Adam+Giurlando+RP+post+1

=I= I am leaning towards writing a position paper on what motivates people to succeed at activities which on the surface do not have an evolutionary or self preservative function i.e. sports, high academia, etc. I am leaning towards a position paper because I already have some ideas about this topic based on preliminary research and I hope to be able to expand on those ideas and share my ideas to help both others and myself understand the topic better. I feel a position paper will fit this topic the best because there is such a wide range of ideas on what motivates people that even if someone does not agree with my particular opinion on the topic it will promote debate and deeper thought. This approach serves that function, but it also allows me to present my findings on a rather ambiguous topic without the pressure of trying to fit every single detail into the paper. As a position paper I will be able to include evidence that fits into my position, and some that does not, without the obligation to relentlessly cover the entire large topic.

=**II**=

2. What motivates athletes to succeed in sports? 3. Why can some people self motivate, while others can't? 4. What are the subconscious motivations behind everyday social interaction?
 * 1. What motivates success in activities or tasks that do not have evolutionary value?**

=**III**=

My early knowledge about this topic mostly stems from what I have learned in psychology class. There are several theories of motivation, the most well know is Frued's Id, Ego, and Superego theory. There are several others as well though which mostly apply to development yet can be easily be translated into what motivates a person at a certain time in their life. There are also various aspects of conditioning that must be considered in motivation, because every person is conditioned in some way whether they know it or not at various points in their life. The psychology aspect goes much deeper into motivation and I will have to thoroughly go through my textbook to see how the different pieces of motivation interact with each other and can be applied to my research question.

My early research into this topic shows that while some activities do not have a clear evolutionary value, their motivation may actually be evolved to provide an outlet for impulses that have been forced out of civilized society. For example violence against others whom you disagree with such as that experienced by ancient warriors is not accessible to the average person in society today who possibly have had a disagreement with their boss. Instead of solving the issue medevil style in an honor duel they have to put aside their anger and do what their boss says. However in both watching and/or participating in sports an acceptable outlet for this anger has been developed. While they cannot hip check their boss, they can apply the anger they feel towards him into a socially acceptable show of violence against an arbitrarily selected opponent who is also part of a "different" group and therefore an acceptable target for the aforementioned violence. These outlets are suspected to have evolved socially as outlets for violent and intellectual human needs became necessary because of the change in social norms.

=**IV**=

I chose this question because I feel understanding motivation will help me become a more productive person. I truly want to reasearch this topic both because it is broad and challenging, and a greater knowledge of it will benefit me personally. My motivation is based on personal experience. I am very motivated at tasks I deem necessary or important to myself, but other tasks that I do not find productive or necessary will often fall by the wayside and be forgotten in my pursuit of things that interest me. I feel that by understanding what motivates people to pursue things they enjoy I could then apply that knowledge to tasks I do not enjoy and motivate myself to do them. I am able to see a few directions this work could go. I could take a purely psychological approach to present my position or an evolutionary perspective, or any number of the other theories of motivation and present that idea specifically. I am however more interested in combining several of these to see how the various theories work together or contradict one another before I form my opinion, then hopefully presenting a synthesis of various positions that is less rigid and can explain how I think motivation works. I am concerned that since there are so many theories of motivation on this topic (I have counted 4 just within the psychology aspect) that I will have an issue forming a specific opinion to present.