Gratitude

So, recently I’ve had two thoughts about Gratitude.  I was thinking about teaching – not the teaching I do now, but the real teaching people do in schools all over the world. and how much saying thanks is built into the job. My mum, who teaches in a small Australian primary school, regularly gets gifts and cards from her students, for birthdays, and the ends of terms. When I was working as a volunteer in schools, teachers seemed to have dinners, teacher’s days, birthday breakfasts and afternoon teas, in which they were thanked deeply. Now, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Teachers are generally regarded highly, at least in theory. The idea that we owe our teachers the important gift of knowledge, and perhaps the other important gift of character, seems to be a deep one (there seems to be another idea, that of the lazy, or oppressive, or sadistic teacher, that has currency, but let’s leave that for now.)

Now, in terms of economics,  how can you understand gratitude? Famously, economist don’t like giving and recieving presents, because it is an inefficient way of allocating resources. The ‘rational individual’ knows what he or she wants, and sets out obtaining it. Any transaction conducted willingly should be benficial to both parties.

So, maybe gratitude is a signal of inefficiency, a sign that one person has benefited more out of the transaction than the other. A present is given – and the response, “the payment”, is in gratitude.

And yet. Gratitude is so essential, it seems. While money of course, is motivating, and it would be very for me hard to work without money, it is gratitude that keeps me wanting to improve, the recognition that I am doing something of quality, and that what I am doing is appreciated. Money gets me to work, but is gratitude and recognition that keeps me there.

And, as an added bonus, gratitude helps the grateful person, too. That is, being gratful lets you have a happier life.

I would uggest that things like couchsurfing run on an economy of gratitude, benefiting both parties.

Anyway, these are my thoughts. Hope they’re not too banal.