Goals are easy to change, whereas motives are not
4:1:10 2024-09-02 831

To understand, we need to clarify the difference between motive and goal. This difference is key because goals are easy to change, whereas motives are not. Take "hunger." This motive can be satisfied by various means (e.g., a sandwich, noodle soup, etc.). You can change the means (the type of food), and that is fine, but you cannot suppress the motive unless you satisfy it. Reasoning cannot stop hunger.

Feeling hungry, like feeling ambitious, is feeling a lack of something and a desire to fill this lack by acting; it is not "rational." A motive is an urge to achieve an inner state which makes one feel balanced or satisfied. Hunger is a motive. So are professional ambition and sociability. Not satisfying such urges may lead to frustration and stress. Satisfying the motive ends the urge: If you are hungry and someone gives you your favorite food right away, you will forget about getting that sandwich. There are many ways to satisfy a motive.

The motive, like any feeling, is vague and difficult to describe. The goal, on the other hand, is clear. It is a conscious representation of what could fulfil the motive. For example, for hunger, a meal; for ambition, a position; for loneliness, a companion. A goal is a conscious representation of a desired final state of things. It directs our activity in the hope that reaching it will satisfy our motive. This is why humans are called "goal-directed" creatures. A single goal can sometimes satisfy several motives: "Getting home for dinner" could simultaneously satisfy the motives of hunger, sociability, and safety. That is good because we have many motives, some more salient than others at a given moment.

 

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