Joy and Survival

In the limit, humans have only two motivations...

• To maximize joy
• To maximize survival.

All human behavior stems from these motivations and can be accounted for by examining combinations of these motivations.

Of course I can't prove this in any scientific sense, so take it for what it is; an hypothesis derived from observations taken from my corner of the universe. It's unlikely that it's unique to me, but it's the framework that I ponder in when I'm trying to make sense of things.

I first developed this idea by playing the "Why game". Pick some aspect of human behavior and continue to ask why until you either hit a dead end or find yourself going in circles. The following is pretty silly, but it illustrates the structure.

Why did my sister cross the road?

To get to the other side.

Why did she want to get to the other side?

To avoid the truck coming down the road.

Why did she want to avoid the truck?

Because she didn't want to get squished.

Why didn't she want to get squished?

Because she didn't want to be killed. (Survival!)

Why didn't she want to be killed?

Because she can't appreciate what she does or experiences when she's dead, as far as we know. (Joy!)

Why does she want to appreciate these things?

Because appreciating these things squirts hormones in her brain that creates sensations called emotions. (Joy!)

Why does she want to experience these sensations?

Because it motivates her to stay alive. (Survival!)

Now we're going in circles. We've settled into a joy/survival loop. Joy encourages survival. Survival enables joy.

Given the above, it seems like humans should eventually settle into a life of eternal ecstasy. Why isn't it working out that way? That's a different post.