CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE

I talked about the ritual of the gift in my Creativity and Capitalism course at Parsons this past Monday. In a rare occurrence, Valentines Day and the Chinese New Year fall together so a good chunk of the world is giving gifts over the next few days.

In addition, Charles Adler, co-founder of Kickstarter talked to these students last week–a wonderful presentation–and he framed Kickstarter within the idea of gifting–not investing. A NYT piece came out over the weekend that did the same.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/why-would-you-ever-give-money-through-kickstarter.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

I asked my students about giving and receiving gifts and it was clear that giving gifts is fraught with tension. The ritual of the gift is actually very complex, very emotional and very powerful. Knowing what the other person REALLY wants requires skills of deep empathy, that men especially apparently lack, according to many of the women in the class. They steal themselves for getting hurt in the act of gift giving. And then pretending not to have been hurt.

Many would just as soon do it the Chinese way–red envelopes filled with money. People can then go out and buy their own gifts. We are moving in that direction with gift certificates and wedding registries. Maybe we need Valentines Day registers–do they already exist? I don’t know. 

How much to give–the value of the gift also came up in class. Should it be equal or unequal? Can it ever really be equal?

Should use wrap necessities inside the ritual of the gift–like giving a vacuum cleaner or a washing machine? Ha. Most thought not but a few didn’t mind. 

When you think about it, the gift is one of the most common of our social rituals. Schwag–free gifts–is given at the end of nearly every big occasion now from weddings to award ceremonies. There isn’t an event on any night in any big city in the US where gifts are not being given out. Much of this schwag is personal–and much is commercial, filled with products donated by companies wanted you to BUY something.

Kickstarter reminds us of the power and importance of the gift. You offer the gift of your money, you participation, your advice and, finally, your consumption, to a maker–an artist, film-maker, book writer and, increasingly a techie type/designer making a cool new product. Usually it is the parents and friends of the person doing the making that gifts first, building the momentum for the rest of us to offer our gifts.

Kickstarter socializes making through the gift–its a very different model than the buying and selling model we are used to.

Hmm.. Come to think of it. If you haven’t already given that Valentines Day gift, you could go on Kickstarter and “gift” your honey by gifting some dough to something she or he is really into. But then again, you’ll have to actually know what kind of music or film or book your honey really likes.