#Incentive Systems

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Reward and Punishment

The philosophy of reward and punishment explores the moral, ethical, and psychological principles that underlie systems of incentives and deterrents in human behavior. It seeks to understand why societies reward certain behaviors and punish others, and what the implications of these actions are for individuals, communities, and justice.

Key Aspects of the Philosophy of Reward and Punishment:

1. Moral Foundations

Utilitarian Justification: Utilitarianism argues that reward and punishment should be used to maximize overall happiness or well-being. Rewarding good behavior promotes future benefits, while punishing bad behavior deters actions that harm others.

Deontological Ethics: From a deontological perspective (duty-based ethics), punishment and reward may be seen as deserved outcomes based on an individual’s actions. People deserve rewards for fulfilling duties and punishments for violating moral rules, regardless of the consequences.

2. Theories of Justice

Retributive Justice: Retribution focuses on the idea that wrongdoers should be punished because they deserve it. It is backward-looking, emphasizing moral culpability and the concept of "just deserts" — the belief that people should get what they deserve based on their actions.

Restorative Justice: This approach focuses on repairing the harm caused by wrong actions rather than simply punishing the offender. The goal is to restore relationships and create a more equitable situation for both the wrongdoer and the victim.

Deterrence: One major reason for punishment is deterrence — to prevent future wrongdoing by making the consequences of bad behavior undesirable. Similarly, rewards are offered to encourage behaviors that benefit individuals and society.

3. Psychological Foundations

Behaviorism: In psychology, especially in behaviorism, rewards (positive reinforcement) and punishments (negative reinforcement) are key tools for shaping behavior. Reward reinforces behavior, making it more likely to recur, while punishment seeks to reduce undesirable actions.

Operant Conditioning: The principles of operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner, explain how behavior can be learned or modified through systems of rewards and punishments. The effectiveness of these methods depends on factors like timing, consistency, and the nature of the reward or punishment.

4. Ethical Criticism of Punishment

Moral Limits: Some ethical perspectives argue that certain forms of punishment are unjust, inhumane, or excessive. Philosophers like Michel Foucault critique the use of punishment in society, highlighting its role in exerting control and power over individuals rather than simply serving justice.

Punishment as Harm: From an ethical standpoint, inflicting harm through punishment can be problematic. It raises the question of whether causing harm (through imprisonment, physical punishment, etc.) can be justified in the name of justice.

5. Social Contract Theory

Role of Society: Social contract theorists like Hobbes and Locke argue that people agree to give up certain freedoms in exchange for the protection and order provided by society. Punishment for wrongdoing and rewards for positive contributions are part of maintaining this social contract, ensuring that society functions effectively.

6. Incentive Systems and Economics

Economic Perspectives: In economics and political philosophy, rewards and punishments can be seen as part of incentive systems that influence behavior. Rewards such as bonuses, wages, and promotions incentivize hard work, while punishments like fines and job loss deter poor performance or unethical actions.

Game Theory: Game theory explores how people’s decisions are influenced by expected rewards or punishments. It shows how individuals strategize their actions based on potential outcomes, often influenced by the rewards or consequences they expect to receive.

7. Consequentialism vs. Retributivism

Consequentialist Approach: From a consequentialist standpoint (e.g., utilitarianism), rewards and punishments are justified by their outcomes. If they lead to more happiness or less suffering, they are morally acceptable.

Retributivist Approach: In contrast, retributivism argues that rewards and punishments should not merely be based on outcomes but on desert. People should be rewarded or punished based on their actions, irrespective of the consequences.

Ethical Dilemmas and Debates:

Fairness in Distribution: What constitutes a fair reward or punishment? Should rewards and punishments be proportional to effort, intention, or outcome?

Efficacy: Does punishment effectively deter crime or poor behavior? Some argue that rehabilitation and education are more effective than harsh punishment.

Moral Desert: Do people truly deserve the rewards or punishments they receive, or are they the result of luck, circumstance, or societal structure?

The philosophy of reward and punishment deals with the ethical and practical reasons for encouraging certain behaviors while discouraging others. It involves balancing justice, fairness, and social utility to promote a functioning society. The debate between retributive justice and consequentialist ethics remains central to discussions on how and why we reward or punish actions.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

*tries to organize my thoughts*

*remembers i'm not in school and therefore beholden to neither heaven nor hell nor any man's grading system*

*joyously shredding & tossing all my carefully arranged 3x5 mental notecards into the air like so much beige confetti. raising my arms in victory, cheering raucously until i accidentally inhale bits of homemade confetti*

(*coughing up itty bits of paper like a cat evicting a hairball with a firm understanding of tenants' rights*) wait wat happens next

[foxfeast]

my new year’s resolution was to write only trans smut this year btw. lets go boy pussy

[straightlightyagami]

the way to prevent the rebirth of the bourgeoisie as a class after socialism is established is to ban anyone with children from holding political offices and managerial positions beyond a certain level of importance . basically the “ruling class” should be eunuchs

[astralleywright]

How do you feel about Orym's deal with Morri?

