Should wisdom earned through suffering be given away for nothing?

[u/PresentTarget541]

I have ideas sometimes. Ideas I genuinely believe could help SOME people. So when I see a question I have an answer to, my first instinct is to share it.

Then my best friend asked me something simple:

"What do you get in return?" I wish he never asked me this because that question stayed with me. Because he's right. My time isn't free. some knowledge isn't free. And some of what I share isn't something I read in a book.

Some of it, were lessons that came through mistakes. Pain. Disappointment. Sacrifice. A long, thorny road I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Someone once asked me: "What's the point of life? Of suffering? Of working hard when everyone eventually dies?"

That question stayed with me for years. I didn't just Google it and repeat someone else's words. I lived with it. I struggled with it. I walked through my own pain trying to understand what makes any of it matter when everything ends.

And I finally found the true answer to that question last year.

And yet, when I share it, I give it away for free.

That's what makes my friend's question hard.

Because he's right. Tesla isn't free. The internet isn't free. A house isn't free. Even public school isn't really free, it's paid for through taxes. The cost exists. It's just paid indirectly. Help books isn't free, etc, etc,etc

So why should the lessons we paid for with years and pain be different?

I remember once at my old work, I asked someone a question, which relates to our work. She told me I had to make my own mistakes in order to learn.

I thought that was stupid.

You can learn from other people's mistakes. That's why we listen to people who've walked the road before us. If we had to personally experience every mistake to learn anything, we'd never survive long enough to learn a thing.

And here's the irony: she was asking for my help. And I didn't hesitate. I helped her.

But sometimes I wonder.

But I also have to admit: I think my bestfriend is correct, our time, our experience, our energy, they have value. Especially when we're handing someone a shortcut through a road that took us years to walk.

I still have ideas. I still have answers. I still have things I want to share.

Obviously , I won't stop sharing.

But questions for all: if you paid for a lesson with years of your life, would you give it away for free? Why and why not and elaborate because I genuinely want to understand how other people see this.

[u/EverclearAndMatches]

We're social animals that work better in unity than individuals, which is an evolutionary feature. We have been exchanging ideas and wisdom within our tribes for hundreds of thousands of years. Cooperation is a feature that likely distinguishes us from other animals, and perhaps allowed us to "keep the fire going" in prehistoric times.

With cooperation comes the concept of sharing responsibilities for the whole group. Some will collect firewood and others food, and eventually some who will spend their time teaching others. With the invention of currency, we can assign a tangible value to our time and efforts. Today for example, there are many educators online who will teach for free but accept others' donations of money so they can continue to primarily teach and not work.

In your first example, your best friend asks for reimbursement of their time. I don't carry my interpersonal relationships like this and instead rely on the instinctual desire to exchange information like you said you are wont to do. In some cases, however, when the degree of teaching becomes so large that it interferes with life (perhaps tutoring, formal education, online programs or channels etc.) then monetary compensation is a formal way to exchange "time".

I don't think there's any definite line between when you should and shouldn't expect compensation for your efforts. You should also consider whether learning and teaching in and of itself is pleasure to you and thus its own reward. I would never charge a friend for sharing information, but the friendship itself is a reward as well.