TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: What is a gift economy?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

This holiday sosaen, people around the world will give and receive presents. You might even get a knitted sweater from an aunt. But what if instead of saying "thanks" before consigning it to the closet, the polite rsnspoee expected from you was to show up to her house in a week with a better gift? Or to vote for her in the town election? Or let her adopt your firstborn clhid? All of these things might not sunod so strange if you are involved in a gift economy. This phrase might seem contradictory. After all, isn't a gift given for free? But in a gift emcnooy, gifts given without explicit conditions are used to ftseor a system of social ties and otnilaobgis. While the mraket economies we know are formed by relationships between the things being traded, a gift economy consists of the relationships between the people doing the trading. Gift economies have existed throughout human hisotry. The first studies of the concept came from ailtghponrtsoos bsnoilraw Malinowski and Marcel Mauss who describe the natives of the Trobriand islands making dangerous canoe journeys across miles of oeacn to exchange shlel necklaces and arm bands. The imets traded through this poesrcs, known as the kula ring, have no practical use, but derive itampconre from their original owners and carry an obligation to continue the exchange. Other gift economies may involve useful items, such as the pttocalh feast of the Pacific nwerohstt, where cehifs cemptoe for prestige by giving away livestock and blankets. We might say that instead of accumulating material wealth, participants in a gift economy use it to auacmuctle social walteh. Though some itcennsas of gift economies may resemble barter, the difference is that the original gift is given without any preconditions or haggling. Instead, the social norm of reciprocity obligates recipients to voluntarily return the fvoar. But the rules for how and when to do so vary between cultures, and the return on a gift can take many forms. A powerful chief giving livestock to a poor man may not expect goods in ruretn, but gains social prestige at the debtor's expense. And among the tjoraa people of Indonesia, the status gneiad from gift ceremonies even determines land ownership. The key is to keep the gift cycle going, with someone always indebted to someone else. Repaying a gift immediately, or with something of exactly equal value, may be read as ending the social relationship. So, are gift eimoeocns exclusive to small-scale siiecetos outside the industrialized world? Not quite. For one thing, even in these cultures, gift economies function alongside a market system for other exganches. And when we think about it, parts of our own societies work in similar ways. Communal spaces, such as Burning Man, operate as a mix of btrear and a gift economy, where selling things for money is strictly taboo. In art and technology, gift economies are emerging as an alternative to intellectual property where artists, musicians, and open-source dveleopres distribute their creative works, not for financial profit, but to raise their social profile or establish their cmmointuy role. And even potluck dinners and holiday gift traditions involve some degree of reciprocity and social norms. We might wonder if a gift is truly a gift if it comes with obligations or involves some social pay off. But this is misinsg the point. Our idea of a free gift without social obligations prevails only if we already think of everything in market terms. And in a commericalized world, the idea of strengthening bonds through giving and reciprocity may not be such a bad thing, wherever you may live.

Open Cloze

This holiday ______, people around the world will give and receive presents. You might even get a knitted sweater from an aunt. But what if instead of saying "thanks" before consigning it to the closet, the polite ________ expected from you was to show up to her house in a week with a better gift? Or to vote for her in the town election? Or let her adopt your firstborn _____? All of these things might not _____ so strange if you are involved in a gift economy. This phrase might seem contradictory. After all, isn't a gift given for free? But in a gift _______, gifts given without explicit conditions are used to ______ a system of social ties and ___________. While the ______ economies we know are formed by relationships between the things being traded, a gift economy consists of the relationships between the people doing the trading. Gift economies have existed throughout human _______. The first studies of the concept came from _______________ _________ Malinowski and Marcel Mauss who describe the natives of the Trobriand islands making dangerous canoe journeys across miles of _____ to exchange _____ necklaces and arm bands. The _____ traded through this _______, known as the kula ring, have no practical use, but derive __________ from their original owners and carry an obligation to continue the exchange. Other gift economies may involve useful items, such as the ________ feast of the Pacific _________, where ______ _______ for prestige by giving away livestock and blankets. We might say that instead of accumulating material wealth, participants in a gift economy use it to __________ social ______. Though some _________ of gift economies may resemble barter, the difference is that the original gift is given without any preconditions or haggling. Instead, the social norm of reciprocity obligates recipients to voluntarily return the _____. But the rules for how and when to do so vary between cultures, and the return on a gift can take many forms. A powerful chief giving livestock to a poor man may not expect goods in ______, but gains social prestige at the debtor's expense. And among the ______ people of Indonesia, the status ______ from gift ceremonies even determines land ownership. The key is to keep the gift cycle going, with someone always indebted to someone else. Repaying a gift immediately, or with something of exactly equal value, may be read as ending the social relationship. So, are gift _________ exclusive to small-scale _________ outside the industrialized world? Not quite. For one thing, even in these cultures, gift economies function alongside a market system for other _________. And when we think about it, parts of our own societies work in similar ways. Communal spaces, such as Burning Man, operate as a mix of ______ and a gift economy, where selling things for money is strictly taboo. In art and technology, gift economies are emerging as an alternative to intellectual property where artists, musicians, and open-source __________ distribute their creative works, not for financial profit, but to raise their social profile or establish their _________ role. And even potluck dinners and holiday gift traditions involve some degree of reciprocity and social norms. We might wonder if a gift is truly a gift if it comes with obligations or involves some social pay off. But this is _______ the point. Our idea of a free gift without social obligations prevails only if we already think of everything in market terms. And in a commericalized world, the idea of strengthening bonds through giving and reciprocity may not be such a bad thing, wherever you may live.

