7 ego reward-system theory
Introduction
I define the ego as a reward-system set up inside your head. Rewarding us for things it likes, punishing us for things it dislikes. Each ego holds the power to reward us with a release of feelgood chemicals in the brain, or punish us with a release stress hormones.
We navigate life to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. This way our egos drives us with carrot and stick, but on a chemical level. I believe we hold multiple reward systems, or multiple egos, that work us simultaneously.
Each ego has its own agenda, and strives to get your attention. For each ego, the satification of it is the most important thing. Combating each other – this can turn into a battle, resulting in the “internal struggle” most humans face today.
What will this theory do for me?
For centuries spiritual teachers have been saying
I) “The answer is within”
II) “Stop doing this to yourself”
III) “You are your own worst enemy”
And I agree. This theory will show you why that is true AND explain
a) What the ego is (my definition)
b) What it does (strong part right here)
c) Why its there (evolutionary psychology)
d) Why it’s so hard, to get rid of (evolutionary psychology also)
And finally touch on the subject why we have MANY egos, which might be the most interesting thing altogether. This theory is a synthesis of many other theories I have produced – but none so coherent and clear as this one.
General outline
a) Introduction
b) What will this theory do for me?
c) General outline
d) Main thesis
e) Short overview
f) Some humans love carrots, others hate the stick
g) What do our egos do?
I) Simplify our reality
II) Give us wanting and reason to pursue it
h) Why are they there?
i) Can they override each other?
j) What does this reward and punishment look like?
I) Biochemical rewards
II) Biochemical punishments
III) Use of Anxiety
Main thesis
We hold multiple egos or reward-systems that compete with each other for our attention. Below is a description of the seven egos:
1) Enneagram type 1 (primary)
2) Enneagram type 2 (wing)
3) Instinctual variant 1 (primary)
4) Instinctual variant 2 (secondary)
5) Survival instinct ==> Live right now (1st priority)
==> Food/water/shelter
==> Health/status
==> Being in control of current circumstances
==> Being in control of future circumstances
6) Gender psychology
Gender psychology = The layer of psychology that comes with our gender. I’ve chosen to separate the psychology that comes with our gender into two parts
a) A non-sexual part (ego number six)
b) A sexual part (ego number seven)
This is because our sexual ego is so different from our psychology in general. It is another world entirely. For ego number six I call this layer of psychology
a) Male gender psychology (for men)
b) Female gender psychology (for women)
Male gender psychology = The psychology of non-sexual character that is there, only because you are a man.
Female gender psychology = The psychology of non-sexual character that is there, only because you are a woman.
Differences in gender psychology
For this theory, I have not defined the differences in gender psychology. It is a humongous task, and not necessary for the theory to work. It is enough to know a difference, however explored, is there. I can show you two things I’ve found
a) Women have a higher need for connectedness. Translates into higher need for intimacy, to be touched and touch. On a larger scale, women feel the need to be a part of something greater than themselves. Psychiatrist Dr Paul Dobransky claims female self-esteem is largely dependent on being socially connected and accepted.
b) Women have higher empathy. A number of studies show women score higher on the Empathy Quotient (EQ), which is a scientifically valid way of measuring empathy.
Studies also show women have more mirror neurons. Mirror neurons create an involuntary emotional bond between the observer and the observed. If someone hurts themselves, the observer (through mirror neuron activity) actually feels a small amount of that pain.
What does this add up to?
This translates into real life, human behaviour. Women need intimacy because they are rewarded for intimacy. Women do not like splatter because their mirror neurons punishes them for it.
These are tendencies. Some men have a huge amount of mirror neurons, more than most women. So it is not a rule, but a tendency.
7) Our sexual ego (has male and female part)
Male sexual ego = The psychology of sexual character that comes with being a man.
Female sexual ego = The psychology of sexual character that comes with being a woman.
Male sexual ego ==> Basically men dream of dominating all women walking this earth. He is the sole purpose for their existence, that kind of thing. It contains dominance, aggression and general godlike qualities. The medieval scandinavian viking embodies the male sexual ego well. Keyword here is DOMINANCE.
