“A perverse incentive is an incentive that has an unintended and undesirable result that is contrary to the intentions of its designers.” — WIKIPEDIA
Perverse incentive, or the cobra effect, is a misformulated incentive, such as:
-attempting to get rid of cobras in the city – by incentivising killing cobras, through offering a bounty for killed cobras – backfiring when people started breeding cobras to kill and get reward – which, after the bounty was annulled, lead to cobras being freed – and thus resulting in MORE fucking cobras in the city
-attempting to get rid of rats by rewarding people for producing a rat’s tail (proof of having killed a rat) — backfiring when people set about just getting rat-tails, without actually killing the rats (so as to get more rat-tails from the tail-less rats progeny, LOL)
“Personal growth”, “self development”, are no different,
You incentivise “growing”
At first it serves you, the extra push makes you go extra mile
But eventually this “growth” incentive becomes perverted
You seek growth for the sake of growth
And eventually this “growth” becomes perverted
You grow in all the wrong ways
You grow in all the wrong ways
You grow in delusion
You grow in vain
You grow in arrogance
You grow in ego
Do you know why you even wanted to “grow”, in the first place?
Perhaps you wanted more success or more happiness or more money or more love
It’s funny — we relegate such pursuits BELOW this great ideal of “self-development” and “self-growth” — when in truth: those impulses were at least genuine — whereas those GROWTH-IDEALS are all PERVERSIONS,
You think “SELF-BETTERMENT” is better then MAKING A TON OF MONEY?
Self-betterment is better then making a ton of money… if it’s TRUE self-betterment indeed,
But NOT that false “self-betterment”, which is a perversion, an escape, a lie
A perverse incentive
“Self-growth” is an escape
You want to “grow” yourself because you can’t grow anything else,
Do you think life is lacking of opportunities to make you grow?
Don’t you reckon life would force you to grow in and of itself, if only you let it….?
If only you let it — life will make you grow
If you have courage to NOT turn away, to not escape from it, to LIVE
OWN what you want,
OWN it and ADMIT it and ASK FOR IT — and you may just receive.
Don’t poison yourself with false ideals, which are just another way through which you defer ACTUALLY doing what you wanted, actually facing your fears of FAILING to get it…
Instead — GO AFTER WHAT YOU WANT
GO AFTER WHAT YOU WANT — AND IN THAT WAY GROW!!!
Go after what you want, whether it’s lofty or lowly
believe me — once you get it — you’ll soon be embarrassed with how ignorant you were,
Go after what you want — get it — then go after something else — and in THAT WAY grow,
THIS is your self-growth,
This is the true self-growth
…to want to “grow” is a perverse incentive,
What you really want is to be whole… you don’t know it, but it’s true,
You want to be whole — and will attempt to get there via doing things and seeking things and getting things….
…and it’s ok
Do it and see it for what it’s worth, or not worth
But don’t deny your calling with false gods of “self-development” and “growth”,
PLEASE be simple — and go after what you are EXCITED ABOUT, what you think is MEANINGFUL, what you think is interesting,
Get over this silly pomp of growing and expanding,
You WILL grow if you actually start living, start doing what you want, start going your own way…
But who cares!
Be wary if you become too smug about your little “growth”,
Perhaps you’re just deluding yourself
Perhaps your “growth” is what stands in your way
Please be simple
And just go do something awesome, the best you can
And see how’s that going to make you grow