Vicarious Reward

Hey

Hope you’re having a nice week. Today, something possibly provocative…

Big idea 🍉

The modern world has stripped much of the effort out of life, which creates all sorts of problems. This is made worse by our capacity to get rewards from watching someone else do something, rather than doing it ourselves.

Aka: vicarious reward.

Start looking and you’ll see it everywhere. In the number of people who watch sport rather than play it. Who scroll social media rather than go on adventures. Who consume porn rather than pursue relationships. Who watch other people play computer games, or unbox gifts... the list goes on.

Humans are programmed to get a good dose of the reward simply from watching someone else do the thing. AND that reward comes at MUCH less cost and risk. Our reward circuits light up when our team scores, but all we had to do was scream from the sofa: no tough training, no risk of looking foolish, no cold Sunday mornings.

In the past, such opportunities to watch were far fewer: we had to participate to get the goods. Today, it’s on tap, AND… the reward signals are massively boosted: we get to watch the world’s best athletes, the most engaging adventure videos, the most explicit scenes.

All of which leads us to choose the vicarious option more and more. Modern society is driving us to increasingly watch more than we do.

This comes with huge downsides. Effort and challenge are the basis of growth: when we strip them out, we miss out on strength, on skills, on friendship, on the resilience that comes from giving it a go.

And contrary to common assumptions, watching rarely inspires doing. Even the Olympics barely shift how many of us play sport (it just makes us feel more skilled than we actually are).

The more we watch, the harder it feels to get started, and the less we eventually do.

Which is why the work schools do to get students into team sport, clubs, music and drama is SO vital: it turns the tide on vicarious reward, and helps keeps our future society strong and confident. Let’s make sure to keep it alive.

🎓 For more, check out this meta-analysis on vicarious reward.

Summary

• The modern world has stripped much of the effort from life, while allowing us to gain rewards from watching rather than doing.

• Opportunities to watch rather than participate are everywhere: scrolling social media, watching sport and viewing others play video games.

• Watching rather than doing limits our growth, meaning schools should actively encourage students to participate rather than simply watch.

Little updates 🥕

• Systematic review on reading fluency → highlights that pupils with reading difficulties tend to make slower, more variable progress in their fluency.

• Study on AI tutoring → finds that links between achievement & tutoring strategies vary across groups, highlighting the need for tailored support.

• Paper on the ICAP learning framework → argues no significant differences in outcomes across activity types, but interactive tasks can build belonging.

• Paper on teacher retention → suggests that teachers are more likely to stay when their work aligns with their educational values & purpose.

Upgrade your evidence edge → Get Snacks PRO