What if the World Ran on Intrinsic Motivation?
In a society where intrinsic motivation is the norm, and one in which people have strong moral skill, price does not exist. Activities and the natural world are therefore not coordinated by price. Instead, people choose all facets of their existence and efforts based on a complex combination of factors, including what’s most authentic to them. In such a society, people are more emotionally balanced, satisfied, entertained, and fulfilled by their own richness of character in the quality company of others.
Land is not clamored over, as the very select few conquistador-types don’t have the force of the military-coinage-slavery complex behind them to enact their will. In short, land and housing are available and abundant. Musicians, artists, intellectuals, inventors, researchers (that is, everyone), have no problem tending to their intrinsic motivation to learn, express, research, and otherwise engage with their passions. The results of these passions (not just the final product, but the character they embody while pursuing them) are shared broadly (if desired!) because sharing information (music, knowledge, research, insights, methods, inventions) is easy.
The world is made up of multi-talented, emotionally whole, culturally rich people who wield moral skill as a way of everyday life. Only the projects and efforts that resonate with their potential contributors are the ones that get tended to. People no longer spend their time at places that are harmful or pointless; instead, they spend their energy on efforts that have meaning to them: nature conservation, land restoration, ocean restoration, cultural restoration, agroforestry, revival of species, computer repair, internet infrastructure, music, science, medicine, community care, friendships, and so on.
Because everyone is driven by an inner calling combined with moral skill, the world is abundant in offerings. The land is healing from commercial activity, ecosystems are breathing again, wildfires and extreme weather have practically stopped, and young people are thriving in communities that support their entire being.
Those who are parents spend the majority of their time with their kids in intergenerational communities. Those who spend more time on other activities know that the community will take care of the kids until they return. Pressure from the price-coordinate market system combined with the nuclear family are removed. With the pressures of work and school life gone, parents experience a bond with their children like never before. Children experience wholeness and love like never before. The destructive efforts of the now-abolished Extrinsic Motivation Complex have shifted towards constructive and emotionally restorative activities.
…to be continued, by you in the comments below :)
An excerpt from my upcoming book, The Strange Loop of Purpose.
Available December 31st, 2024.
