EVALUATING HUMAN DRIVES AND NEEDS FOR A SAFE
MOTIVATIONAL SYSTEMMorgan Waser
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityDept. Computer Science
DECISION MAKING STRATEGIES• Automated Responses:
actions performed with no thought or decision, necessary when speed is of the essence
• Desires:feelings and emotions that push us towards something. Little thought and no long-term plans
• Goals:thought-out, long-term plan that pull us towards an optimal situation
WHAT FACTORS WEIGH IN ON OUR DECISIONS?
• There are five main drives that have been evolved to fulfill and maintain sub-goals that further the pursuit of virtually any goal. These drives inspire our decision making strategies and they are:
• Self-Preservation• Resource Hoarding (Collecting)• Community• Self-Improvement• Rationality
AUTOMATED RESPONSE (REFLEX)
• First strategy of decision making that was developed and it can be found in plants, animals and humans
• Can be driven by:• Self- Preservation
• Example:• Plants moving toward sunlight• Jumping at a loud noise
DESIRES
Self-Preservation
CommunityResource Hoarding
Hunger, thirst, pain and fear
Pride, disgust
Empathy, love, loneliness,
gratitude, trust and pity
Greed
Desires, emotions and feelings in animals are all derived from the
drives for self-preservation, resource collection, and community.
Desires are found in both animals and humans.
The feeling of surprise in humans is driven by self-improvement in
addition to being driven by self-preservation.
GOALS• Rationality is a huge part of how we choose our goals, how we plan to
achieve them and how we make well-thought-out decisions. Goals are based off of our desires.
• Long-term goals are unique to humans and sets us apart because of the higher-level of thinking and planning that it requires. Of course there are numerous tool users (short-term goals) among birds and other animals.
• Goals are driven by all five drives: Self-Preservation, Resource Hoarding, Community, Self-Improvement, Rationality
IF THEY REPRESENT THE SAME DRIVES, WHY DO WE HAVE ALL OF THE STRATEGIES?
• Time available: Responses that require faster response times generally require reflexes to take an action
• Desires motivate our actions without the urgency of reflexes
• Cognitive complexity enables the creation of goals (a particular manifestation) to fulfill our desires
Self-
Actualization
Esteem
Love / Belonging
Safety
Physiological Needs Development of the drive for self-preservation
Development of the drive for resource hoarding
Development of the drive for community
Development of the drive for self-improvement
MOTIVATIONAL DRIVES AND NEEDS
Development of the drive for resource collecting
Rationality
SO WHAT REALLY MAKES THIS MOTIVATIONAL SYSTEM SAFE?
Rationalityand
Community
RATIONALITY• The drive for rationality (effectiveness) is necessary for motivational
system optimality as well as providing the reasoning that makes it safer.
• Rationality:• Gives us the ability to make goals• Helps to better fulfill needs• Expands upon the drives we have already developed
RATIONALITY• Are rational goals better than emotions, feelings and desires?
We cannot say that one is necessarily better than the other because:
• Feelings and emotions tell us how we are meeting our needs• Evolution has honed our emotions to be better long-term
decision makers than rational thought• Emotions and feelings can be affected by past things which
can be disabling
COMMUNITY• Our society is community driven. Communities allow us to share
resource, divide labor and play to differing strengths. • The loss of community can result in a devastating loss to resources,
safety, stability, belonging and purpose.• Rule and law breaking generally results in losing community status
and sometimes community all together.• Because of the long-term view that rationality provides, it is
obviously more advantageous to work together in a community than to be independent (but it frequently requires emotion to force us to follow this good advice).