There are no extrinsic or intrinsic motivations. There are inner motivations.
There is a well-known difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The latter is seen as being much more truly motivating. One more step to inside may be needed though.
This is related to ‘subconceptual processing’, being mental processing that happens beneath the level of what can readily be put into concepts. It cannot easily be talked about except in a kind of poetical way. What one consciously sees as an intrinsic motivator is not really present inside the mind, being deeply part of who one really is. One can write on a piece of paper ‘flow’ or ‘joy in work’ or ‘challenge on the job’. These are descriptions at the outside. They are not experiences by themselves. Therefore they do not ‘move’ a person. Only something very concrete, something in the ‘here and now’ can move a person. Very logical. Look at physics… Of course, a human mind is quite different from two round objects colliding in a physics’ class. It is the opposite in complexity, thus gets moved by a completely different kind of objects.
Ultimately, a human mind gets moved by nothing else but deeper, ‘inner’ meanings, what one can only become vaguely aware of or ‘feel deep inside’.
Anything called extrinsic or intrinsic motivation passes through this, or is no motivation at all. One had better call it a ‘goal’.
Even so, a big difficulty in getting this landed is that ‘inner’ always means ‘less conceptual’, therefore less easy to pinpoint. Not easy to talk about, to get into people’s attention, to convey, to work with. You as a reader are also involved now.
You may ask what ‘inner’ concretely means. Concretely, it means nothing. And yet as we now can see, concretely, it means everything.
This paradox has a simple resolution. We just don’t make the distinction well enough between ‘concrete’ and ‘with clear borders’. In this case, the concrete does not have well-defined borders at all. Yet ‘inner’ is where all motivation is born. Take it or leave it. Human mind gets moved by entities with extremely fuzzy borders. Only these are really concrete motivators.
Related Posts
Moral Motivation
If morality doesn’t lead to action, then what’s the use? Let good people do good things. How? I guess the doing should not be the focus of an additional endeavor. It should be part and parcel of the moral communication itself. For instance, telling a child what is moral behavior, should deeply touch the child Read the full article…
‘Doing Your Best’ is Good Enough
The title of this piece can be seen as a ‘categorical invitation’, an (auto-)suggestion to strive and keep striving and at the same time not ego-wisely strive at all. The goal is to be human. People do not act morally consistent much of the time. An often used example is about a natural disaster striking Read the full article…
Beyond ‘Carrot and Stick’
Carrot and stick have a long history. Going beyond, one can foresee a future based on a more realistic view on human being. Reward and punishment are efficient means to make someone comply to rules and authority. So has always been thought and taught. Reality may have been quite more complicated. In the face of Read the full article…