Instincts and motives for action

There are three basic instincts that all sentient beings have in common. Instincts which have guided them through evolution and have helped them deal with their survival in the most advantageous way. Every human being and every animal is influenced by these instincts when making a decision

• Seeking pleasure
• Avoiding suffering
• Conserving resources

Seeking pleasure could be in the form of food or sex. Avoiding suffering could be relieving pain. Conserving resources could be resting, saving energy or healing an injury, but it also could be like the squirrel does, gathering food before winter. There are many different motives for our actions but if we review our decision-making processes, we will find that these three instincts, seeking pleasure, avoiding suffering and conserving resources, almost always feature.

I call these instincts "the three motives for action”.

Shortcut or bypass?

Say you're walking down the street. You know that you will soon turn right at the next crossing. When you look in that direction, you see that there is a lawn between you and the road into which you will soon turn. Across the grass, there is a slight path. What does your body feel now? Does it want to continue and turn right at the crossing or "suggest" to you that it goes over the grass?

You are not a bad character or being lazy when you choose the sofa rather than the gym after a long day at work. Or when you choose chocolate instead of broccoli. There’s nothing wrong with you. On the contrary! You are doing just as you are “programmed” to do. The highest stimulant wins if the three instincts get to decide.

The three instincts sometimes compete with each other. It may be that you think it is more important to conserve resources than to experience enjoyment, like going to work instead of staying in bed on a Monday morning. Or you choose enjoyment even though you know you are wasting your resources, such as eating at a restaurant when you really should be saving your money. The three instincts – to seek pleasure, avoid suffering and conserving resources – affect true needs and false needs alike. They are not about the long term. Reward here and now is what is applicable. The feelings which occur when you are influenced by the three instincts are very strong and very difficult to resist. This is because they originally decided survival or death.

In practice

Following the three instincts for action is not necessarily the best choice at all times. If primarily you are looking for enjoyment, but refuse to do anything that is boring or too energetic, you will probably not get much done and your life will be a touch difficult.

Sometimes we need to follow the three “anti-motives” instead. Following them means you have to

1. accept withdrawn enjoyment
2. accept some suffering
3. accept loss of resources.

Following these three anti-motives goes against the three motives and therefore it is something we need to practise. Following the anti-motives usually gives a primary dissatisfaction or implies its expectation. Therefore it is hard to perform an action in accordance with them. To find your deep feeling of satisfaction and inner peace, it is necessary to practise the “anti-motives”. Enjoyment and pleasure are not the same. It could be a good idea to give yourself little challenges to practise following “anti-motives”. If in these little exercises, you practise experiencing those feelings that occur when you go against one of the three motives, it will be easier to meet bigger challenges that require the same sort of effort.

Morning dip

Every morning after my workout, I go down to the river to take a morning dip. I don’t do it to get clean. Nor because it’s nice. I do it as an exercise in going against the three motives for action. Jumping into water which is only at  temperaure of 12 degrees is definitely no pleasure. It is more like suffering. A small suffering but a suffering all the same. On the way down, especially if the pavement is cold on a rainy morning, I get to exercise my handling of the feelings that say “this is a stupid idea”. It doesn’t feel much like a better idea either when I stick my feet into the ice-cold water or when I disappear under the surface. However, after splashing some water that my dog catches on the bank, I climb out and get my reward. The air feels warmer and the best feeling is sweeping my thick bathrobe around my body and wandering home through the woods. Suddenly the whole thing feels like a very good idea. Once again, I have become aware of the gain in following the “anti-motives”. My hope is that the experience strengthens me for other but maybe a bit bigger challenges awaiting me.

Some examples of practicing the three anti-motives may include

• Sticking to a routine
• Practising being hungry
• Being present in daily activities
• Walking or exercising when you’d rather do something else
• Cooking your food instead of buying it ready-made
• Giving up entertainment sometimes
• Swimming outdoors in the winter
• Fasting
• Eating something that you do not really like
• Taking the stairs instead of the lift
• Replacing something you really like with something you like less

The important thing is that you will find out that it is worth refraining from things that only give a short term reward, that is, primary satisfaction. Practise this. It will be easier to do things that benefit you and build your TSI with positive secondary effects.

