Designing a Better World

I just love this concept – ‘Incentivise to make things better’.
This is a thought I have been talking about a while back.

Please read it here

James Clear talks about this same concept in the book ‘Atomic Habits’ with a different spin – How can we design a world where it’s easy to do what’s right?

This is a simple concept that makes a difference in the world we live in.

Why?

It’s difficult to define laws and rules for every scenario out there.
It’s just impossible.

Consider the permutations and combinations of activities, ideologies, thoughts a single person can have.

Now, think about billions of people like this.

It’s really difficult to fathom the set of rules and laws that could bring out the best in every situation.

But what can we do then?
We can design a world where it’s easy to do what’s right.

And when we do this, a majority of the people out there tend to do the best things that are beneficial to the overall society.

We need not have specific rules and laws for every situation.

Just look around.

We already have incentives in place for promoting good activities in society so that the collective gains ultimately.

For instance, when you donate to a cause/charity, you get exempted from taxes.

This makes sure that anyone who has a slight thought of helping someone with a cause, can do it and gets incentivized for their good actions.

Talking from a highly relevant topic in today’s age – climate change.
Imagine, if you could get discounts on your electric bills for every tree you plant in a year.

I’m sure that a good number of people would do this. The reason – the good act is incentivized.

This is the reason behind having tax exemptions for electric vehicles.

Now, in the bigger picture, this all makes sense in many cases.

But why should you care about this in your life?

You can design your life by keeping this simple logic in mind.
If you want to start/stop a good habit that you have been planning forever, just incentivize it.

It doesn’t have to be a monetary reward, it can literally be anything that makes you feel good – taking a vacation after working hard on a project, watching a series after a workout,…

I just believe that ideologies and concepts don’t make sense unless it impacts an individual in some way.

This is a simple concept but it can positively impact your life if you use it well.

Wish you the best.