Female sexual ego ==> Works a little different. It thrives on attention and implicit sexual power. The female sexual ego would command an army of 10 000 men with the slightest movement of her hand. Exposing cleavage would dumbfound an entire nation and anything more the entire world. The “power factor” is not as strong in women as it is in men, but it is there. Keyword here is ATTENTION.
Short overview
In the main thesis you saw a recount of the seven egos. To start from the beginning, ego number one is your primary enneagram type. Ego number two is your secondary (or wing) enneagram type.
Ego number three is your primary instinctual variant. Ego number four is you secondary instinctual variant. Ego number five is your survival instinct. That one is the same for all, we all have it.
Ego number six is called male and female gender psychology. New discoveries are being made in this area all the time, I do not claim to have the answer, only some of the answers.
Point “a” in ego number six is borrowed from psychiatrist and self-help entrepreneur Dr Paul Dobransky as explained in his program MindOS. I’ve heard people say similar things but no one had stated it as clearly as him.
Ego number seven is our sexual ego. This is highly ambiguous, and highly taboo. I’ve looked at sexual fantasies. I view sexual fantasies as projections of the sexual ego. In my view, sexual fantasies is a mirror world built to please the sexual ego. Be it male of female. My single largest influence regarding female sexual psychology is Nancy Friday’s book My Secret Garden (1973). It is a compilation of female sexual fantasies.
Myself as an example
To use myself as an example. I’m a 4w5, Sp/Sx. I have a survival instinct. And being a male comes with two layers of psychology, a non-sexual part and a sexual part.
Some humans love carrots, others hate the stick
For this entire theory to work; humans have to shy away from pain, and move towards pleasure. And they do. BUT we do not do both equally.
Some people have what I call a 80/20 build. They are the opportunistic creatures of this world. 80% of their activity if focused around getting pleasure. And 20% to avoid pain. People living a hedonistic lifestyle would lean in this direction.
Other have the reverse 20/80 build. 20% of their energy is spent toward achieving pleasure. 80% toward avoiding pain. Generally, they tend to not like change, be a bit conservative, and very reliable.
And then we got the balanced 50/50 person. Just center, right in the middle. Of course a person may be anywhere on this pain/pleasure scale. For example, some individuals will choose fun before work. Others will reward themselves with fun, only after they’ve worked.
What does our ego do?
Why are our egos there, and what do they do? Why is answered in the next chapter. As to what they do, I’ve found two basic functions
a) Simplify our reality
b) Give us wanting and reason to pursue it (or, desire and emotional fuel for taking action)
Simplify our reality
A map of reality
Our reality = A map of reality. Our personal interpretation of reality. There are as many interpretations (or maps) of reality as there are humans. We navigate life with a map in our heads, that map is our interpretation of reality.
“A map is a map, a map is not the terrain” – Owen Cook in describing how we navigate reality using a map in our heads.
Reality is complex
Now lets get to the core. Reality is complex. It is so complex that if had to understand it to take action, we would not take action. To account for this pacifying overflow of information, our egos will actually blindfold us to have us not see the vast majority of information presented to us.
It will feed us just enough – not too much, not too little. This way, the map in our heads is not reality, but a representation of reality. And remember, a map is much better than no map.
Simplification of reality depends on psychological health
Simplification of reality = A mechanism that simplifies reality into small, easily digested bits of information.
Simplification of reality is a carefully designed mechanism that can be less or more active. Level of psychological health decides how active. The relationship between them is inverse.
Low psychological health will have the mind simplify reality a lot. High psychological health will encourage the mind to view reality in complex terms – hence little simplification.
Doing power and Thinking power
Why is this? Well basic explanation goes like this: low levels of psychological health can only be reached through an unfulfilled basic need. Basically the lack of something simple. Like lack of food, status, protection, human contact or just general control.
As psychological health drops, the mind starts simplifying reality more. Why? This increases doing power, and decreases thinking power. High doing power means you are able to take action. Basic needs require action, not thinking.
Doing power = Your ability to take action
Thinking power = Your ability to practice complex thinking
In time, your actions can solve the pressing issue (basic need), and psychological health is allowed to rise.
As psychological health rises, there is less doing power but more thinking power. It is a trade-off. You become less forceful in your actions and more complex in your thinking.
At high thinking power, humans even spend time tackling contradictory and seemingly paradoxical information. It is stimulating. But they wouldn’t be doing that if they lacked a very basic need.
