Good point. But the next question ought to be whether there’s a creative third alternative that would allow us to better signal our caring while being less wasteful. In some cases (the rising popularity of hospice rather than hospital for terminal illness), we can see this already being done.
(For a similar example, some couples planning weddings are moving away from the massively wasteful† registry option in favor of other ideas. It looks tacky to just ask for a cash donation, of course, but there really are third alternatives—one couple asked for donations toward the specific events they planned for their honeymoon, while others ask for donations toward a favored list of charities. Etc.)
† Guests signal their generosity and regard for the new couple by buying them something from a set of nice things. However, the couple typically asks for things that are uselessly nicer than what they would buy themselves if it were their money, so as to signal sophistication. The end result is that a lot of money gets wasted on overly specific kitchen gadgets which will gather dust, or overly nice china that rarely gets used, etc.
Without specific examples, I hadn’t thought of signaling care that was expensive. (I guessed it was emotionally expensive for Weidai.) But yes, fotaking someone to see the doctor when you know that wouldn’t be useful would be quite expensive.
Good point. But the next question ought to be whether there’s a creative third alternative that would allow us to better signal our caring while being less wasteful. In some cases (the rising popularity of hospice rather than hospital for terminal illness), we can see this already being done.
(For a similar example, some couples planning weddings are moving away from the massively wasteful† registry option in favor of other ideas. It looks tacky to just ask for a cash donation, of course, but there really are third alternatives—one couple asked for donations toward the specific events they planned for their honeymoon, while others ask for donations toward a favored list of charities. Etc.)
† Guests signal their generosity and regard for the new couple by buying them something from a set of nice things. However, the couple typically asks for things that are uselessly nicer than what they would buy themselves if it were their money, so as to signal sophistication. The end result is that a lot of money gets wasted on overly specific kitchen gadgets which will gather dust, or overly nice china that rarely gets used, etc.
Without specific examples, I hadn’t thought of signaling care that was expensive. (I guessed it was emotionally expensive for Weidai.) But yes, fotaking someone to see the doctor when you know that wouldn’t be useful would be quite expensive.