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Nope. Human nature is to do what is possible within the confines of actual and perceived external and internal limitations to increase our partner value in orde
by Henk0 8y ago
Nope. Human nature is to do what is possible within the confines of actual and perceived external and internal limitations to increase our partner value in order to procreate and propagate our genes. The increase in partner value as a motivation is often not conscious, and is evaluated via our emotional system based on proxy variables like social status among our peers, and appreciation and attention from others. There are different ways to increase status and attention, and in optimal conditions, people tend to learn early on what they are naturally better at, for example sports (signals physical health), music, art, poetry (signals intelligence), administrative work (signals intelligence and reliability) etc.
People are naturally inclined to be productive, not for money, but to be valued and appreciated in their social context for the reaons above.
Our society is not a natural or optimal (in evolutionary terms) environment for humans, and many of the incentives that drive our behaviors in it are set up with the goal of maximizing economic productivity of the system (or a subset of it with more political and ideological influence), but have a negative impact on the wellbeing and functioning of the people in it. When someone becomes trapped in a situation where they are unhappy – unemployment, or a terrible job that they can’t realistically leave – he or she is likely to sink into depression and a state of learned helplessness. When you’ve learned that nothing you do has any effect on your situation, you give up, do what you have to do to survive and no more, and self-medicate through food, alcohol, drugs, media consumption or whatever else gives you some relief from feelings of hopelessness, shame and guilt. From outside, this may look like: Laziness