Pain and Entropy

Pain management is the essence of every biological activity on earth. At least, that's half the story. But time is an arrow, and entropy creates an asymmetry about pain and pleasure.

Hence people will almost always pay more to avoid irritants than to obtain amusement. And the main drivers of change in external markets and internal organisations are people who get irritated easily, not the people who cause irritation.

Pain, pain, pain.

Time's arrow defines the asymmetry between pain and pleasure.

Pain evolves as an anticipator of past trauma - the nullification of the familiar signal is all that is required, so there is typically a finite cost to the nullification of pain. Violence is a gamble against finite capital. Under more dysfunctional conditions, the cognitive mechanism itself is faulty, and then violence becomes self-directed in an attempt to correct faults of recognition, which do not depend on external signals.

Pleasure evolves as an anticipator of past growth - the pursuit of the familiar signal is unlimited in speculation. Indulgence is a gamble against infinite uncertainty. Under dysfunctional cognitive conditions, indulgence becomes self-directed in an attempt to derive growth from internal finitude, under conditions of deficit external opportunity.

We see this in the development of Trump's trade policy, in our manic pixie dream peeps, and in the wards of psychical medication, in irritable peers, and in struggling businesses.

The dysfunctions of motivation in life are wondrous to behold. Thus we learn how to fix individuals and organisations alike.