Farnam Street: Reciprocity

Reciprocity is essentially Newton's third law. If you apply coercive force to others, it will rebound back to you in an equal manner. That's why agreements that are mutually beneficial are more likely to be successfull than those that are coercive in nature. Giving something of value should beget receiving something of value.

The analogy they used was that of a football tackle: the lower the amount of force applied by the tackle to make the play the lower amount of pain that is experienced by both players.

But reciprocity can be a lure, a hook. If you accept something then there is the natural human tendency to give something in return. Only the supremely entitled don't feel this pull.

for every force exerted by object A on object B, there is an equal but opposite force exerted by object B on object A

it is not possible for one object to exert a force without experiencing a reciprocal force

You can’t initiate force without having a force put on you

because the more force you apply to others, the more damage you do to yourself

Reciprocity can be summed up like this: when you act on things, they act on you.

Even though volunteering is giving and one can say sacrifice, reciprocity is still at play. Even with volunteering you often get what you give even if it is indirect. Research suggests better mental and physical well being as well as satisfaction.

In the physical world, the law of reciprocity works 100% of the time. ... In the biological world, reciprocity doesn’t have the same perfect record. However, it has been discovered to work much more often than not...

There's two types of reciprocity: direct and indirect. Indirect can be used for the sake of building a reputation so that you'll be helped later.

When using reciprocity we tend to remember the occasional times that it didn't work. But we must remember on the whole it is generally beneficial.

Life is easier and more enjoyable when we act on starting and maintaining win-win relationships with everyone.

The reality is, if you’re fighting with everyone all of the time you have to spread your resources along many fronts and you likely don’t have time to do anything else.

Reciprocity based on self-interest is still reciprocity. Engaging in positive behavior to then be a receiver of positive behavior is about the long game.

The more people you help, the more people you will have willing to help you.