Why People underinvest in their spirtiual growth Part 2

 

 

Do people under-invest in their spiritual growth- part 2?

 

In the first series on this topic posted and published in 2007 ( search the article by key word on this blog) we argued that people are likely to under invest in their spiritual growth on the basis of two interrelated arguments

 

(1)   Some similarity in “spiritual final product’ and “market for lemons” made famous in George Akerlof’s article nearly 3 decades earlier. New and even advanced seekers of “spiritual product” suffer from asymmetric information somewhat similar to observed in case of second hand market. Buyers do not know the real utility of what they are going to purchase until after they have purchased and started using it. This fact, in absence of other interventions leads to breakdown of second hand markets with even new second hand good selling well below the price of identical but new products. Similarly spiritual seekers do not know the quality of product( teachings and techniques)  that is being offered  with spurious stuff entering the “spiritual marketplace” leading to restricted existence of spirituality. Here instead of price adjustment, limited and lower participation may be the result. We also need to confirm whether people end up under- donating to spiritual cause – which may well be the case.

(2)    Second and related reason was the parallel with people’s investment functions. When the final product and timing of its appearance is unknown, it is akin to people ( from their limited knowledge as reflected in reason 1) investing in a riskier long gestation product as opposed to easily available and well known intellectual, artistic or sensory pursuits and hence inviting lower investment in former. Using this investment perspective we are also able to show why “Faith and HOPE” are very important ingredients in persisting with spiritual pursuits- a point that is often repeated across all faiths.

 

Now we turn to another set of closely related reasons which may cause people and societies to under-invest in spiritual growth

 

1. We know from theory of externalities that a polluting industry is overproducing if it does not pay a pollution tax to offset the loss it causes to people from its pollution. If such an industry were required to pay a suitable pollution tax, it may well restrict its production and hence pollution levels. Conversely those industries/sectors such as education may be under-producing because they cause a positive and beneficial change to society for which they are not compensated. (hence the argument for subsidizing education). The example of education as an example of positive externality allows us to compare spiritual education where positive externality is likely to be present as spiritually evolved and evolving persons are able to help others and society for which they are not paid. Of course governments do give blanket concessions in law through provision of cheap land and income tax laws as if internalizing such externality. However such benefits  do not percolate to individual level. So if monetary consideration is one of the important factors of how majority of spiritual seekers divide time between spiritual and material pursuits, then positive externality resulting from spiritual pursuits and hence underinvestment is likely. The use of monetary compensation is somewhat repugnant in this situation – however some form of offsetting arrangement may well lead people to increase their spiritual efforts once they realize it benefits not only themselves but others
2. A second and more subtle form of positive externality is to be noted. If people are positively effected from other people’s spiritual growth directly or indirectly for which they do not pay either because they do or cannot  consciously perceive the positive benefits they are receiving  from others
3. Donations and voluntary service seems two forms of offsetting compensation but they generally operate in presence of spiritual institutions and further due to fact mentioned in summary points 1 and 2 above , such donations may well be short of  reflecting true contribution of spiritual growth to society.

 

The combined message of points (a) and ( b) is that neither spiritual seekers nor recipients of benefits accruing from spiritually evolved & evolving are fully aware of benefits delivered in first case and benefits received in second case leading to underinvestment in spiritual growth ( of course there is large overlapping group which both receives and produces benefits at the same time as in case of highly  evolved  spiritual seekers).