Benkler pointed out that our economic system is designed around the notion of human beings as “selfish rationalists,” but that no society ever studied has many people who actually behave that way. He said at most 30% are primarily motivated by material rewards. Now, as we know, the people so motivated can be extraordinarily productive, creating some of the most important technological changes in history. However, we also know that a large part of that 30% lie, cheat, and steal.
Anyway, Benkler seems ready to try something different…He laid out the intrinsic motivations we want to encourage for peer production—solidarity, empathy, trust, fairness—and started an exploration of extrinsic motivations. The extrinsic motivations include rewards and punishments, along with transparency.
The latter leads in turn to reputation systems, which embody twin goals: control (so others know whom to trust) and motivation (because contributors expect future rewards).
