Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist • Hacker News Board

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#31

Post by mparr4 » Fri, Jun 11, 2010, 8:57 PM UTC

dhimes wrote: post #18

mparr4 wrote: post #16

The title of the article is a bit misleading. This guy doesn't seem to be saying that intrinsic motivation doesn't exist, just that it isn't quite as simple as an intrinsic/extrinsic dichotomy would make it seem, which seems fair enough. However, to make the claim that there are 16 basic desires that motivate people (as this researcher does) is a simplification as well. Any sort of quantization of the motivating fact…

He was skeptical of its existence: “But there is no real evidence that intrinsic motivation even exists.”

True. The entire article provides a context that somewhat weakens that statement though--as I read it anyway. I was left with the impression that he thought it was more of an oversimplification than a fabrication. Though it's tough to argue against a quote that spells things out as explicitly as you have!

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#32

Post by Towle_ » Fri, Jun 11, 2010, 11:37 PM UTC

Title: Intrinsic Motivation Doesn't Exist, Researcher Says.

Researcher: "But there is no real evidence that intrinsic motivation even exists."

These are different.

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#33

Post by bootload » Sat, Jun 12, 2010, 1:40 AM UTC

10ren wrote: post #5

Warren Buffett's son described him thus: He likes to be right. It's just that when he's right, he makes a lot of money . In support of the article, a community is better off if people have (or develop) different motivations, in accordance with division of labour. Dawkins would probably damn any genetic basis of this as group selection, but it does make everyone better off. I agree that more research is required; but…

"... Anyone know what his 16 categories are? ..."

Try reading through, "Who am I?: the 16 basic desires that motivate our behavior and define our personalities" ~ http://books.google.com/books?id=EbOjA5oAsEUC&printsec=f...

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#34

Post by Dove » Sat, Jun 12, 2010, 1:59 AM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #15

Whether you agree there are 16 desires or not, he said there is not any way to reduce all of these desires to just two types. Or just one. Now bear with me, but sometimes I wonder if Freud was right. There's only one real desire: to get laid. Why are you writing this software? Because people need it. Why can't they just use something else? Because mine's better. Why is yours better? Because it handles these 27 things…

Then one wonders what motivates the following groups of people:

- The happily married. Achievement has nothing to do with sexual satisfaction in a marriage; that is either secure or it isn't. You might as well try to win your mother's love.

- Women. The sexual 'market' looks totally different from a woman's perspective. Do you see a guy you'd like to sleep with? Ask him. He'll probably say yes. If women acheive in order to get laid, they are trying too hard.

- Those who have taken some sort of lifetime vow of celibacy. Clergy, monks, some missionaries.

I think that covers more people than it misses!

Ascribing mean and petty motivations to all action says more about the speaker than it does about humanity. Study closely the great men of history--those who had an abundance of motivation--and such explanations clearly fall flat. You can practically feel the heat of intrinsic motivation, of their pride and conviction and vision.

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/02/26/lessons-in-manliness-fr...