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Comment by Hisoka | Hacker News Reader

I feel we love our work because we all need a worthwhile struggle and goal.

I believe some of us have an intrinsic desire to build things. Just like birds build nests and bees build hives. Some of us have a desire to build and are probably rewarded with some chemical brain fix as a result.

At this point though, we've simply changed the medium from sticks and mud to Python and Minecraft.

And problem solving, which to me, was the greatest driving force that allowed me to overcome my natural aversion to arbitrary conventions and strictness, both essential in learning how to code.

The power of being able to solve pretty much anything by simply commanding this very fast machine is intoxicating. Once you learn “the code” you are hooked for life.

I imagine that if there wasn't such a steep learning curve (specially for the more “liberal arts” inclined), no one would escape its pull.

BTW, also worth checking is Heidegger's “Poetry, Language, Thought”.

"and are probably rewarded with some chemical brain fix as a result"

Dopamine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine

Realizing what gives you award stimulus is important for reinforcing behavior you want and discouraging what you do not want. It is also good to know for all you app and game developers out there.

I would use the word create as it reminds me of both utility and aesthetics. Create also has an ex nihilo conotation, which really seems to fit abstract thought-stuff.

Humans don't have "intrinsic" desires, and we don't have instincts (except arguably as babies), like building nests and hives. Instead, our desires become shaped over time by the process of thought and past experiences we've accumulated.

I agree more with my grandparent post than my parent post. We have (as individuals) learned to value certain particular kinds of achievement, and when we do achieve those achievements, it makes us feel satisfied.

Humans don't have "intrinsic" desires, and we don't have instincts

Says who? Based on what?

You are seriously underestimating one of the hardest questions ever posed and for which there is no (and there may never be) definitive answer. Tabula rasa, genetic determinism, nature vs nurture, etc are all deep, hard problems.

As a matter of fact, can you even significantly define “desire” or “instinct”? A lot of smart people have tried in the last 2500 years and there is no consensus yet.

Instead of responding to your parent directly, i'll just add that this is exactly why I prefaced my post with "I believe".

That said, I'm not implying we have built in instructions to go create a townhous. Simply that there is possibly a driving force that compels us to create, then a reward for doing so.

What part of the brain is missing in humans, then? The human brain adds on functionality, but it doesn't take anything away. We have the same instincts and desires most primates have, and maybe a few of our own. On top of that we have a mind that can add its own desires, or rationalize the ones already there.

"our desires become shaped over time by the process of thought and past experiences"

How does, for example, sexual arousal fit into that theory? Sure, it's a desire, but can you argue it's not an instinctive desire that evolution has given us for pretty obvious reasons?

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