Comment by TeMPOraL

> One of the most troubling aspects of human's poor planning ability is they're absolutely sure something is valuable until they have to make a skin-in-the-game commitment to how much value it provides them personally. Then it turns out they weren't serious.

People have no problem paying something for nothing, if it gives them a chance at a disproportionally great return when they actually need it. It's called insurance, and perhaps we should start framing some of the intangibles in this way.

I.e. paying the premium for possibility of human interaction isn't paying for niceness-as-a-service, it's an insurance policy that pays out in kindness whenever you need it, wherever you are. But like every insurance policy, it only works if there's critical mass of people pooling resources, and stops working if they evaluate it as investment.