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Shadow of the whip
I once read that a characteristic of people trying to learn something can be likened to the relationship of a horse to the whip that motivates it to giddyup. Some horses won’t listen to anything and require repeated swats with a whip to inspire. Still others only need to hear the crack of the whip in the air. Then there are those that need only see the shadow of the whip. Whatever that message might be, seeing the shadow of a whip…is seeing the shadow of the whip. Think about that.
Sometimes I think I see shadows of whips where there aren’t any. Someone says something that seems to be alluding to something else…but how do you know, and really, does it matter.
That is a key question isn’t it? Does it matter? Deciding what matters, what matters every moment, requires attention. Constant, vigilant, unrelenting attention. Shix, that just sounds exhausting. I’d rather just wing it like I always have and trust this undefined sense of confidence and instinct cultivated from moonlighting as a student.
I read other blogs and see similar searching, grasping, struggling, searching…and I’m inspired. We are all working toward understanding and that seems a good approach, whatever the situation.
The assignment that is due tomorrow has been uploaded to the course tools site so that is that. I’ve very briefly reviewed the readings for tomorrow. I’ll look over them again in the morning. Maybe. Ha.
We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. – Tao Te Ching
Image: I took this during class last week thinking it might make an interesting blog post in the event I didn’t have shix to use. Like now.
Beyond the dualism of Altruism
This research paper we read did an experiment where they asked kids to draw for them. Some kids were promised a reward for their drawings. They found that, in general, the quality of the drawings from the kids who were promised reward was of lesser quality than those who were drawing simply because they were inclined (for their own internal reasons) to draw anyway.
A person takes little provoking to do something they are inclined to do anyway. Personal inclination, by its very nature, takes into a huge number of circumstantial consideration known only to that person.
But the idea that the promise of a reward can reduce the quality of that for which the reward is linked…well…isn’t that a little confusing? Besides having too many words in that sentence, the notion that reward can affect quality (implying negatively) gave me pause and fueled this weeks musings on motivation.
Another subject that came up during discussion and review of the journal articles we read, was that of altruism. Discussion among the class quickly ferreted out the double-sided blade of altruism:
a) Altruism focuses on a motivation to help others or a want to do good without reward
b) While people can exhibit altruistic behavior, they cannot have altruistic motivations1.
Buddhism seems to have this idea that if you don’t have anything else to do, you might as well work toward helping others. Particular Buddhist lineage calls this the goal of one who aspires to become Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings. What this seems to be saying is that some people are motivated to selfishly pursue an unselfish goal to help others avoid the perils of their selfishness2?
Delayed gratification entered the picture here. From a cosmic sense, helping others seems to be considered worthwhile3. So even though there is no expectation, there is still some expectation? Seems a slippery slope of reasoning doesn’t it?
What I’m thinking is that any wording which references a one-or-the-other4 involves recognizing that some thing or event is one-or-the-other. The instant you settle on one side, you have to hold that line in place. Holding your line on something can make it tough to let go, and not letting go is no different than being attached to something. There it is again. That idea of attachment, the root of our suffering, the stake of all our reasons, the mast upon which we raise the sails of our defined selves5.
But we aren’t sailboats. We’re not even separate waves in this ocean. The ocean is one wave. A Bose-Einstein Condensate actually. Maybe the same thing as a singularity?6
Waltzing Bear: ha. own that shix.
Spike: yeah. great line.
Waltzing Bear: i just love sayin it.
Spike: cause you own it man. you oWn that shix!
Image: Took this of some workers involved with building the new wing of a museum that I walk near on my way to the garage where I park. It was crazy windy and bitter cold. I wondered if it was warmer in there.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lots of this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism [↩]
- Not really a zen koan is it? [↩]
- I’d say karma if you want. But that word has exploded meaning so lets avoid for now. [↩]
- good/bad, positive/negative, wholesome/unwholesome [↩]
- I considered adding, “to forever sail the seas of suffering” but then I threw up. [↩]
- Still not entirely sure I’m down with what this really means. The word has come up in sci-fi books I read and I’ve seen it elsewhere online. [↩]
Motivation is personal
I’m motivated to learn about those things I don’t understand. This is why I ask a lot of questions and sometimes seem to be staring at nothing. Probably pondering some mental puzzle. Fully in the grip of the NADD‘ness.
