August 4, 2008

Selling yourself

http://www.davidhorvitz.com/if/

I came across the page of a guy who, for a given amount of money, will give you obscure things: a rock from brooklyn, one of his secrets, a letter of apology written to someone he has wronged. It’s ridiculous and brilliant all at the same time. Spending $1 for a complete stranger to think about you for a minute has no value, but there’s something strange and amazing in knowing exactly that: that you have forged a connection (through money, mind you) with another being for just a blip of time. He can also do things like travel to Japan and have green tea with a monk. If people pay for this, they’re definitely looking for vicarious enjoyment of those things that are too risky and crazy to do on one’s own.

I want to do this. Some starting deals could be:

  • for $2 I will play you a song on my guitar, record it, and send it to you.
  • for $1 I will do a problem set from a course at MIT and send you a copy.
  • for $3 I will think about you on my bike ride home from work. All nine miles of it. Bonus miles $.25

    • Now I just need paypal.

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