The bag metaphor
Imagine carrying a heavy bag, going to a hotel. You do not know where the hotel is, or how long it will take to get there. As you go, it gets heavier and heavier. Your mood (psychological health) sours, and you get more and more tired. As this happens, your mind will actually
a) reduce input (take in less information from surroundings)
b) reduce output (reduce brain-activity, only think about things productive to your end goal)
Your reality will become very simple. Eventually, the ONLY THING in your mind is that end destination. As you walk, reality does not become gradually less complex, no, it stayed the same. But your minds version of reality became simpler and simpler, as the walk went on. See?
This is a good example of how your mind
a) simplified reality, and by that
b) Increased personal doing power (the act of doing)
c) reduced personal thinking power (the act of practicing complex thinking)
This example is good, it demonstrates the concepts of psychological health, simplification of reality, doing power and thinking power.
How we simplify reality at low psychological health
At low levels of psychological health, we humans simplify reality a lot. This can result in black-and-white thinking.
Black-and-white thinking = a way of thinking that simplifies reality into being one of two things. Will not allow for degrees or several options.
Individuals can get stuck in this mindset, and apply black-and-white thinking on almost everything, you might have seen people like this. Generally, these people tend to be
a) Generalizing
b) Judging
c) Mentally, intellectually and spiritually closed
These are ways our mind simplify our reality for us. Because of low mental health, their mind has actually shut down.
Generalization prevents us from seeing individuals, which takes time and effort. Judgements allows us to categorize information without really understanding it. When our mind is closed towards a certain set of ideas, it has basically ruled out an entire realm of knowledge. This realm can be spiritual, philosophical, religious, scientific, or anything of the sort.
How we simplify reality at high psychological health
At high psychological health, our mind will not simplify our interpretation of reality as much, and open us up to a wider spectrum of information. People of high psychological health, will not
a) Generalize as much
b) Be as judgemental
c) Be mentally, intellectually or spiritually closed
At high psychological health our spiritual and intellectual channels of communication remain open.
Psychological health – and the cause and effect cycle
Ok, so psychological health determines how much we simplify reality, but what determines our psychological health? Generally, it goes like this
1) Environment grows tough, and (through trauma or bad experience)
2) Causes a drop in psychological health (which in turn)
3) Has ego-activity rise. And so
4) Simplification of reality kicks in (to deal with tougher environment)
This happens because it is not efficient to navigate a complex reality to secure a basic need. Simple needs require simple thinking. Complex needs require complex thinking.
Example 1: (how humans do not work)
A caveman sits in his cave, looking at his starved child thinking about the meaning of life. He cannot quite put his finger on it…but he’s surely on to something here…
Example 2: (how humans work)
A caveman sits in his cave, looking at his starved child thinking about something – BOOM! The visual experience of seeing his child in pain struck him, it was
1) A bad experience for him, and had him
2) Drop in psychological health
3) So his ego kicked in to give him motivation to act now
4) All coursing through his mind at this moment, is getting food for his child. All other things apart from immediate survival issues are irrelevant.
This is how humans work.
The four wall metaphor
I would like to end this with a metaphor popular in the Riso-Hudson school of thought. Imagine sitting on a chair in the middle of a room, with solid walls preventing us to see the outside world. When we are unhealthy, ego reacts by blindfolding us and we can’t see anything but the inside of the room.
As we become more healthy, ego is less active and walls become somewhat transparent. We can now see textures of things beyond these walls. We see there is something beyond these walls.
At our healthiest these walls become fully transparent and we live in a non-simplified, complex reality, not shutting things out.
Katy Taylor describes this well in her article Ego and Essence: An Exploration of the Types as a Continuum, on enneagraminstitute.com.
“In the Healthy Levels, this room has more and more transparent walls… As we move down through the Levels, the walls are getting more occluded and… our view is getting a little dimmer. And finally by the bottom of the Unhealthy Levels, the walls are so solid that no light can shine through at all, and we have lost contact with our True Nature.”
For the purpose if this theory, a person contained inside these walls lives in the simplest possible reality.
Give us wanting and reason to pursue it
Keep hitting those reward structures
People want lot of things. But each person, only has a few key things they consistently pursue. It is because that thing, has proven to be the most rewarding over time.
