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Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

researchnews.osu.edu

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Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#21

Post by zackattack »

dkimball wrote: post #20
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…

Two words: Poop sock. MMORPGs have everything to do with being in the zone, nothing to do with sexuality; these two motivations are both exceptionally powerful. I remember an experiment with rats, where an electrode was hooked up directly to the center in the brain that generates the "in the zone" feeling; the rats pushed the lever to fire that electrode continually, until they died of starvation. MMORPGs, computer g…

1. You don't see Dick Cheney living it up like Bill Clinton because he can afford to kill his hookers after he finishes with them, and then kill the people who dispose of the bodies. He's smart enough to avoid publicity.

2. The rewards you are referring to (email, HN, MMORPG) have to do with dopaminergic pathways, dopamine release, and the nucleus accumbens.

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#22

Post by dkimball »

zackattack wrote: post #21
dkimball wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two words: Poop sock. MMORPGs have everything to do with being in the zone, nothing to do with sexuality; these two motivations are both exceptionally powerful. I remember an experiment with rats, where an electrode was hooked up directly to the center in the brain that generates the "in the zone" feeling; the rats pushed the lever to fire that electrode continually, until they died of starvation. MMORPGs, computer g…

1. You don't see Dick Cheney living it up like Bill Clinton because he can afford to kill his hookers after he finishes with them, and then kill the people who dispose of the bodies. He's smart enough to avoid publicity. 2. The rewards you are referring to (email, HN, MMORPG) have to do with dopaminergic pathways, dopamine release, and the nucleus accumbens.

You're right, it was the dopamine system I was thinking of -- the phrase had escaped me.

On Cheney: I think it's possible to say when someone's having a sybaritic lifestyle and when they're not; certainly someone who's as eagerly discussed by the media as Cheney now is (while Clinton's allowed to live his rather un-Presidential post-Presidential years in media silence).

This isn't a defense of Cheney, though. I would call him less nightmarish if he had the excuse of wanting money as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. It seems to be a common vice, this thinking of life as Donkey Kong, and if you die with a high enough score you get to leave your initials on the machine at the end...

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#23

Post by MisterWebz »

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…

Now i know this, i can skip all this work and just try to get laid. You saved me a lot of work.

On a serious note, are you saying that all people who are ambitious and motivated to achieve something great in their lives are trying to get laid?

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#24

Post by shrnky »

gfunk911 wrote: post #7
sjones wrote: post #3

That article consists of nothing but repeated statements "There is no proof," without any reference to numerous studies showing evidence of the verisimilitude of Intrinsic Motivation. It's like sticking your fingers in your ear and saying "lalala I can't hear you."

Right. I was expecting a link to a study, but this is just some guy's opinion, which contradicts existing research. Also, i can't imagine one who has experienced true intrinsic motivation for a sustained period of time saying that it's not more powerful.

Not just some guy: "Reiss, a professor of psychology at Ohio State University"

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#25

Post by shrnky »

Putting on my tinfoil hat for a second. Wouldn't it benefit huge corporations to push studies that favor Intrinsic motivation.

Think about the boosts in profit when you don't have to give as many raises. I mean my god research shows it doesn't make anyone more happy. :)

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#26

Post by thunk »

> “There is no reason that money can't be an effective motivator, or that grades can't motivate students in school,” he said.

Ok, well then what about this [1] video from this [2] submission?

This makes me think about something else entirely: It should be easier to draw connections between submissions like these. It should be easier to link repetitive discussions into a cohesive whole. It should be easier to build something grand from the time we invest in social news communities. As it is, it often feels like a waste of time. Someone please build this. My time's spoken for.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

[2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1357390

Edit: It'd be somewhere around the intersection of Stack Overflow, Wikipedia and HN

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#27

Post by [deleted] »

drunkpotato wrote: post #13
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…

Dawkins would probably damn any genetic basis of this as group selection, but it does make everyone better off. You contradicted yourself. Dawkins, at least in "The Selfish Gene", is much more subtle than most people give him credit for (subtlety makes for terrible sound-bites, like "Dawkins would damn..."). If an individual is part of a community in which there is a diversity of genes and a division of labor so that…

[deleted]

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#28

Post by chrischen »

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…

Maybe for the college students and young people, but what about married people? It's not like people suddenly stop doing what they love after doing someone they love.

Sex is only one thing which can bring you to an euphoric state. There are also drugs, and exercising control over your surroundings, etc.

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#29

Post by baguasquirrel »

MisterWebz wrote: post #23
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…

Now i know this, i can skip all this work and just try to get laid. You saved me a lot of work. On a serious note, are you saying that all people who are ambitious and motivated to achieve something great in their lives are trying to get laid?

I think some of us have realized (perhaps after the fact) that getting laid is actually overrated. It's the game that's fun, not actually getting laid. Furthermore, this game is really #$@*ing shallow and stupid.

Still others have realized that it's not getting laid that matters, it's the ability to get laid, and to keep it coming. Part of that is having something material, which (though not strictly necessary) is quite useful for getting laid.

Once you realize one or both of these points, you pretty much stop caring about getting laid (i.e. why bother?), and start chasing your dreams again.

This is all probably for the better, in the end, because getting laid (or not) doesn't seem to correlate as well with having meaningful relationships, and frankly, I've seen too many bright friends waste their potential by spending their prime years trying to game members of the opposite sex (emphasis on the plural).

Re: Intrinsic motivation doesn't exist

#30

Post by metageek »

shrnky wrote: post #25

Putting on my tinfoil hat for a second. Wouldn't it benefit huge corporations to push studies that favor Intrinsic motivation. Think about the boosts in profit when you don't have to give as many raises. I mean my god research shows it doesn't make anyone more happy. :)

Let's go straight to gold-leaf hat: corporations should fund research into drugs whose sole effect is to make people feel motivated when they hear the company loyalty song.
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