I have an assignment due where I have to come up with three personas and two scenarios. There are times when I just don’t want to do anything. Yet I do. Motivation is involved somehow.
I can’t help but think about what motivates me to stay up night after night working toward a degree1. I’m in a good position with my career, face interesting challenges daily, yet I’m in school. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not questioning my decision or anything.
It isn’t that simple.
Almost 11 PM and time to call it a night. I have tomorrow morning to focus on school work then class in the afternoon. Psychology as it relates to information systems. Motivation.
You got to own that shix! – The Waltzing Bear
Image: I took this picture during an interview this week with a group interested in e-book devices. It was an interesting interview. After I took this picture I pulled the memory card and put it in the e-book reader they had and was able to view it. In black and white.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nobody is requiring that I continue my education. I’m doing it because it is INTERESTING [↩]
What motivates behavior?
Mostly because the topic for this week is motivation1, I’m keeping it forefront in my mind. It is an interesting subject for sure. What is it that motivates behavior?
Not an easy question to answer. Let’s start from here. I see that it is almost 11:00 PM on a Monday night. I know I should get to sleep very soon. There is still work to do yet I am typing words into this blog. Am I thinking about what motivates this keyboard moonlighter sonata? Of course. You know I am.
Bruce Schneier said at a security conference I attended years ago, that the next big thing was going to be RSS feeds. His description of the principle made it seem obvious to me. It is a shift in how many people are used to getting information, but it is a better way. There are a lot of reasons and I’m happy to languish mightily on them if not for the clock in the bloated system tray.
Instead of having to worry about who might be interested in what you might have to say, just say what you have to say and let anybody interested watch for you to say something. Easy. Instead of pushing content you’re expecting others to pull it if they want. This implies interest. Interest is what motivates.
Most everything is interesting to me. Motivation and I have an understanding these days but we don’t always see eye to eye.
Image: I snapped this during class the other day. We had moved to another room and some of my classmates took the padded benches along the outer wall. Someone remarked on how they all had Mac’s and of a diminishing size. Couldn’t help but try to capture the moment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ For my class on the Fundamentals of Human Behavior. [↩]
Motivation
How we get around these days is changing. Virtual presence is a real thing. You’ve probably heard it said that everything you do online is tracked in multiple places1, and it is.
That isn’t the type of presence I find interesting. It is the type of presence that is…um…a presence. How does someone know you were there? Did you leave a note? Did you author something public? The spiders are always on the move and index everything they can reach eventually.
There is this weird thing that happens when blog authors as readers start to interact across blog spaces. When they reveal themselves to be present. I’m reminded of the social phenomenon of a reputation system economies from a sci-fi book I read last year2. For example, hearing from the C’atrix suprised me a bit. I don’t see many hits from the Cali-way, so maybe the timing was coincidental. Look at that, a celebrity visit. Maybe Rands will drop by, or Brad Warner. Doubtful, but possible given how technology is working for you behind the scenes.
Lately I’ve found myself thinking about the science of blogging including why people blog and how the act of blogging fits into their lives. I’m thinking about focusing my efforts at school in this direction as I think there is a world to explore.
As such, you may have noticed some experimental changes around the old blog space. I’ve added links to other blogs and tried to fit them into categories. I added a plugin that puts those little icons at the bottom of each post. If you are familiar with social networking sites, these might mean something to you. It is all about flagging something interesting online and make that known to others. Seeing and agreeing motivates people to escalate awareness. Apparently for fun or importance, according to one of my psych readings for this week.
Whether I keep this stuff around or not remains to be seen. But it is one of those things that others have suggested to get your blog in the bloggers universe for review by peers. You’ll either be accepted, rejected, or ignored. Maybe all three.
Image: Snapped this off real quick walking to class recently. This senior gentleman was dressed nice and maneuvered his Segway with ease. This is the first time I’ve seen a civilian riding one of these in a city. I’d ride one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is true. Nearly impossible to go from one switch/router to another without appearing in some process log or queued log. [↩]
- If I remember or find what that was I’ll update this comment. [↩]