Solution

developers
wealth
anthropologists
process
missing
compete
toraja
economies
bronislaw
items
market
foster
gained
history
response
ocean
favor
barter
societies
season
chiefs
potlatch
importance
shell
obligations
community
sound
northwest
accumulate
economy
return
child
instances
exchanges

Original Text

This holiday season, people around the world will give and receive presents. You might even get a knitted sweater from an aunt. But what if instead of saying "thanks" before consigning it to the closet, the polite response expected from you was to show up to her house in a week with a better gift? Or to vote for her in the town election? Or let her adopt your firstborn child? All of these things might not sound so strange if you are involved in a gift economy. This phrase might seem contradictory. After all, isn't a gift given for free? But in a gift economy, gifts given without explicit conditions are used to foster a system of social ties and obligations. While the market economies we know are formed by relationships between the things being traded, a gift economy consists of the relationships between the people doing the trading. Gift economies have existed throughout human history. The first studies of the concept came from anthropologists Bronislaw Malinowski and Marcel Mauss who describe the natives of the Trobriand islands making dangerous canoe journeys across miles of ocean to exchange shell necklaces and arm bands. The items traded through this process, known as the kula ring, have no practical use, but derive importance from their original owners and carry an obligation to continue the exchange. Other gift economies may involve useful items, such as the potlatch feast of the Pacific Northwest, where chiefs compete for prestige by giving away livestock and blankets. We might say that instead of accumulating material wealth, participants in a gift economy use it to accumulate social wealth. Though some instances of gift economies may resemble barter, the difference is that the original gift is given without any preconditions or haggling. Instead, the social norm of reciprocity obligates recipients to voluntarily return the favor. But the rules for how and when to do so vary between cultures, and the return on a gift can take many forms. A powerful chief giving livestock to a poor man may not expect goods in return, but gains social prestige at the debtor's expense. And among the Toraja people of Indonesia, the status gained from gift ceremonies even determines land ownership. The key is to keep the gift cycle going, with someone always indebted to someone else. Repaying a gift immediately, or with something of exactly equal value, may be read as ending the social relationship. So, are gift economies exclusive to small-scale societies outside the industrialized world? Not quite. For one thing, even in these cultures, gift economies function alongside a market system for other exchanges. And when we think about it, parts of our own societies work in similar ways. Communal spaces, such as Burning Man, operate as a mix of barter and a gift economy, where selling things for money is strictly taboo. In art and technology, gift economies are emerging as an alternative to intellectual property where artists, musicians, and open-source developers distribute their creative works, not for financial profit, but to raise their social profile or establish their community role. And even potluck dinners and holiday gift traditions involve some degree of reciprocity and social norms. We might wonder if a gift is truly a gift if it comes with obligations or involves some social pay off. But this is missing the point. Our idea of a free gift without social obligations prevails only if we already think of everything in market terms. And in a commericalized world, the idea of strengthening bonds through giving and reciprocity may not be such a bad thing, wherever you may live.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
gift economies	6
gift economy	3

Important Words

accumulate
accumulating
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arm
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receive
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