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   HeavenlyPossum (heavenlypossum@kolektiva.social)'s status on Saturday, 25-Nov-2023 05:43:10 JST HeavenlyPossum

   In my town, there is a medieval hospital—not for treating the sick, but for housing the indigent.

   It was built in the 15th century and it still serves to house the poor. A wealthy merchant endowed it.

   I don’t know why he did it, though. Maybe he was motivated by genuine concern for the poor. Maybe he was hoping to save his immortal soul through charitable works. Maybe he wanted to impress a romantic interest or embarrass a rival merchant. Maybe it was a combination of these things or something else entirely.

   Human motivation is, despite what you’ve undoubtedly heard, enormously complex, multifaceted, and often very opaque (even for ourselves and our own motivation).

   The fact remains that this merchant did something I’ve been told is impossible, could never happen: he did something for nothing.

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