Sure it's fun to find $100, but why does this cause such a big commotion? I think it's the inherit bias our brains have towards 'free'. People who find they money fell like they got money for doing nothing, and get extra excitement from it.
I've seen the same kind of phenomena with fund-raisers. Friends of mine were willing to do long tedious tasks to raise money for good causes, when in all reality they could've just worked those hours, earned as much, and donated it.
While "free" does indeed cause strange behavior in people, I think both of the specific behaviors you discuss are better attributed to other causes.
For HiddenCash: People love scavenger hunts and game-like challenges, especially when there's an opportunity to beat out hundreds of other people competing for the same thing. The reasonably large sums are the reason for the press coverage and popularity of this specific set of scavenger hunts, but I think that their sustained popularity from here on out is largely independent of the value of the prize (in either case, I don't think it's going to last too much longer).
That said, it's worth keeping in mind that a couple hundred bucks is a TON of money to a lot of people, and the fact that all they have to do is find it first is very appealing.
For fund-raisers: It's often important to people to feel joined with a cause, and donating time can create an emotional link that donating money may not.
On an unrelated note - geocaching evangelists should be milking this, they have an opportunity to attract a lot of people who have found that they enjoy scavenger hunts.
Fair points, I think you're right. I actually think it's probably a combination of what I mentioned and you mentioned.
And definitely don't mean to make little of people who are in tough financial situations. But as you said, the sustained popularity is independent of the value of the prize - because it's free I think. Imagine, hypothetically, that you had to pay a one time up front fee of $5 for a lifetime pass to hunt for these cash stashes. You would still have all the game elements, all the challenge, but participation would drop off significantly because it wasn't free.
>Sure it's fun to find $100, but why does this cause such a big commotion?
I don't find it surprising. $100 is $100. For a significant number of people that represents many hours of tedious work. You make $10/hr, that's 10 hours of your life - if you make less, and are in debt that $100 goes even further. It also represents $100 worth of disposable income for entertainment or rent or utilities or gambling or alcohol or drugs or anything your brain desires.
I've seen the same kind of phenomena with fund-raisers. Friends of mine were willing to do long tedious tasks to raise money for good causes, when in all reality they could've just worked those hours, earned as much, and donated it.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictably_Irrational#The_Cost...