To get something for nothing is wrong/not good/counterproductive?

[SlavaOn]

I believe it was Gurdjiev who said something similar to the following: if something is given freely, a person would not be interested in that; but if something requires efforts (or cost money), then it is more sought after. I think Gurdjiev was referring to the cost of his classes... Can someone find the exact quote, please?

I also remembered from somewhere a following experiment and a conclusion that was made. When there is a tray of free food, for example, people would hold themselves from grabbing as much as they would want, for one or another reason. Yet, if the same food is offered for sale very cheaply, there is no barrier that existed in the previous example and the people snatch off (purchase) more then they need, thus taking away food that others may need more. The moral barrier is breached.

I wonder, if there is the same, maybe unconscious, principle that is at work in both cases? The perceived value of money changes the person's behavior... but it should be more complicated then that...

 

[biala84]

Gurdjieff hmmm a little bit controversial person :D What i prefer is to say that sometimes maybe is not good to belive what someon's said in past.There is no need to judge. we pay the price of what we are doing good or bad and as Laura said ,, No free lunch ''
I don't understand what do You mean by something is giving freely... Me everytime someon's asking me for help i give it freely :) i don't wait that the person will give me back or i get paid, but also when i need some help i 'm not shamed to ask and i get :) That is how the energy works in that cases :P If U are person who is abusing no matter what and how you will get paid if not in this life time then in another so is better to stay concentrate of what what we can do in moment.....

 

[Palinurus]

Can someone find the exact quote, please?

From Ouspensky's "In search of the miraculous" (page 19 in my PDF file, i.e. chapter one) (bold, mine):

In regard to his work in Moscow G. said that he had two groups unconnected with one another and occupied in different work, "according to the state of their preparation and their powers," as he expressed it. Each member of these groups paid a thousand rubles a year, and was able to work with him while pursuing his ordinary activities in life.
I said that in my opinion a thousand rubles a year might be too large a payment for many people without private means.
G. replied that no other arrangement was possible, because, owing to the very nature of the work, he could not have many pupils. At the same time, he did not desire and ought not—he emphasized this—to spend his own money on the organization of the work. His work was not, and could not be, of a charitable nature and his pupils themselves ought to find the means for the hire of apartments where they could meet; for carrying out experiments; and so on. Besides this, he added that observation showed that people who were weak in life proved themselves weak in the work.
"There are several aspects of this idea," said G. "The work of each person may involve expenses, traveling, and so on. If his life is so badly organized that a thousand rubles embarrasses him it would be better for him not to undertake this work. Suppose that, in the course of the year, his work requires him to go to Cairo or some other place. He must have the means to do so. Through our demand we find out whether he is able to work with us or not.
"Besides," G. continued, "I have far too little spare time to be able to sacrifice it on others without being certain even that it will do them good. I value my time very much because I need it for my own work and because I cannot and, as I said before, do not want to spend it unproductively. There is also another side to this," said G. "People do not value a thing if they do not pay for it."

 

[yumi]

biala84:
"Me everytime someon's asking me for help i give it freely :) i don't wait that the person will give me back or i get paid, but also when i need some help i 'm not shamed to ask and i get :)"

gratitude is a link-bond of recognition
(according to deep L)

 

[SlavaOn]

I don't understand what do You mean by something is giving freely... ...

I will illustrate that with this example:
A person baked a full large tray of delicious cookies and left it in the office's kitchen with the note. "Free cookies for everyone". Co-workers would see the tray and each would take 1-2-3 cookies, so that the whole office will have a taste. The other scenario would be - the same tray of cookies, but the note would say "Pay $0.01 per cookie" (maybe even as a joke). The experiment showed that people would take 100 cookies and leave $1 as a payment. When people pay money for something, they think less about sharing and that other people would not have a chance to try those cookies

 

[yumi]

I will illustrate that with this example:
A person baked a full large tray of delicious cookies and left it in the office's kitchen with the note. "Free cookies for everyone". Co-workers would see the tray and each would take 1-2-3 cookies, so that the whole office will have a taste. The other scenario would be - the same tray of cookies, but the note would say "Pay $0.01 per cookie" (maybe even as a joke). The experiment showed that people would take 100 cookies and leave $1 as a payment. When people pay money for something, they think less about sharing and that other people would not have a chance to try those cookies

In my hamlet, "excess" vegetables are placed on the road, at the disposal of whoever passes by.
especially cucurbit

 

[biala84]

For me if i pay or not the first i should know what is inside then i will pay or not :) If inside is white flour and i know it's not beneficial for my health then forget it i don;t want it :P If this people even if they pay for something and as you said they think less about sharing then i think they are machines... It;s a lot of people like this. That's why i said before that in the Universe we live we should know when to give and when to ask to make more possible harmony.