Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Pockets
I don't know. There really isn't a rule put in for if you just refuse to take any money. Would the team that didn't refuse get $1000 or less?
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Great observation Chris:
I think that is what Chris is getting at. If we both share, we get $400 each. If I don't share, and you share, I get $1000, but I will give you $500. This premise would work, but would require communication and trust. You would not only have to communicate with the other team, and have them trust you that you will not double cross, but then you may have to communicate with your school to explain why the funding you recieved really needs to go in part to another team.
Lesson: With intelligence, excellent communication, and a little faith, more is possible than with just an altruistic mindset and faith alone.
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Slight tangent:
Ayn Rand wrote a lot about the virtues of selfishness, and the inherent evil in charity. At the time collectivism and communism were running rampant. These are real concerns that have a lot of people worried today. How can charity be bad? For example, feeding the bears at Yellowstone seems like a nice and good thing to do until someone decides not to feed the bears, and then is attacked by the bears because the bears want to enforce GP
. (this is a bit of a tasteless joke so GP Police go easy on me). There are a lot of other examples like that. Rand's books often cover scenarios where economic engines are ground to a halt due to "good intentions". It is an interesting contrast to what we are normally taught, and often can make people purely disbelieve in the virtues of charity.
In reality, there is a delicate balance. Working for a common good is usually noble and altruistic, but it also makes you more vulnerable to scammers and persons wanting to cheat "the system". Those that believe in the virtues of charity and common good will call the cheating a worthy expense for the overall good. Those that oppose it will site it as wasted resource that will eventually lead to a greater worse. Those with a balanced view will recognize the good being done, and work on solutions to minimize the waste and cheating.