On Motivation

I've been thinking a lot, lately, about what drives us to do what we do. I don't mean extreme acts of aggression and violence, like murder-suicides or throwing puppies off a cliff; research into mental illness is ongoing and I'm sure they're making progress. No, what I'm talking about is what drives us to strive for the new, the creative, the innovative, the special, the different, the excellent...I think you get what I'm after.

Sociologists and psychologists have identified a few drivers: social desirability, peer pressure, perceived performance expectations, and so forth. All those concepts rely heavily on external pressure; our views of what other people do and how they see us cause us to behave in a certain way.

But what about inherent drive? What about a personal impetus that wells up from deep within one's psyche? What about an innate need for creating something new, different, better?

I don't know if I have that, frankly. But sometimes I feel utterly compelled to veer off my rationally-constructed to-do list and do something spontaneous, in search of a moment of pure...what is it...pride? Is it pride? I hope it's not that shallow.

Is it just the excitement of not knowing what will happen? Perhaps. In a normal day, most of my time lately seems to be spent on activities where I know the outcome. A reviewed journal article. An attended meeting. An emptied dishwasher. A made bed. Maybe it is the potential for escaping the mundane that drives these fits of irrational and unplanned exuberance.

But why not just read something new and interesting? What drives us to create when we could otherwise consume? What motivates our inner sense of satisfaction that comes only from producing something that has not existed before?

I am curious about this. But I have no answers tonight. Maybe tomorrow.