Keywords:: PermanentNote makePublic
Disclaimer: This is a very stretched hypothesis of mine, so take it with a grain of salt
There are two premises I had found in the paper that made me think that.
First, people need not to be consciously aware of the ultimate function of their behavior. Furthermore, the connection between long-term goals and immediate goals is often indirect (and therefore unconscious).
Second, according to the field of life history, humans' primary goal is reproductive success. And Maslow's pyramid of needs reflects that view. Our top three needs—mate acquisition, mate retention, and parenting—are connected to procreation. What's more, the attainment of a lower need, facilitates the achievement of a higher need. This means that although needs are indeed autonomous—meaning they'll be triggered whenever a relevant cue's present in the environment, even though higher needs are already developed—they're also progressive—all things being equal, we'll prioritize higher needs.
If you combine these two premises, you can conclude that most of us do what we do just to procreate, although we're not consciously aware of it. We satisfy our needs autonomously as relevant cues appear but also progress consistently in the direction of higher needs—getting closer and closer to procreative goals.
First, we make sure our basic needs are met (Physiological Needs). Then, we ensure that we're save both physically (Self-Protection) and socially (Affiliation). After that, we focus on generating external esteem (i.e., status) and self-esteem through self-actualization, work, social interaction, and so on. Finally, having all previous needs met—we're healthy, feel safe, have a social safety-net, have acquired status and esteem—we're ready for procreation.
Scary, right? It seems that everything starts and ends with procreation.
This reminds about a fact we tend to forget frequently—that we are animals.
Relevant notes (PN: )/questions (Q:):
Further, we have a false belief that we understand how we and the world works. We are driven so heavily by instincts and by the subconscious.
P: You're not as rational as you think P: Maslow's Pyramid of Needs P: Is everything really revolving around procreation? All biases basically
Fogg's motivators seem to cover some of Maslow's needs (P: Maslow's Pyramid of Needs). Sensation seems to be very close to immediate physiological (and maybe to self-protection) needs and belonging similar to affiliation. Anticipation doesn't seem to have an obvious partner in Maslow's needs but it may be loosely related to status/esteem and mate acquisition. The reasoning is the following. Given that procreation is our primary motivator—we seem to be doing almost everything to increase our chances and quality of spreading our genes (mostly unconsciously)—we might be basing our hope and fear on whether our actions will grow prospects of successful mating? I don't know. I developed this thought here: P: Is everything really revolving around procreation?
I must determine what motivation really is and how it relates to the trigger from R: Hooked by Nir Eyal and to the Why from Start with why and to the Emotion from the ELMR and to the Maslov's Pyramid of Needs and so on. What Maslow and Fogg talk about seems to be psychological motivation, which isn't rationalized. Rather, it's biological and we're largely unconscious of it. The Why from Start with why reminds a more rational value statement coming from our conscious mind. (maybe that's the thing that lets us rise above our biological imperative—procreation—and do what we consciously want?) But now I recall that the why usually comes from emotions, which mostly are irrational. I don't know. Explore the question: can we rise above our biological imperative—procreation—and have true free will—i.e., not be unconsciously motivated by biology but choose, independently, what we want to pursue?