Why does helping people feel so good? What is it about providing an answer to a question or providing your two cents worth of advice that us up? Today is Labor Day in the USA, a holiday given to most people with regular jobs in honor of work and service. It’s a good time to reflect on what makes us feel good, and how we can have more of that in the here and now.
Recently I’ve been exploring new ways that the internet can be more than just useful. Ways that our unprecedented connectivity can actually provide greater levels of well-being. I know that there’s some very creative folks out there with more altruistic aims than just monetizing the latest tool for distraction. (Pokemon Go anyone?) So when I read about Jelly, the so-called “empathy engine” created by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, I was very intrigued and loaded the App up on my phone to try it out.
The concept is simple. You ask a question about virtually anything, and real people, just like you or me, answer to the best of their ability. There’s no algorithm, no advertising, and no voyeuristic social overlay. It’s minimal, anonymous, and remarkably captivating.
I posed the question: “Why does answering questions on Jelly make me feel better than consuming content and following friends and strangers on Facebook?” and a fellow named Tyler, (with 325 helpful answers under his belt) replied: “You’re helping. This releases endorphins that make you feel good, whereas just reading content (which, let’s be honest, is mostly made up of crap), is just a passive activity, that many times can actually make you feel worse than you did before. Basically, the more you help others, the more you help yourself!”
It seems that the concept is less about providing a people-powered search engine and more about creating a culture of contribution. The most active users seem to be the question answerers, many of whom have thousands of ‘helpful answers’ logged. It’s a novel and encouraging way to simply offer help to your fellow human beings and feel good about it, with no expectation of a quid pro quo or commercial exchange.
I think Biz Stone is a visionary to create something with the specific purpose of increasing empathy and altruism for humanity. It’s a far loftier goal than psychologically engineering more addictive methods of mindlessness. Try it. You’ll be surprised. Go to AskJelly in your browser or download the Jelly App and ask anything you like. You can pose human-centric inquiries that would baffle the artificial intelligence of Google and meet real minds in the morphogenetic field.
And if you find yourself feeling good after answering some question, big or small, sit with the implications of that feeling at scale for the whole of humanity, and enjoy the thought that our friend the internet might have some upsides that we’re only beginning to discover.
Musing on your Labor Day, wishing you much love and magic till next week!
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DANCE FIRST Media Partner Event Spotlight : BHAKTIFEST! SEPT 7-12!
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If it’s early September, it’s time for yoga in the desert! BhaktiFest just keeps getting better year after year, one of the foremost conscious gatherings in the world for live music, yoga, Kirtan, and community building workshops. Plus it’s one of the very best places to get outfitted with cool clothing, be sure to visit the Queen of Hearts booth, one of our very favorite designers of dance and yoga friendly gear!
There’s no better reason to make a trip to Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California and camp out in the cool evenings and bask in the late summer sun. The brainchild of Sridhar Silberfein, the community creating impresario behind all three of their annual festivals, you can hear his story and a great interview with him onepisode #13 of my Conscious Dancer podcast, (listen directly in your browser on Libsyn or subscribe to all my shows on iTunes). We’re big fans of high-vibe conscious gatherings and festivals. Make a last minute plan to attend if you haven’t got your tickets already. There’s always room for you at BhaktiFest, and there’s no better way to wrap up the festival season than with a trip to the desert! BhaktiFest – Sept 7-12 – Joshua Tree, California Learn more and register at BhaktiFest.com |
