Eric, the whole interview is great!

TODAY I LEARNED that if someone has a gift list of things they want, USE IT:

If you buy something that is not on the list, you’re going to end up very likely with something that the recipient doesn’t appreciate as much. This is actually what we find in our research.

Read more: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/francesca-gino/

Just ask them.

In case anyone is curious what kinds of stuff I want: https://delicious.com/chrisyeh/bookstoread

Alternately, just donate Eric Barker's bookshelf to me.

I like that concept of "Donate Eric's Bookshelf".

It would fetch a pretty penny at auction. "For sale: All the world's wisdom, annotated by Eric Barker.  Reserve price: $1,000,000.00"

BLOG IS NOW OFFLINE. WISDOM NOW AVAILABLE ON A PER PURCHASE BASIS. FOR MORE INFO CONTACT MY AGENT, CHRIS YEH.

;)

Now if you really want to make money, we turn it into a cult.  We'll have to add some weird sex stuff, because that seems to be mandatory, but you could have thousands of people giving you their life savings in exchange for fulfillment.

When in conversation, ask people a story from their childhood:

Asking people to recall their memories from childhood makes them subsequently more helpful.

Read more: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/francesca-gino/

This is some interesting research. I have always been fascinated by the notion that we should try to surprise the recipients with a gift they may or may not like. I guess we eventually figured out that this is basically a hit or miss proposition - thus arose the idea of the gift receipt?!

Actually, we Chinese people have had wish lists for thousands of years and thus have always been able to hit the nail on the head when giving gifts. It's pretty simple: 1) red envelope, 2) money inside the envelope. Works like a charm. :-)

Chris, thanks for sharing your book list. Now I know what to get you...finally!

How do you know how much money to put in the red envelope?

That's the great part. It doesn't matter. After fulfilling the 2 items on the gift list, it's the thought that counts! :-)

Wow. That IS wonderful. Give what you can, it's the thought that matters!

Yep, that's the idea. Of course, we Chinese tend to think in multiples of 100. :-)

In any case, we do avoid these scenarios...

You know, it's a good point that no gift item is as universally loved as money.

Except, perhaps, something thoughtful and hand-made. Perhaps.

I think our roots might just be very pragmatic. I am not sure if it's about love, but nothing is as universally useful as money.

As for the value of a hand-made gift, I am thinking that might only be true for a small subset of relationships...children/loved ones (sentimental value) and actual artisans (artistic value). Apart from those two categories, money would probably be better.