If you blindly follow the three motives, you get instantaneous but not lasting satisfaction. To promote a deep sense of satisfaction and inner peace, the intellect must take control. This is something you need to practise.

Discipline

In the light of the three motives for action, we understand that discipline as the only tool can never work in the long run. It works short term, well-supported by motivation and inspiration to follow the "anti-motives". However if you intend to build your change on discipline only, prepare to fail. Discipline goes against the motives to seek pleasure, avoid suffering and conserve resources.

A reformed alcoholic does not challenge fate by having alcohol at home. The same applies to many things and activities. If you decide to stop eating bread or sugar, do not have bread or sugar at home. This is a simple but absolutely necessary rule to stick to at all times. The challenge is sufficient as it is. Don’t think you are the master of success? Don’t think you have complete control? Be smart instead! Use discipline the right way.

Discipline

1. can work as a short-term effort, but
2. goes against the three motives for survival and
3. can only work supported by motivation and inspiration.

Reward system

When a sentient being does things which, in a very basic perspective, favours its survival, there is experience of a reward. Physiologically speaking this is a release of dopamine and other "feel good substances"; signal substances which give an experience of satisfaction.

For the reasoning here, it may be wise to roughly divide the activity in the reward system into three levels: too low, normal, too high. This division is illustrated with the reward staircase.

When stimulation of the reward system comes from natural activities or food, we can say that you are subjected to normal stimulation or normal stimulants. The TSI goes up a bit, though the experience does not trigger a craving for the same stimulation again and neither a secondary dissatisfaction. You are left on the middle step of the staircase. One could say that here the SI lies at about 1.0 and the swings that come from natural stimuli are hardly noticeable.

If on the other hand, the stimulation of our reward system, becomes higher than the system is intended for, then you have been subjected to excessive stimulus or high stimulants. Think refined sugar or cocaine. High stimulants are things or activities which lift us up to or keep us on the top step of the reward staircase. The TSI passes its natural maximum value but when the effect of the stimulus begins to slow down, it soon goes back to its normal level again. The change from a supercharged TSI to a normal stimulation level is experienced as unsatisfactory and unacceptable by the three motives. Therefore, we are soon looking for new stimulants to compensate for the rush down and to keep us on the top part of the reward staircase. Note that this effect is not available on the step which symbolises a normal stimulus level.

There is one more thing that happens when the reward system is offered recurrent high stimulus. The effect decreases. It is called neurological adaptation. It works in the same way as the taste buds in your tongue. If you increase the amount of salt in your food, you will initially think the food is too salty, but after some time you get used to it and think the food tastes good. Normal saltiness now becomes boring. Something similar happens to the reward system. After being bombarded with the same high stimulation for some time, the system is blunted and you are obliged to add more stimulant or additional stimulant to experience the same reward.

At the bottom of the staircase there is a step with very little stimulus. Here the dominant feeling is one of not being satisfied. Here you have been unsuccessful in meeting several of your true needs, so both body and mind need change. The TSI races below zero. Imagine that you are a hunter and gatherer in the Stone Age and the food stores are empty; a drought has made it difficult to find berries and wild game. Your serotonin levels drop. The mind perceives this as anxiety or restlessness, feelings of dissatisfaction. If several of your tribe are experiencing the same thing, you probably would move on to new hunting grounds where the availability of food (stimulus) is better. So it goes without saying, it's only on the middle step of the staircase that you can experience lasting and true satisfaction or contentment.

The Reward Staircase

• High stimulation
• Normal stimulation
• Low stimulation

High Stimulation

The things that give high stimulation are different for different people. For one person it could be chocolate or refined sugar. For another it could be bread or wine. Some people get stuck in some form of activity and this in itself becomes a way of obtaining high stimulation. Here are a few clues as to whether one thing acts as a high stimulant in your life

• You experience loss of control - you cannot stop eating a certain thing or doing a certain thing
• You do not feel satisfied with not getting it
• It makes you "lean forward and ask for more"
• It triggers the use of other high stimulants
• It takes you up the reward staircase quickly

What acts as a high stimulant can also be different on different occasions for the same person. It seems that some things only act as high stimulants when the TSI is lower, while other things always have a highly stimulating effect.

