rosa - Feb 12, 2015, 10:13a
so, i'm not sure that they are unique ... there's a sense in which all motivations/goals/desires are like that. a desire is satisfied when you no longer have it; once a goal is achieved it's no longer relevant.

this guy (teaches at MIT) argues that we need some interminable goals in order to feel like life has meaning/is worth living:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/pod/dod-idx/midlife-crisis.pdf?c=phimp;idno=3521354.0014.031


nikhil - Feb 14, 2015, 6:13p
I think you are right. If I think about another emotion, anger, it seems like it exists also to cause its extingushment. I act angry so that others might behave differently, so that I will stop feeling angry at them. Perhaps all negative emotions have this self-destructive drive? Positive emotions, like satisfaction, should motivate the prolonging of their existence, e.g. if I am satisfied, i should keep doing whatever i did to make myself feel satisfied so that i can feel satisfied longer.

So maybe negative emotions should motivate their self-destructive, while postive emotions should motivate their prolonging?

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