You get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!

My favorite form of uncommon generosity is knowledge sharing.

If you have specialized information and insights that you’ve accumulated over the years, and you share them without expecting direct compensation, that is a gift of the highest order.

Because you’re saving people time and trouble. You’re making their learning curve shorter, which means their action can happen sooner, since their inspiration is higher. What a blessing.

Compare that exchange the individual who’s super cagey with their knowledge. They make everything inside their heads complex and opaque and inaccessible. Ain’t nobody getting in without cover charge and a password.

This never made sense to me. Why all the secrecy? Do they fear creating competition for themselves? Are they worried about someone else surpassing their achievements?

Look, I understand that there needs to be nondisclosure agreements in place when it comes to corporate intellectual property.

Wonka himself was paranoid about spies being sent in to his factories to steal the secret recipes to his legendary treats. I mean, if your candy company manufactures ice cream that never melts, even in the hottest sun, then it’s probably not in your best long term financial interest to publish the ingredients on your blog.

But most of us are not running chocolate factories. We can afford to be generous with our knowledge.

How often are you sharing valuables that relate to the advancement of cognitive goals?