewarded, it is winning. Lying, cheating, stealing, sabotaging the competition, monopolistic behaviour, and so forth are all much lower risk that innovation. In order for risks to be worth the benefits, the penalties must be minimized. If companies had to pay for all of their own R&D, nobody could risk failure or would go under. Spreading the cost means they can afford the risk and failure will just sting a little instead of putting them under.

These are basic economic concepts and well understood in competition mathematics like game theory. All modern first world countries have a mix of socialism and free-market capitalism. It's the ratio and details of what is socialized that vary. Ideologies are the axes into the socioeconomic space, they aren't the optimal point.

This needs to be taught in high school. This push towards "us versus them" ideological mentality is embarrassing in a modern society. It's treating politics like competing sports teams.

Sometimes it's worth it to read comments on Reddit

It's really true... I've felt a little lost the last month until I got a cell phone (the one I'm still learning to use... see the previous entry on not knowing how to call people).

In some ways it's been freeing, to know that no one can try to call me. Or rather, that I can't really call anyone spontaneously.

In other ways, I do feel a little cut off. That's more related to being away from home and not making tons of new friends right away.

I haven't decided yet if I like not having a full "social calendar," and if this is more a time to recuperate, or 'lie fallow' as I like to call it. I guess I do like always seeing people and doing things.

It kind of conflicts with my perception of myself as a more quiet and introverted person, but it wouldn't be the first time I had a faulty self-image.