Comments on: Questioned by Life http://www.3sigma.com/the-holocaust-the-bomb-and-my-search-for-meaning/ Surfing the brink of chaos Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:47:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: marc http://www.3sigma.com/the-holocaust-the-bomb-and-my-search-for-meaning/comment-page-1/#comment-759 marc Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:43:41 +0000 http://www.3sigma.com/?p=1457#comment-759 Dan Pink Note: This idea of the will to meaning is very simple when taken in the context of a theory of knowledge. For example, would you say that a young bird's pre-flight fluttering is an intrinsic motivation or an genetically programmed drive? The young bird does not "want" to fly. It just does what its genetic programming calls it to do and as it matures, it flies. In human beings, the "will" to construct meaning --- to make sense out of the challenges presented to us by the world --- is the same as the flight programming in the bird. Humans seek meaning and meaning is constructed in interaction with others, so we "flutter our minds" with others so that we may "fly". If you bind our wings or clip them or cage us, you thwart the process by which we can create meaning. You kill the bird or make it a zombie-like imitation that is devoid of the quality of birdness. Many workplaces are designed to create zombies. In other words, we are not "motivated" by a desire for (<em>fill in the blank</em>). We just are meaning creating creatures that act to make sense of the world --- meet challenges, create, innovate, sing, dance, and in all other ways, contribute to the world of meaning we share with others. Any human enterprise will do better when it is designed to enable such flight. As far as I can tell, Dan Pink doesn't understand this at all. Dan Pink Note:

This idea of the will to meaning is very simple when taken in the context of a theory of knowledge. For example, would you say that a young bird’s pre-flight fluttering is an intrinsic motivation or an genetically programmed drive? The young bird does not “want” to fly. It just does what its genetic programming calls it to do and as it matures, it flies.

In human beings, the “will” to construct meaning — to make sense out of the challenges presented to us by the world — is the same as the flight programming in the bird. Humans seek meaning and meaning is constructed in interaction with others, so we “flutter our minds” with others so that we may “fly”. If you bind our wings or clip them or cage us, you thwart the process by which we can create meaning. You kill the bird or make it a zombie-like imitation that is devoid of the quality of birdness. Many workplaces are designed to create zombies.

In other words, we are not “motivated” by a desire for (fill in the blank). We just are meaning creating creatures that act to make sense of the world — meet challenges, create, innovate, sing, dance, and in all other ways, contribute to the world of meaning we share with others. Any human enterprise will do better when it is designed to enable such flight.

As far as I can tell, Dan Pink doesn’t understand this at all.

]]> By: Dan Pink Gets Motivation (a little bit) Right | Three Sigma Systems http://www.3sigma.com/the-holocaust-the-bomb-and-my-search-for-meaning/comment-page-1/#comment-758 Dan Pink Gets Motivation (a little bit) Right | Three Sigma Systems Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:37:24 +0000 http://www.3sigma.com/?p=1457#comment-758 [...] is this idea of what Victor Frankl called, “the will to meaning” in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning“, different from Pinks intrinsic motivators? It is different because the PROCESS can be [...] [...] is this idea of what Victor Frankl called, “the will to meaning” in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning“, different from Pinks intrinsic motivators? It is different because the PROCESS can be [...]

]]> By: Why We Tweet | Three Sigma Systems http://www.3sigma.com/the-holocaust-the-bomb-and-my-search-for-meaning/comment-page-1/#comment-204 Why We Tweet | Three Sigma Systems Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:50:51 +0000 http://www.3sigma.com/?p=1457#comment-204 [...] Twitter is a tool. Even the creators of the tool are to explain why it has gained such great popularity. It may be that Tweeting is merely a sad substitute for purposeful interaction, signaling only narcissism and the loneliness of the crowd, but such a conclusion is premature. Tweeting may become transformed by its users into much more than its originators imagined. It may become a new and powerful means by which humans work together to take, in the words of Victor Frankl: [...] [...] Twitter is a tool. Even the creators of the tool are to explain why it has gained such great popularity. It may be that Tweeting is merely a sad substitute for purposeful interaction, signaling only narcissism and the loneliness of the crowd, but such a conclusion is premature. Tweeting may become transformed by its users into much more than its originators imagined. It may become a new and powerful means by which humans work together to take, in the words of Victor Frankl: [...]

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