Here is a list of things which could be high stimulants in your life

• Sugar
• Cheese
• Meat
• Salt
• Alcohol
• Bread
• Coffee, tea, Coca-cola, energy drinks
• TV and films
• Smoking
• Drugs and medicines
• Social Media
• Excessive exercise

Loss of control

When I started my journey, I lived in a little red cottage with white corners. The cottage was on the edge of a beech forest and even though I had neighbours, many were summer visitors which meant living in silence for the greater part of the year. One of my favourite things to do was to take a cup of tea into the amazing beech forest behind the house and sit under a tree. My eating habits during this time were very strict and things such as refined sugar, wheat flour and milk products were completely banned. One sunday afternoon when the shop down in the village was closed, I got a crazy craving for some Ahlgrens car sweets. I got on my bike and set out for the petrol station on the main road. It was just over 6 km there, one way. On the steepest part of the hill on my way to my "salvation", the following internal monologue took place:

- "But Stefan, you don’t really need any sweets now. "

- "Yes I know ..."

- "Why don’t we just give it a miss and go back home?"

- "Yes, of course we could ..."

Biking further up the hill.

- "You’ve had something to eat and anyway you are full. There is nothing about Ahlgrens sweets you need now. "

- "Well yes, I know ..."

- "This is pretty pathetic, right?"

Silence. Pedalling.

After over 10 kilometers by bike and two really steep hills, I got home with my Ahlgren sweets. Satisfied but dissatisfied.

One big disadvantage of high stimulants is that they can make normal stimulants feel boring. They can make your everyday habits a suffering. If you want to feel happy about doing everyday tasks, like cooking, then reduce your use of high stimulants.

“Otherwise everyday events became great and pleasant.”

~ Jim Danielsson, in the book "148 dagar i havskajak" ~

Ending high stimulation means that you stop manipulating your feelings with food and activities. This results in truly experiencing yourself and your feelings as they are - something which can be a challenge. Get the help you need (conversations, lectures, inspirational films, books, read chapter 3 again) and stick to it. It will be worth it! When you free yourself from high stimulation and other false needs, you will find yourself parked in the middle of the reward staircase. True contentment, your natural state.

One question that probably comes up when you start getting rid of high stimulants is: Shall I get rid of both or just one? Or will it be like trying to extinguish a forest fire with water in a few places and petrol in another?

High stimulation

• Can be almost anything
• Does not have to be the same for different people
• Does not have to be the same for the same person on different occasions
• Can be habitual
• False need with super powers

Genuine "feel-good creators"

When you are trying to get rid of high stimulants in your life and work with false needs, it is certain that you will have various negative feelings. To make it easier and minimise the impact of these feelings, it can be a good idea to find other things that give rise to positive effects. "Collect" a little satisfaction. By that I mean, find activities that provide both primary and secondary satisfaction. Meditation, physical activity, conversation, resting, doing something for someone else and other things are examples of what I call genuine "feel-good generators”. They create a sense of well-being without negative secondary effects. The feel-good generators which work for you are up to you to find out. Boost your TSI a little bit more (in a smart way) when you are working with false needs.

Reward and effort

A good way to evaluate the likelihood of a substance or activity turning into a high stimulant is to look at it in relation to the effort which is required to enjoy it. Lying on the couch watching TV, eating chocolates and having your feet massaged would be the maximum reward for minimal effort. Pushing a stone up a hill only to see it rolling down again and having to push it up again and again without anyone ever paying attention to your efforts would be minimal reward for maximum effort.

If the ratio is too small, meaning the reward is too small against the effort, there is a risk of trying to avoid meeting the need in the same way again. When the ratio is too large, it is likely that you get taken up to the top step of the reward staircase. This in turn causes us to continue with similar stimulants in order not to be brought down and made to feel uncomfortable.

The Motivation ratio

• Calculated by reward through effort.
• For a quick fix and short term contentment, choose big reward and little effort.
• For deeper, more lasting contentment, choose less reward and bigger effort.

A Special High Stimulus

Although high stimulation can be many different things, the most used form is food. Stuffing something tasty in your mouth is often the quickest way to lift our TSI. That's why in the next chapter, we are going to take a closer look at the role of food in the fight for your TSI.

References

1. Several of the concepts in this chapter are interpretations and further developments from Douglas J Lisle’s book and lecture - "The Pleasure Trap".