Yeah, But What's My Motivation? (Intro)
This is a preview of a Dance Class exclusive series on motivation. Dance Class posts will run on Sundays, and are for paid subscribers.
There are a lot of ways you can break down human motivation.
Most systems that explore self-interest were constructed by psychologists. They’re useful, for a given value of useful; psychologists have so much data about the human condition that the systems they deploy tend to have specialized use cases that are interesting but not immediately useful to laymen. Clinicians need to diagnose and treat patients, organizational psychologists need to organize employees, environmental psychologists need to be able to assist in the design of buildings and spaces in which people will live and work, and so on.
I am good at building systems of organization and categorization, and I am good at people. In this series I’ll detail a system I believe has greater applicability for my readers than the ones used by psychologists to categorize human motivation. Like other systems, it is purpose-built. Unlike other systems, its purpose is
To aid the reader in becoming socially successful
To teach you how to spot when you’re being manipulated.
I’ll be discussing each motivator in terms of its utility in learning and practicing several forms of The Dance. Most people who want to become more socially successful are men who are interested in dating women, so I will focus on that form. I’ll also touch on the way each motivator is used as a tool of manipulation by advertisers and other propagandists, and briefly discuss the ways they are used as tools of manipulation by narcissistic and psychopathic individuals.
There are four Normal Motivators for human behavior, four Abnormal Motivators, and one Special Motivator.
The acronyms by which one can remember the motivators are C-PAST and ACOP.
The order of the first (the Normal Motivators) is unimportant. The order of the second (the Abnormal, or “Red Flag” Motivators) is very important; it is the order of concern. If you find yourself dealing with another person who seems motivated by Red Flag Motivators, the acronym goes in order from least to most troubling. For example, I’ve dated many women with variations on the first (“A”) without concern. Were I to discover a girlfriend was motivated by the last (“P”), I would distance myself from her the same day. I might also arrange a consultation with a lawyer and get my ducks in a row to file for a restraining order against her, just to be sure. That’s how serious some motivators are.
Special Motivator
Curiosity
Normal Motivators
Position
Affection
Sensation
Transaction
Abnormal (Red Flag) Motivators
Addiction
Compulsion
Obsession
Perversity
Next week: Part I—the Normal Motivators.