Doing what you love, might be the purpose of life. I’ll take it further, I say the purpose of life is to trigger our own biology. To live in alignment with the reward systems already inside of us, inside the very space of our very heads.
When someone says “go live your dreams”. They are saying: recognize what makes you happy, and go do it. Do not listen to society, friends, family or anything else. You go do what makes you happy. In an interview famous actor Johnny Depp said:
“Keep moving forward and don’t give a shit what anyone thinks, just keep moving forward and just do what you have to do, for you.”
Very inspiring. If we stray from this motto we suffer:
Example 1: A person with a primary Social stacking CANNOT ignore the pull he/she feels towards joining organizations, and be a part of something greater than themselves.
Example 2: A person with a primary Sexual stacking CANNOT ignore the craving for intense experiences. It will have to lived out, in some way. Ignoring such a large reward-system as your primary instinctual variant, will lead to mental unhealth.
Example 3: A person with primary Self-Preservation stacking CANNOT live an unhealthy lifestyle and still be happy. Or whatever shape the self-preservation stacking may take. From what I’ve seen, ignoring the needs of your primary instictual variant lead to mental unhealth.
Conflicting reward structures and mental unhealth
This “mental unhealth” shows itself in various forms of emotional suffering. Pain, anxiety, anger, the whole spectrum. These “bad” emotions are designed to put you back on track, and start hitting those reward-structures again.
If you directly conflict your enneagram type (doing what it hates), it will do excactly that to you. Create “bad” emotions to
a) Give you a reason to act now (adress the issue, fix your situation)
b) Provide a lesson for the future that conflicting your most important reward-structures lead to pain. Basically attach pain to that conflicting behaviour of yours.
Example 1
I’m a 4. And I am fiercely independent. Whenever I’m not indepent, I get massive anxiety. That anxiety is there to punish me for being dependent, so I can be indepentent as soon as possible again.
Example 2
A type 8 who is not in control of his/her situation, will get a good amount of anxiety. If the person is an 8w7, that anxiety is almost always channeled into action. That anxiety is there to encourage the 8 to take control back. See how for the 8, taking control is a mere pain-evasion strategy? Most types do not take control as pain-evasion strategy.
Action and anxiety cannot coexist
Action and anxiety cannot coexist. Action is a way of dealing with anxiety. Not only is the anxiety gone temporarily (when action is taken), but the action itself might actually cure the source of the anxiety in the first place. In light of this, I shall give my third example
Example 3
Whenever a counter-phobic 6 detects a threat (or possible threat), he feels massive anxiety. He deals with this anxiety by taking action, every time. This explains a lot of counter-phobic 6 behaviour.
The process is similar to that of an 8, but the anxiety in an 8 runs deeper, and is not visible on a surface layer plane. Which is why they appear so confident. If you look right into a counter-phobic 6′s eyes, you can often see anxiety, and fear.
When a counter-phobic 6 goes into verbal conflict, they have a tape playing worst possible scenarios in their head. This tape will amp up their anxiety even more. This is especially bad if there is a threat of physical violence.
Reward-structures and their internal clock
Notice that reward-structures do not need pleasing all the time. Reward structures have something like an internal clock; when pleased they do not need pleasing for some time.
The length of this internal clock is decided by how prominent reward structure it is. The time is fairly short for your primary enneagram type and primary instinctual variant. It is longer for your secondary enneagram type and secondary instinctual variant.
Example
I’m a self-preservation primary, and I worked out yesterday. I do not feel the need to work out today. If I did not work out for a week I would feel slightly bad. Two weeks would give me a “strong push”. And months would definitely create anxiety. This is an example of the internal clock.
Natural and unnatural wantings
So our egos give us wanting, but is all wanting good for us? I view wantings as being in one of two categories
a) Natural and inborn
b) Superficial and externally created
The wants of “a” will make you happy. The wants of “b” will give you something to chase, but you will not be happy once you get it. Some of you might have been caught in the ratrace called life. Work hard, make money, reach material success. Did it make you happy? It was better than living in the street for sure, but did it make you truly happy? Maybe not.
It was because that wanting was superficial and externally created.
