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What kind of gift giver are you?

#1
Secular Sanity Offline
What kind of gift giver are you?

I have someone in my family that's a cross between "The Power Player" and "The Complainer". It’s controlling and begrudging generosity, that’s for sure. She buys everyone the exact same gift. It’s usually a Christmas decoration of some sort. She demands that you leave your house so that she can come in and stage it. It was a pain in the ass when my kids were little. I had to load two little ones in the car and then drive around until I got the call that it was okay to return. The presentation is everything to her and they always come with strings attached. If someone does something that she doesn’t like, she’ll say, "Can you believe that? And after everything that I’ve done for them."

Quote:1. The Genuine Giver

The genuine giver has actually thought about you and what would give you pleasure.


2. The Status Hound 

This is the costly gift as self-enhancement—a show of money or power, or perhaps both. In this case, the gift has nothing to do with the recipient but everything to do with the giver.


3. The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

This is the giver who likes to be thought of as a wonderful gift-giver with perfectly wrapped gifts but his or her spirit is no more genuine than the Status Hound; in the end, Christmas is all about him or her. The Wolf is likely to send a check, rather than a present, and will “re-gift” items without thinking about whether the gift actually suits the recipient.


4. The Power Player

Perhaps the worst kind of giver—the one who really knows how to manipulate the symbolic nature of the gift—these people are the likeliest to hurt or disappoint us, especially at the holidays. Because they understand how gifts can cause us pain, consciously or unconsciously, they choose gifts that do exactly that.


5. The Complainer

Yes, it’s not just that you have to appreciate the gift the Complainer gives you; you have to listen endlessly to the travails and inconveniences he or she experienced this holiday season, especially during the acquisition of your gift. [Source]


Here’s an interesting case of pathological generosity.

"Explaining generosity is a headache for biologists; Charles Darwin considered the trait one of the gravest threats to his theory of natural selection."

Quote:A 49-year-old man in Brazil survived a stroke but underwent a strange personality change afterward -- he developed "pathological generosity," according to a report of his case.

…Understanding exactly what change in the brain was driving João’s excessive generosity is very interesting for scientists, especially because the condition is in many respects the opposite of disorders such as hoarding and sociopathy, the researchers said. [Source]



This work does raise uncomfortable questions, though. We normally think of generosity as pure and noble—evidence of the soul, not evidence of brain damage. But what if giving is largely a reflex or an instinct or even, sometimes, a sign of mental derangement? We also think of generosity as uniquely human. If other species evolved to be generous too, does that devalue the trait?

…These aren’t idle questions. João’s case shows that generosity isn’t part of some ethereal “human spirit”—it’s hardwired into our brains. And while acts of generosity do engage our “higher” brain regions—the areas responsible for rational thought—they cause equally strong activity in the animalistic pleasure centers, circuits normally associated with food, sex, and drugs like cocaine. In other words, the urge to give seems to arise from a blend of base appetites and refined reflection—a potent combination that probably played an important role in the evolution of humankind. [Source]
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#2
C C Offline
6. Apathetic Giver: A horridly spiritless type who invests little or no cognition in apprehending the general character of their gift-giving. Due to an underlying motivation (excluding the occasion's significance to children) consisting of mere conformity to local custom, with privately minimal interest and love for the practice (just get it over with).

One of the rare times of the year for envying these folk (below), since they can arguably dismiss the whole season as "against their religion" (pagan origin or whatever). Otherwise, even secular folk and atheists ("nones"), Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc find themselves striving to avoid scrooge-hood and standing out as a cultural hostile. (Five Non-Christian Religions Which Celebrate Christmas)

Christians who don't celebrate Christmas
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features...-post.html

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#4
C C Offline
(Dec 17, 2018 11:28 PM)confused2 Wrote: Gift giver?

Hmmm. Doesn't easily come to mind this time of year, since it's season independent; and arguably may have more citizenship in the Manosphere Lexicon: Gift giver.

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#6
Leigha Offline
#1 - I like giving. I like shopping. It's a win win.
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#7
Secular Sanity Offline
I hate shopping but I use it as an opportunity to be creative. Remember when I took my nieces hiking and planned a fairy adventure? Well, this year, I created a mermaid treasure seeking adventure for a Christmas gift. I’ve been wanting to show them this new trail at glass beach. So, I created an invitational video, "Come with me to the Sea". I made them necklaces similar to these. I'll tell them about the history of the beach, mermaid hoaxes, folklore, and possible origins, and then I’ll let them ask questions and decide for themselves.

I got the idea from that controversial docufiction.

Mermaids: The Body Found
Mermaids is a science fiction program styled as a documentary originally aired as Mermaids: The Body Found on American TV channels Animal Planet (May 27, 2012) and Discovery Channel (June 17, 2012). It tells a story of a scientific team's investigative efforts to uncover the source behind mysterious underwater recordings of an unidentified marine body. The show presents the controversial aquatic ape hypothesis as evidence that mermaids exist, along with a digitally manufactured video. A sequel broadcast called Mermaids: The New Evidence aired May 26, 2013.

Mermaids: The Body Found, its sequel Mermaids: The New Evidence is an example of what is known as docufiction, in which documentary style and programming elements are combined with fictional - or sometimes less egregiously speculative - science and fiction. This type of programming receives particular criticism when, as in the original broadcast of Mermaids: The Body Found, there are only a few, easily missed disclaimers to indicate the speculative nature of the programming. On the contrary, the serious tone of the majority of the presentation implied that it was a factual documentary. The first airings of the two Mermaids programs apparently fooled millions of people and also drew some of Animal Planet's largest audiences ever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaids:_The_Body_Found 

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#8
confused2 Offline
#7 Mean bastard. Doesn't give presents unless threatened with divorce. Has no interest in any of it.

#7
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