I think there’s an interesting moral of the anecdote, but I’m not sure it’s the one you expressed.
My conclusion is: rationalists who desire to discard the burdensome yoke of their cultural traditions, linked inextricably as they are to religion, will have to relearn an entirely new set of cultural traditions from scratch. For example, they will need to learn a new mechanism design that allows them to cooperate in donating money to cause that is accepted as being worthwhile (I think the “ask for money and then wait for people to call out contributions” scheme is damned brilliant).
Here’s an even better one, under the right circumstances:
“Would everyone please stand up for a moment? Thank you. Now, please remain standing if you believe that our organization is doing important things for the good of the world. Terrific, terrific. Okay, please continue to stand if you’re going to make a pledge of at least $X. Fantastic! Now, please continue to stand if you’re going to make a pledge of at least $X*2...”
Of course, it won’t work very well on a room full of non-conformists… you might have trouble getting them to stand in the first place, especially if they know what’s coming.
“Right circumstances” includes support for your cause and rapport with your audience, such that most of them don’t feel manipulated. The one time I saw that method used, the speaker already had the audience in the palm of his hand, such that they felt they’d already gotten their money’s worth just from having listened to him. The stand-up/opt-out trick was just to push an already-high expected conversion rate higher.
(An example of how good a rapport he had: early in the presentation, he asked that people please promise to not even attempt to give him any money that day… and several people laughed and shouted “No!”)
Of course, I suppose if you’re that good, the trick is moot. On the other hand, the public approach your synagogue used is equally manipulative… it just builds the conformity pressure more slowly, instead of all at once.
I think there’s an interesting moral of the anecdote, but I’m not sure it’s the one you expressed.
My conclusion is: rationalists who desire to discard the burdensome yoke of their cultural traditions, linked inextricably as they are to religion, will have to relearn an entirely new set of cultural traditions from scratch. For example, they will need to learn a new mechanism design that allows them to cooperate in donating money to cause that is accepted as being worthwhile (I think the “ask for money and then wait for people to call out contributions” scheme is damned brilliant).
Here’s an even better one, under the right circumstances:
“Would everyone please stand up for a moment? Thank you. Now, please remain standing if you believe that our organization is doing important things for the good of the world. Terrific, terrific. Okay, please continue to stand if you’re going to make a pledge of at least $X. Fantastic! Now, please continue to stand if you’re going to make a pledge of at least $X*2...”
Of course, it won’t work very well on a room full of non-conformists… you might have trouble getting them to stand in the first place, especially if they know what’s coming.
That only works once, if that much. People don’t like feeling forced and manipulated.
“Right circumstances” includes support for your cause and rapport with your audience, such that most of them don’t feel manipulated. The one time I saw that method used, the speaker already had the audience in the palm of his hand, such that they felt they’d already gotten their money’s worth just from having listened to him. The stand-up/opt-out trick was just to push an already-high expected conversion rate higher.
(An example of how good a rapport he had: early in the presentation, he asked that people please promise to not even attempt to give him any money that day… and several people laughed and shouted “No!”)
Of course, I suppose if you’re that good, the trick is moot. On the other hand, the public approach your synagogue used is equally manipulative… it just builds the conformity pressure more slowly, instead of all at once.