Yeah I don't think people realize how much money they're giving to people for stuff because they're not doing it entirely directly.
This.
Or in some cases, they don't understand that a lot of little things can add up quickly.
The guy who makes the Freeman's Mind series said that he needed a new hard drive to make a move to high-definition video bearable. So he opened up donations to get somewhere around $500.
He ended up with more than $17,000.
Then on top of that, some online content provider or hardware place, can't remember which, simply
gave him the hard drive he'd wanted.
That was probably just a bunch of people kicking in $5 or so.
I chalk it up to an anomaly in the human brain. Part of it is that many of us suck at visualizing numbers higher than roughly 100, and we place an incredible amount of value on fame. We've got ancient tribal roots, and being either well-known by the group, or even
associated with someone well-known would have given you a better chance at survival. So ingrained somewhere into us at a very primitive level is the idea that high social standing equals
remaining alive.
Welcome to the world of millionaire movie stars.