Externally created wantings through children’s candy commercials
Since we humans are moldable, wants can be culturally reinforced or even created. Take children’s candy commercials. Their aim is to have children buy candy which is
a) Good for them
b) Bad for your child
Listen carefully when I say such advertisement
is merely the attempt to place a reward-structure in your child’s head, encouraging a behaviour that is good for them and bad for him/her.
But this and you’ll be happy
The basic message is always “buy this and you’ll be happy”. The goal is to attach a positive emotion to a product, so the emotion is felt when consuming (or using) the product.
This is a reward-structure. A reward-structure like this can be installed in degrees of success:
For example if you buy the product and it MAKES you happy, they have fully succeeded. If you BUY it and it does not make you happy, they have partially succeeded. If you THINK it will make you happier but you do not buy it, they have partially succeeded. If you are oblivious to the object in question YOU have succeeded.
Same could be said for all of materialism, commercialism – not to mention the model industry backed by an entourage of beauty magazines. They attempt to place reward-structures in our heads that are not natural and should not be there.
Advertisement does not say anything about the product itself. Advertisement can be used to promote products of low quality, and products of high quality. What advertisement CAN do is have us VALUE products before even consuming them.
Anorexia as an externally created wanting
What is anorexia? Anorexia is a good example of a reward-structure gone wrong. The woman is incredibly rewarded for NOT eating. Her reward for NOT eating is greater than her reward FOR eating. So she does not eat. There is also punishment going on. As she eats, her brain punishes her severely with anxiety.
When I say “reward” I’m referring to a biochemical release of feelgood chemicals in the brain.
Do you think she created this destructive reward-structure herself, that rewards her so incredibly for not eating? Most likely, it was created and reinforced by society. A false wanting. False because pleasing it did not actually make her happy.
Why are they there?
Survival and reproductive success
Nature has put multiple, at least seven, egos in us because it has proven to be the most effective in encouraging
a) Survival
b) Reproductive success
The egos are there to align the search for happiness with survival and reproductive success. Think about that, that is so deep.
Our egos are more intelligent than our brain
From a reproductive perspective, our egos are vastly more intelligent than our brain. They have evolved over millions of years, our instincts (however annoying) will actually guide us toward reproductive success.
This is why our ego is so hard to get rid of. Ridding the ego is a betrayal of the path towards survival and possible reproductive success.
Parenthood
Take parenthood. Our brain is designed so that not having children will give us pain. Having children will give us pleasure. As we have children, our brain will reward us with a biochemical release of feelgood chemicals in the brain. We have a reward-structure just for that. Genetically speaking, it is a very important reward-structure. This is a perfect example of how our egos align the search for happiness with reproductive success.
Our genes and happiness
As mentioned, the egos are there to align the search for happiness with survival and reproductive success. This means YOU strive for happiness. Our GENES only care about happiness to the extent it can make you do things. Genetically beneficial things.
Technically, we are only allowed to feel happy about things that promotes the continuation of our genetic heritage.
Basically, the only reason it feels good to workout is because it promotes your genes. Why do you think sex feels good?
Why do you think taking a shit feels good? Because if taking a shit didn’t come with a strong biochemical release overshadowing the grossness of it all, people would be less inclined to take a shit. And some wouldn’t, and they get constipated.
It’s evolutionary psychology. No good feeling in our body is there without a genetic purpose. No bad feeling in your body is there without a genetic purpose. Our genes place no inherent value on happiness in and of itself, but you do, and that is the setup.
Can they override each other?
Each ego likes itself
Yes. For each ego, the satification of it is the most important thing. The ego knows that if it gets your attention, you will satisfy it. Your mind becomes a battleground where each ego compete for your attention.
Your sexual ego wants to have sex right here on this crowded street. Your survival instinct tells you you will be shamed if you try, socially shunned and perhaps beaten. In this case your survival instinct (desire to live) overrides your instinct to reproduce.
The survival instinct of a 5w6 wants to go work and gather resources, while the introverted side just wants to sit and read. The same 5w6′s social stacking wants go to out, socialize, and be a part of something greater than him/herself. See the conflict?
These are literally forces pulling you in each direction, each promising an alluring award
The mind mediates between these forces
A person will mediate between these forces, pick one over the other, and look for ways to please more than one at a time. For example, a 5w6 with primary social stacking might find it very rewarding to join a book club. That would please both the enneagram type and the social stacking.
