Come on. I've written a lot trying to describe how it feels to do stuff. I've enjoyed it and it's been helpful for me to try to put into words, but it's time for you to contribute a bit more. — T Clark
Why even comment on this thread? Don't be an asshole. The question of the OP directly applies to you here. — schopenhauer1
How did I decide these are the things I am going to do? When I change my mind, what priorities are more considerable than others? — schopenhauer1
When I first read god must be atheist's post, I thought of a bumper sticker I saw recently - "Don't be a dick." — T Clark
Hehe. At least you did not call me a c**t. — god must be atheist
I think the activities you are listing are probably different than those I was. You're planning ahead. I would think consciousness would have a much bigger role in those than the ones I discussed. I was talking about motivation that lead immediately to action. I'm sure they are different, although I'm not sure how much. — T Clark
Yes, so not getting fired becomes a priority. Getting in car to get to work..etc. These are all habits dictated by the social convention- lateness or absenteeism leads to being fired in most places, so we habituate ourselves with the values of timeliness and punctuality. We take on self-imposed values to align with how others expect us to act. Then there are other values.. Many times I think these values are projections of what others might think we should be doing at that moment. Other times we just go to the lowest common denominator and do what's most expedient. It is interesting how we decide what we are going to do, and even determine what it is we want. It is more of a fuzzy sense of direction often made more defined by self-imposed habituation of values, addictions, expediency, discomfort, and loneliness/boredom. I would still characterize most decisions as based on survival (in a societal setting), discomfort, and boredom (in a societal setting). — schopenhauer1
Once again, an interesting discussion, Schopenhauer. — Possibility
Once I understand what’s most important to me, are these actions the only options I have to achieve it? — Possibility
At the end of the day we are looking to be most comfortable, survive, and find ways to assuage boredom. Mainly we seek out the positive "goods" of in various forms of achievement, physical/aesthetic pleasure, relationships, flow-states, and maybe learning to this basic motivation of boredom. — schopenhauer1
My theory: to increase awareness, connection and collaboration towards overall achievement, unless blocked/prevented by fear. — Possibility
But doesn't this sound a bit too starry-eyed to you? What makes you think this? Is this conscious or unconscious? Is this evolutionary? Are humans that "If/then"? Also, aren't these just the type of values society would want individuals to follow anyways, thus begging the question, or making it circular? — schopenhauer1
The human animal is perhaps the only animal that has complex deliberative abilities, and I am trying to understand the mechanism by which we deliberate and take action from our deliberations and goals- arguably the most unique of human traits. — schopenhauer1
I happen to be agnostic about hard determinism and have been for some time. I was asking legitimate questions. — Noah Te Stroete
I'm trying to get at the subjective experience of what how we form our intentions/desires and how we act upon them — schopenhauer1
So you wake up and get out of bed, do some stuff which you say is habitual (brush teeth, etc.), and then do some "stuff" which you decide you want to do. Where do these decisions well up from? What is the cause? Is there a cause? How do you structure the liquid fray of all possibilities into some actual activity? — schopenhauer1
Frankly, if it weren’t for our fears - for encountering and then flatly denying the fragile, temporary nature of our existence - don’t you think we’d be doing a whole lot more with what we’re capable of? So, you see, it’s not so starry-eyed: it’s actually scary as hell to recognise that the only thing really holding me back is me... — Possibility
And if these are just the type of values society would want individuals to follow, then why are all of their value systems structured in a way that counteracts it? Is it because we’ve been convinced that the pyramid is naturally smaller at the top? What brought about these systems? Was it perhaps fear? — Possibility
This would assume that we are motivated by capabilities, rather than just have capabilities that we can or cannot work towards achieving. That is a major difference. The former is saying that we can't help being motivated by what we may be capable of. How do you know that's not just habituation? Is that internal? How would you prove that? — schopenhauer1
Social expectation seems to motivate a lot of what we do, and what goals to achieve. — schopenhauer1
That’s a decision we make to surrender to social expectation, to allow it to answer yes/no for us. How does society respond to those who act against social expectation? Is that what we’re afraid of? How capable do you believe you are of living counter to any particular expectation of society? — Possibility
(1) Ultimately, to control your actions you have to originate your original nature.
(2) But you can't originate your original nature—it's already there. — luckswallowsall
(3) So, ultimately, you can't control your actions. — luckswallowsall
Keep in mind the underlying current moving individuals are BOREDOM, DISCOMFORT, and SURVIVAL. — schopenhauer1
There's so many ways to answer this question. To be honest, I don't know the best way to answer it. I don't think you care about the atoms in my body or the nature of my central nervous system. Nor do I think you care about psychological theories about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation or operant conditioning. Even if you did want these complicated scientific explanations, I'm no help because I'm not a scientist.What makes you do any particular activity throughout your daily life? — schopenhauer1
I'm not sure what you mean.But what do you use to justify what it is you decide to prioritize? — schopenhauer1
Weird questions. Don't you already know the answers? Where's the mystery? — S
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