I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this. I’d actually say I could be described by the blue graph. The more I really, really care about something, the more I want to do absolutely nothing but it, especially if I care about it for bigger reasons than, say, because it’s a lot of fun at this moment. Sometimes, there comes a point where continuing to improve said objective feels like it’s bringing diminishing returns, so I call the project sufficiently complete to my liking. Other times, it never stops feeling worth the effort, or it is simply too important not to perpetually, asymptotically optimize the mission. So I keep moving forward, forever. I know for sure that the work I consider the most important thing I’ll ever do is also something I’ll never stop obsessing over for a minute. And it doesn’t become onerous; it feels awesome to have set oneself on a trajectory demanding of such fixation. So I’m actually a little puzzled what the upshot is supposed to be here.
The conclusion is simply: if this applies to you, try to be aware of it and prevent it from getting in your way.
But if none of the things under the section at the top beginning “See if any of this sound familiar” actually seem familiar to you, then this post won’t be relevant or applicable to you.
In fact, please let this post pass your mind, and carry on “moving forward forever” and feeling awesome! 😃
That being said, I could see how this feeling would come about if the value/importance in question is being imposed on you by others, rather than being the value you truly assign to the project. In that case, such a burden can weigh heavily and manifest aversively. But avoiding something you actually assign said value to just seems like a basic error in utility math?
Many people I know personally (including myself) have experienced or regularly experience this “imposed” “burden” you’re referring to, except they place it on themselves with “ought” and “should” (instead of “want”, for example). (“I am going to work on that this month.” Vs “I want to work on that this month.” Vs “I should work on that this month.” Vs “I have to work on that this month.” The differences are subtle in language but massive in cognitive weight.)
Sometimes it’s like having someone inside your head with a whip trying to drive behavior with excessive pressure according to some maxim or moral imperative. This is obviously not healthy or long-term effective, but some people genuinely go through this (and some never make it out of it).
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this. I’d actually say I could be described by the blue graph. The more I really, really care about something, the more I want to do absolutely nothing but it, especially if I care about it for bigger reasons than, say, because it’s a lot of fun at this moment. Sometimes, there comes a point where continuing to improve said objective feels like it’s bringing diminishing returns, so I call the project sufficiently complete to my liking. Other times, it never stops feeling worth the effort, or it is simply too important not to perpetually, asymptotically optimize the mission. So I keep moving forward, forever. I know for sure that the work I consider the most important thing I’ll ever do is also something I’ll never stop obsessing over for a minute. And it doesn’t become onerous; it feels awesome to have set oneself on a trajectory demanding of such fixation. So I’m actually a little puzzled what the upshot is supposed to be here.
That’s awesome! I’m jealous :)
The conclusion is simply: if this applies to you, try to be aware of it and prevent it from getting in your way.
But if none of the things under the section at the top beginning “See if any of this sound familiar” actually seem familiar to you, then this post won’t be relevant or applicable to you.
In fact, please let this post pass your mind, and carry on “moving forward forever” and feeling awesome! 😃
That being said, I could see how this feeling would come about if the value/importance in question is being imposed on you by others, rather than being the value you truly assign to the project. In that case, such a burden can weigh heavily and manifest aversively. But avoiding something you actually assign said value to just seems like a basic error in utility math?
Many people I know personally (including myself) have experienced or regularly experience this “imposed” “burden” you’re referring to, except they place it on themselves with “ought” and “should” (instead of “want”, for example). (“I am going to work on that this month.” Vs “I want to work on that this month.” Vs “I should work on that this month.” Vs “I have to work on that this month.” The differences are subtle in language but massive in cognitive weight.)
Sometimes it’s like having someone inside your head with a whip trying to drive behavior with excessive pressure according to some maxim or moral imperative. This is obviously not healthy or long-term effective, but some people genuinely go through this (and some never make it out of it).