I have an 8w9 So/Sp friend. He frequently plays teams sports. This way he pleases the Social stacking, the Self-Preservation stacking, and the enneagram 8′s desire for hard competition.
He will not do solo sports. Doing so, would have him miss out on his primary instinctual variant (social) which is a powerful thing.
What does this reward and punishment look like?
I) Biochemical rewards
II) Biochemical punishments
III) Use of Anxiety
I) Biochemical rewards
Reward comes in the form of a biochemical release of feelgood chemicals in your brain. I categorize reward after strength (effect) and length (time).
This can be
a) Weak and short term ==> Just small things that makes you feel good. A compliment, small successes, displaying uncanny knowledge, or awesome wit. Any form om mild recognition. Being touched by another human being would fit here. It feels good, but you don’t go crazy about it.
b) Strong and short term ==> Would be referred to as the “mental highs”. Like extreme sports, getting a promotion, getting married or having a child. Good company can make you laugh ’til your stomach hurts.
Receiving a war medal, olympic medal, or winning a race would qualify. Being bestseller of the week or named the “employee of the month” would certainly generate a nice, strong, feelgood spike.
c) Weak and long term ==> This is what keeps you going when at times it feels boring, hopeless, and so not worth it. Taking care of an old parent. Doing thankless jobs. Working your way towards good grades, taking care of your body, or pursuing a hobby.
Charity work and volunteering would also trigger this kind of reward. It’s not a mental high but it certainly feels good. This reward is designed to have us keep going, keep us working at it. Me writing this is probably getting this reward now.
d) Strong and long term ==> Does not exist naturally without drugs. Perhaps excepting love. In normal circumstances, one cannot walk around with the feeling of being “mentally high” for weeks or months.
II) Biochemical punishments
Punishment comes in the form of
a) Limbic responses
b) Stress hormones, and they
c) Vary in degree
Limbic responses
What is a limbic response? A limbic response is a collected set of physical and chemical reactions triggered by external stimuli. A limbic response is immediate, involuntary and honest because it cannot be faked, manufactured or controlled by the conscious mind.
Limbic responses can be good and bad. I focus on the bad ones, not what happens inside your body when you see a baby smile. But happens when a second later a stranger invades your personal space. A negative limbic response is a stress reaction to handle possible danger. It will
a) Draw you into a state of 100% awareness.
b) Get your body ready for fight or flight.
c) Cause you pain.
Your body does not like danger. Therefore it will attach pain to danger to have you avoid danger. Avoiding danger then, becomes a mere pain-avoidance strategy.
If the body only did a + b, people would have a hard time learning. It is the spike if emotions (good and bad) accommodating a learning experience that burns it into your mind. Like a hard drive. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the imprint. On a psychological emotional level a negative limbic response is merely
a) A punishment, so
b) You will learn
Stress hormones
Stress hormones and limbic reactions
It in unclear exactly how stress hormones relate to limbic stress reactions. But they do seem to be in a mutual feedback loop, both reinforcing each other. Negative limbic responses will cause the body to release stress hormones. And “reinforce” their presence if you will. Once the levels are up, a person is much more likely to experience a negative limbic reaction. Lacking that calm, collected demeanor as seen in some people.
Can long term exposure to stress hormones be sustained without limbic responses? It is certainly harder, and the levels will not be as high, but yes. If you eat bad and sleep little, your stress hormones will be jacked no matter how few stress reactions you do have. Feeling like crap (stick) then is your motivation for changing habits.
What stress hormones do and why
What do stress hormones do? Stress hormones act by increasing heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate. They also shut down metabolic processes such as digestion, reproduction, growth and immunity.
All these things are getting the body ready for fight or flight. The body cannot be in this ready-to-launch state for long without consequence. Being in this state 24/7 for months is breaking the body down. Why is the body breaking down itself?
The body is causing you pain (stick) to have you exit the situation. Because the situation you are currently in is
a) constantly triggering limbic responses (usually, not always)
b) causing the release of stress hormones
Whenever we do something the ego disapproves of, it will bring us pain. When a stranger invades your personal space, you feel pain. It is a stress reaction that is automatic and involuntary – it is there so we associate danger (invasion of space) with pain (unpleasant limbic response). The survival instinct will do this to us.
