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Eric Siu argues that relationships are transactional: people are either solutions or problems based on whether they have what others want. Those with valuable resources get more choices in who they spend time with.
Eric Siu argues that relationships are transactional: people are either solutions or problems based on whether they have what others want. Those with valuable resources get more choices in who they spend time with.
Relationships are the medium in which value is transacted. People go to other people because they want things from them. That's why people are both a problem and a solution. They're a solution if they have the things we want and are willing to give them to us. And they're a problem if they don't have the things we want, or they have them and they won't give it to us. And it's actually hard to tell who's who. So that's why people are a problem until they prove otherwise. So this also helps to explain why some people seem to be awash in optionality when it comes to relationships of all kinds, whether it's professional relationships or friendships or sexual relationships, and other people are just hapless and luckless. The people who are awash in relationships are not the good people. They're not the virtuous people. They're not even the loving people. They're the people that other people want things from. If you have more of what more people want, you will never be alone.
