Why do people enjoy doing certain things more than others?

[Pernani]

What determines what people enjoy doing and what they dont ? For example some people enjoy writing, some others just enjoy public speaking but why is that?

This question kept boggling my mind so I contemplated it for a bit based on my experience, and it seems to me like the factors that are responsible for that are skill, if you're good at sth you will enjoy it and if you're terrible at it it'll be too frustrating and that is in itself is determined by how much you grew up practicing the thing or just being vulnerable to it.

another thing is meaning and value which I think is determined by social conditioning and what you were influenced by.

so what is it really? Does anyone know the answer to this? I tried to contemplate more but I was just getting stuck over and over again

[Joseph Maynor]

Great video from Jordan Peterson on point:

 

[blazed]

Another interesting thought is:

Why are most cats (not all) ungrateful, don't like being petted, and like being left alone to do their thing.

Whilst most dogs (not all) need companionship, very loving and loyal, love being petted, and always want to be next to the owner.

Its evident these creatures didn't choose, but were built that way with lots of variation inbetween.

Whether a human has the ability to "think", "contemplate" or "change" that, is also dependent on the nature of the body and mind that they were born with.

Edited August 2, 2018 by blazed

[Pernani]

23 minutes ago, Joseph Maynor said:

Great video from Jordan Peterson on point:

 

Im gonna check it our right now, thank you

12 minutes ago, blazed said:

Another interesting thought is:

Why are most cats (not all) ungrateful, don't like being petted, and like being left alone to do their thing.

Whilst most dogs (not all) need companionship, very loving and loyal, love being petted, and always want to be next to the owner.

Its evident these creatures didn't choose, but were built that way with lots of variation inbetween.

Whether a human has the ability to "think", "contemplate" or "change" that, is also dependent on the nature of the body and mind that they were born with.

Thats really a very good question, are you saying that people just naturally enjoy what they enjoy ? Maybe genetically ? That brings up the question of nature vs nurture, what's really authentic and what's an influence

[Pernani]

Maybe the answer im looking for is love, and im basically asking where does love come from, and it's something way deeper than i thought 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Pernani

[Sahil Pandit]

@Pernani The most direct answer i can think of is the subtlety, the nuance. The lens in which you look at an activity has a huge effect on that being observed. Take for example a professional boxer compared to regular person. Consider how much MORE the professional boxer knows and how much more he can experience through direct experience (of boxing and techniques, breathing, footwork, etc) in comparison to the normal person...

Have you read Mastery by George Leonard or Robert Greene?

There is so much hidden in plane sight, but the mind must be trained to see and break down the "how" instead of the "what" What i mean is, every thing you see is much more complex than meets the eye, but if we only look at things superficially they are just "objects" in our day to day level of awareness.

[Pernani]

On 8/2/2018 at 10:32 PM, Sahil Pandit said:

@Pernani The most direct answer i can think of is the subtlety, the nuance. The lens in which you look at an activity has a huge effect on that being observed. Take for example a professional boxer compared to regular person. Consider how much MORE the professional boxer knows and how much more he can experience through direct experience (of boxing and techniques, breathing, footwork, etc) in comparison to the normal person...

Have you read Mastery by George Leonard or Robert Greene?

There is so much hidden in plane sight, but the mind must be trained to see and break down the "how" instead of the "what" What i mean is, every thing you see is much more complex than meets the eye, but if we only look at things superficially they are just "objects" in our day to day level of awareness.

where does the nuance of the lens come from? are certain people (for example the boxer before he dedicated himself to boxing and become professional at it)  inherently predisposed to see and experience the beauty of certain activities more than others or maybe it has to do with past experience maybe ? 

I hope im making sense over here

[Sahil Pandit]

@Pernani AHHH, such a good point my friend.

Self Awareness.

You have to know your likes, your dislikes, your strengths, and your short comings. Once you can figure those out, if you live them through direct experience, your opportunities to expand them open up tremendously, especially when you do something you enjoy doing.

Use your top strength, and notice the thoughts and feelings associated with them once you are doing that "thing" (I am referring the the LP course)

Try that and let me know what you discover!

[Pernani]

On 04/08/2018 at 7:03 PM, Sahil Pandit said:

@Pernani AHHH, such a good point my friend.

Self Awareness.

You have to know your likes, your dislikes, your strengths, and your short comings. Once you can figure those out, if you live them through direct experience, your opportunities to expand them open up tremendously, especially when you do something you enjoy doing.

Use your top strength, and notice the thoughts and feelings associated with them once you are doing that "thing" (I am referring the the LP course)

Try that and let me know what you discover!

Yup I am working theough it, have u found the thing ?

[Wyatt]

@Pernani Last year I had an extremely uncomfortable LSD experience where I couldn’t understand why anybody did ANYTHING! All actions were completely meaningless! Now that I look back on it, I‘m glad I went through it. It helped me have an outside understanding of why people do things.

It all comes down to the type of rewards the activity gives us. Based on the activity, it will give us a reward that quells our particular emotional discomfort. 

Some people are more prone to loneliness, so they enjoy spending time with friends and family, or enjoy playing videogames.

Some people are more prone to boredom, so they enjoy doing activities that are high risk and gives a large adrenaline rush, or maybe to activites that are creative and stimulating.

Some people are more prone to anxiety and stress, so they enjoy doing activites like eating and watching slow movies, which are relaxing and calming.

Some people are prone to depression, so they’ll find activites and hobbies and jobs that cheer them up.

Some people hate having an environment that’s disorganized, so they love doing activities and jobs that clean and shape the world into something easier to look at.

Does this seem like a viable explanation?

[denydritz]

Hi @Pernani I think we enjoy doing activities that confirm that we are likeable.

I learn that our brain has a goal to like itself. I agree that we do activities that we are good at, because it makes us feel likeable (maybe we get praise from other people). We may do something we're not good at (yet), because we like the challenge, and we will feel very likeable if we can win the challenge.

We do meaningful activities and derive value from them to become likeable too, in my opinion. Even acts of 'selflessness' is in our self interest, so that we can like ourselves (and perhaps the guilty pleasure of secretly feeling like we are better than other people). We follow social conditioning to receive approval and praise from other people, which is a form of likeability.

I'm still thinking on this topic, but that is my current thoughts. Cheers!

[Torkys]

The keywords are Love, Flow, and Resistance. 

[Pernani]

Thank you all for your insights, I'm trying to find that pure thing that, independent of past experience, is responsible for the joy that people derive from activities. What is it, and what is it existentially ?

I wanna know what it is and connect with it, ultimately to derive the most fulfillement out of my life purpose that I haven't discovered yet