No Rewards = Happiness
The Torah-Bible reading of Eikev , from Devarim/Deuteronomy 11:13 says ' it will be if
you will listen to my commandments that I command you this day to love your
Lord, your God and serve him with all your heart and soul then and I will provide rain in your land at the proper time ….
And you will eat and be satisfied.' From these verses it appears that
God is rewarding those for keeping of
His commandments in this world.
This understanding however, is
inconsistent with the following teachings of the Talmudic sages - that ' there
is no reward in this world ' , the reward of a mitzvah- good deed is the mitzvah
itself = S'char mitzvah- mitzvah
There is no reward in this world because (a)the
reward is spiritual and this world cannot produce the spiritual enjoyment and
reward of heaven that is deserving of those who keep the commandments-, and (b)- God wants us to do good deeds and mitzvoth because
of their intrinsic value, their intrinsic reward and expressions of connection to God and
holiness. When we begin this journey of a life of good deeds and mitzvoth God
lends a helping hand and creates the physical conditions that make it much easier
for us to do more mitzvoth and in this way mitzvoth attract and bring along
other mitzvoth. In the words of the behavioral economist Dan Ariely we convert
'economic norms ' into 'social norms'. We convert the physical into the
spiritual.
This is the Rambam's explanation of the above verses in the Bible.
If we do God's commandments with love and joy, God will create the conditions
where we can lead more creative and productive religious lives without the
distractions that interfere with our goals.
When we take rewards out of the picture, we
tend to be more self directed, autonomous, and mindful , focusing on 'in the
moment ' and the intrinsic value and reward of what we are doing and learning.
When there are no rewards, we become happier and more fulfilled people.
When it comes to kids, parents and
teachers find it easy to promote behavior and learning by bribing kids with
rewards. Rewards work in the short-term, but in the long term they undermine
intrinsic motivation and the commitment to underlying values.
But more important parents and teachers are unaware of the
immediate message of rewards .In the words of the behavioral economist Dan
Ariely parents and teachers are guilty of converting ' social norms' into '
economic norms'. They are promoting materialism and immoral behavior at the
expense of spirituality and connection.
A school tried to encourage kids to return lost
articles or money found in school or on the playground by rewarding kids for
handing in lost property. All of a sudden, kids were finding so many coins on
the playground.!!
A kid by mistake kicked a ball that hit a teacher. He ran
away instead of offering help - he did not want to get caught.
Rewards and punishments not only convert social norms into economic ones, but
they encourage and promote immoral behavior.
A kindergarten imposed fines on parents who came late to
pick up their kids. The situation became much worse after the imposition of the
fines. Previously parents were guided by ' social norms' – a guilty feeling
about keeping the kindergarten teacher or kid waiting , now it was purely an '
economic ' decision – was it worth the money to come late.
We should be helping kids to think in the following way.
A man, who was about to go overseas for while
approached his neighbor's 10 year old son. He needed help with his dog. He
asked the boy to look after his dog and take him for walks etc while he was
away on holiday.
He asked the kid - How much? The kid
replied – ' I am willing to pay $15.
Our purpose in this world is to convert ' economic norms' –
materialism into 'social and spiritual norms'. We can do this by understanding
that the reward of a good deed is the deed itself and the opportunity given to
us by God to do further good. We can help kids by cutting out ' rewards ' and
help them become more self directed and intrinsically motivated focusing on the
process and experience When there are no rewards, we are more mindful of the
present and its joys and so we become happier people.
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