2024-09-19 at

Pain Economics

Generally most motivation is attributable to reactions against pain. Pleasure is spoken of as useful, but biochemically it also acts to numb pain, which is its main contribution to economics. 

For example, when I look at the economics of where I spend my days, I find that the following are equally troublesome :

  • (a) physical conditioning : for example, learning how to swim, or run
  • (b) verbal conditioning : for example, learning how to use new languages, regardless of whether they are domain-specific languages or general-purpose languages
  • (c) social conditioning : for example, ingesting the culture of individuals and groups, to understand their internal models of motivation and emotion

Most people in the working classes struggle with (c), as it puts food on the table. Some have jobs which are less political and more technical, so they are positioned more towards (b), whereas others are in manual jobs, and find themselves at (a).

In terms of pain, all are equal. However, other variables make the difference of where one ends up.

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