Punishments vary in degree
As with rewards, punishment vary in degree (effect) and length (time). I categorize them according to this criteria:
a) Weak and short term ==> Just small annoying things.You are too cold or too warm. Loud car passes you by on the street. An annoying person opens his/hers mouth. You are 5 minutes late for work. Things like that.
b) Strong and short term ==> Anything that is felt strongly and shortly. Someone tries dominate you, you get mad. Stranger invades your personal space. You were about to get hit by a car, or think so. Social rejection, being unworthy of touch. Eating bad food or drinking sour milk. Loosing control of any aspect of your life. Be it home, health or sexual life.
c) Weak and long term ==> Anything that is felt weakly (but felt) over a long period of time. Very common.
In a documentary called Stress – Portrait Of A Killer by National Geographic they investigated stress hormone levels in regard to hierarchy (status) in a baboon tribe. They found that levels of stress hormones directly revealed where they stood on the tribal ladder. Leader had little while the bottom guy, had lots. They only needed to look at the blood, to know.
They did the same sampling in a human office, and found that stress levels revealed where you stood on the corporate ladder, as well. From this they concluded your stress levels are a result of your current status.
We do this to ourselves
After all, WE DO this to ourselves. We didn’t have to do it. We could just be happy where we were, as a low-status individual. But our body will actually give us pain, harm itself, and bring us the motivation (stick) that comes with it.
In an ancient human tribe, being low status means you were the first to go in times of trouble. It actually was dangerous. Our survival instinct tells us to aspire status, because it helps us survive. Even today when low status individuals are not danger, because of their status.
d) Strong and long term ==> As oppose to the reward side of this, it actually exists. An argument could be made that if you are not only a low-status individual, but at the very bottom in the social hierarchy, you might actually have a strong, long-term punishment going on inside your body.
Being low-status today is not physically dangerous in itself, but your body does not know that. It thinks you are one step away from being shunned from the tribe, destined to walk alone… and probably die.
The survival instinct will jump in and punish your body so hard, that not climbing the tribal ladder is about as dangerous as doing it. Climbing the ladder then, becomes mere pain-avoidance strategy.
III) Use of Anxiety
Anxiety
Since we all employ a pain-evasion strategy towards anxiety, it is very effective en regulating human behaviour. Anxiety may be deployed by the mind to
a) Have us stop doing something (overeating, gambling, fighting, staying up too late)
b) Make us do something (that work assignment, study for that test, keep that deadline, go workout, write that book)
Have us stop doing something
Here the mind will actually dump anxiety on itself, and have it stay there for as long as we are doing what it does not like.
Our survival instinct might tell us to eat healthy and moderately. Our sexual stacking might CRAVE the intense experience of eating lots of delicious unhealthy food. So they battle against each other.
For example, when (over)eating:
a) At first there is just pleasure. The pleasure comes from pleasing the survival instinct in eating, and the sexual instinct in intensity.
b) Pleasure decreases, and we reach a midway point where the pleasure (reward) from the activity is about equal to the anxiety (punishment) it is generating. At this point we have eaten the size of a normal meal.
c) Eventually the anxiety from eating the unhealthy food will override the awesome pleasure, and we stop.
Some stop sooner, others later. We have all experienced this haven’t we? All humans crave intense experiences. If you got a sexual stacking you crave it even more.
Make us do something
Whenever we are not doing what our ego prefers, it will create what I call an “anxiety filter” around us. This anxiety filter will catch and “tag” all things that cross your mind.
“This anxiety will colour every sensory experience coming your way, building an emotional component of “bad” into it. Be it something you see, hear, or even remember, it will not feel as good as it otherwise would.”
- Theo Gerken from A theory on motivation and ego activity.
Anxiety filter = An layer of anxiety put into your mind, to have you do something the ego wants.
Let’s say you live in a house with mold in it. You survival instinct and Self-Preservation instinct (if you got it) will literally scream to you, and say you HAVE to get out of there.
This is an example where two reward-systems are aligned towards a common goal. It will provide a lot more motivation to do it. If you live in direct conflict with your egos, you mind will create an “anxiety filter” to let you know its unhappy.
This theory was created by Theo Alexander Gerken
