people who initially give things away for selfish reasons begin to care about the people they’re helping. When the recipient arranged to pick up his mattress, Beal was thrilled. “I thought I was getting away with giving a mattress away, that I was the one benefiting,” he says. “But when the person showed up at my door and thanked me, I felt good. It was only partially a selfish act: I was helping someone else in a way that made me happy. I felt so darn good about it that I started giving away other items.”
