Is Motivation the Answer for Everything?

Question

Earning money, is about motivation, and how much you want to earn that money. Becoming famous, is how much enthusiasm you have which is also derived from motivation. Those are just a few examples, and I'm sure there are a lot more.Is motivation just the answer for happiness, or just, everything other than health? Or I will rephrase it: are we, humans, biologically limited by our own mind? Is the mind of Alex different from Steve?

ninjagoo · Accepted Answer

This is a great question. Biologically speaking, there are some autonomous functions that do not require us to exert any will: for example breathing and heartbeats. All non-autonomous actions appear to be driven by motivation of some sort - hunger, thirst. Even when the motivation is to seek out positives - good food, good art, there is motivation. At the neural level, all thought and action are governed by action potentials and chemical feedback, driven by inputs whether immediate or stored.
Original thought might be an exception to that - sometimes I just get ideas randomly, or thoughts take random paths. Those are not motivation-based, but action on those is underpinned by motivation of some sort or the other. Admiring the beauty in the world is also not driven by motivation - the ability to recognize and appreciate that beauty is independent of motivation. Recognizing injustice - also not driven by motivation.
It seems, to me at least, that a world without original thought, beauty or justice would be an unhappy one.
Ergo, motivation is the answer for many things, but perhaps not everything. Maybe not even happiness.
> are we, humans, biologically limited by our own mind?
Indubitably. Teams do better than individuals at pretty much anything, even when physicality is not involved. Can you imagine an intelligence with greater capacity than human minds, and what it might be able to achieve? Look around us - civilization, society is proof that a superior intelligence (combined intelligence, in our case) can achieve more.

inphovore · Answer

Will, I think is the operative term you are looking for. Motivation is for dogs or chattel. Will is for Man (whoever she is.)
You are also limited by Objective Reality, or “ultimate Truth” though you can get by pretty well with an average error rate as long as you have civilization smoothing out the survival interface.
Are you looking for meaning? Don’t be a waste.
Prosperity? Good living is a form of prosperity. Live well.
Looking for higher purpose? Something more than your idle monotonous potential of being? Awaken.
A challenge? There are many.
The difficulty is not in finding truths, the difficulty lies in undeceiving the self.
Look for worthy purpose, undeceive yourself, live well, don’t be a waste.

vlod · Answer

Maybe discipline [0] is another way to look at it.[0] "Screw motivation, what you need is discipline." https://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need...