There was something kind of funny about Liam getting increasingly obvious - 'ORYM HAS DARK VINES IN HIS VEINS. YOU CAN ALL SEE THIS.' and it still going unacknowledged, but now it just feels like a damp squib. (to me at least)

anon i had no fucking idea what a damp squib was. i thought you mispelled squid. it makes perfect sense now that i've looked it up-you damn british-and i agree but i was SO confused about what squids had to do with any of this

anyways, onto the actual answer-yeah. it's a shame, because its one of the most interesting decisions Orym has made, and maybe the most interesting one that has managed to stick around and inform the character, but. it's been treated so underwhelmingly so far that its hard not to think about it as such.

and i don't blame the other hells at all, really. they were on the moon! and then FCG died and who knew if Orym's deal was relevant any longer! one of their own spontaneously learning to teleport is just an average tuesday for them! (as i've joked before, they might just think its ashari shit! [FCG voice] he's doing it! his aramante!)

as someone who's been playing a similarly reticent and repressed character for the last year and a half in a weekly COfD game, one thing i quickly learned is that if you sit back and wait for the other pcs to ask, you might be waiting a really long time. if you're waiting for the other pcs not just to ask but to push and prod over your continued avoidance, you might be waiting forever. the other players are fallible, and probably don't know your character as well as you, and have their own characters as well as a billion other things to focus on. they may be too wrapped up in their own problems or the problems of the pcs who already shared to (or might simply be playing a character that would not) ask about yours.

take the confession during swordgate: it was in the middle of a tense situation where one of the party members (Laudna) was in clear emotional distress, two of them (Imogen and Ashton) were completely focused on her, and two of them (Dorian and Braius) didn't know what Orym even meant by it or that it was a secret up to that point. that left Fearne and Chetney, and Chetney may or may not have been asleep at the time. so that leaves Fearne. she clearly clocked it and has the most reason to care, but Fearne is honestly even more emotionally repressed and avoidant than Orym, and with all due respect to Ashley, she is not who i would rely on for "initiating rp conversations" and "remembering things."

(Also Fearne tried to check on Orym earlier that day and this was his response, so like.)

TTRPGS are collaborative, yeah, but i would argue that part of that is not leaving the responsibility of your own character’s development largely to the other players. Or if you do, accepting that you might be playing a character whose vivid inner life remains entirely hidden, and also that that might not be as interesting to the other players as the things they can readily interact with. Which makes it less likely for them to follow up on it, and so on, until "sold the rest of my life to a hag to protect everyone" kind of feels like a damp squib.

[retrocgads]

UK 1987

[jbcchan]

[naivety]

left wingers who live in deep red states might be especially equipped to normalize voting third party for president this election if they're of the mind not to vote blue. there are plenty people who don't want to vote for harris due to her right wing pandering and policies, but even if we did, gerrymandering has made it impossible for our blue vote to make a lick of difference in the presidential race specifically. my county and my state have never not been red in my entire two+ decades of living here and that's not going to change this election, but i can help contribute to the slow growing trend of third party presidential candidates being platformed in the mainstream on paper.

[dark-twist-fairytales]

Skrimm: "I'm suffering and I need to make this someone else's problem."

[shsl-leader]

Hi! We made a server for fictives from death game-type or general horror media, and/or fans of it!

Get it? Cause its a pun of Meta-fiction... which is often horror.. and... meta-fictive...

Come say hi! I promise I only bite a little bit

[0ystercatcher]

"doctors only want patients wellbeing" is such a funny take. have you ever met a doctor.

[area51-escapee]

I think it’s really easy to write off everyone who voted for trump as acting purely out of malice and intentional evil because it means you don’t have to think about any conditions that led them to that conclusion, you don’t even have to think of them as a person, just a tally mark on a board of “people who are 100% evil and nothing like me”, so I always find it both relieving and very interesting when people actually discuss these people as human beings and look at what led them to make these decisions. Sure it’s not as easy as making them out to be inhuman monsters, but it’s definitely a lot more interesting to learn about imo.

[raisengen]

It's a real tragedy how good the Morrowind/Oblivion levelling system becomes once you install a mod that just silently calculates your attribute increases in the background instead of manually via level-up prompts. It feels entirely natural and immersive.

No level-up screens, no picking perks or feats, no artificial building decisions; you simply get better at whatever it is you're doing. After you've left the tutorial, every character development choice is something done in-game, in-character, in the same way you'd do it IRL. You're one or two short steps from killing off the idea of character level entirely.

(A small fly in the ointment are the perks you get passively in Oblivion as you train skills, since those give you thresholds to cram for, but otherwise you have little reason to pay attention to your stat screen beyond noting your overall progress.)

Unfortunately that's not the system we got, and instead we have 2.5k word wiki pages explaining how to optimise your entire playthrough around not screwing up your stats.

[ottawacharge]

one day i will break and write a manifesto on ottawa and sports arena development and when that happens! please take me out back

[favorite-worst-nightmare]

Every time I forget to update simply plural a really hot girl DIES

[hcklbrryfg]

the psycho-spiritual tension between me fighting to justify buying a new stylus (which has forced a comic i was really excited about into a hiatus, putting me into a creative slump/depression) and the only inbox messages i get being random gaza fundraisers