
The Game Theory of Anonymous Donations - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/blog/larry-david-and-the-game-theory-of-anonymous-donations
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wffurr
There's another factor not mentioned in the article. Maybe it's not an issue
for the rich. Avoiding getting put on mailing lists that are then shared with
other charities that then drown you in passive aggressive guilt inducing junk
mail or unsolicited phone calls.

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gshubert17
This. The past few years, I've been making most of my donations through
Colorado Gives Foundation, and I give anonymously. The various organizations
get my money but not my address or phone. I can ignore all the unsolicited
mail. If someone calls, I tell them I make all my donations in December, and
I'll keep them in mind then, but not now.

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blowski
What if people are giving out of a genuine desire to do good?

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bonniemuffin
Do you believe in true altruism? If so, how do you think it arose in the human
population?

Evolution and natural selection suggests that even if you think your desires
are purely altruistic, at some deeper level there's always a selfish reason
behind them, because otherwise the allegedly-altruistic trait wouldn't have
been able to evolve and thrive.

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erentz
Altruism helps the group and others. And helping the group and others means
they help you when you need it. It also helps the species as a whole. So it
seems an altruism trait would be conserved for that reason. But that doesn’t
make the trait selfish. The trait may have expected nothing in return when it
developed, it just so happened it worked out that way. When a person feels the
feelings of wanting to do good for another, that feeling itself is not
selfish.

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zzzcpan
> the feelings of wanting to do good for another

That feeling comes out of finally getting a reward after a reward-motivated
behavior.

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erentz
No the feeling may have been evolutionarily conserved because it had that
benefit. But that doesn’t mean that the feeling is driven by some kind of idea
of a trade. The feeling can be pure, the future benefits a side effect, that
side effect being what causes it to be retained evolutionary.

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pesmhey
In their game theory recreations, there are receivers and senders, but did
they account for bystanders/third parties?

Danson’s donation is only anonymous to people who might walk into the area,
but to anyone that truly matters - to Danson, at least - the donation is not
anonymous. Perhaps there is a third dimension here that is being missed?

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partycoder
Some donations are tax deductible. Many donors will just use money they would
initially use for taxes.

That's probably why retired billionaires become philanthropists.

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voidmain
That isn't how tax deductions work. Even very tax efficient giving will not
save you $1.00 of taxes when you give $1.00!

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partycoder
But if someone donates you money, and your foundation donates that money, you
can offset that.

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milleramp
This is probably not the last idea from curb your enthusiasm to eventually be
supported in research.

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bausshf
This is just a theory... A game theory.

