[idoby]

I find that internal motivation is mostly a myth, that is, the part where people expect to just have infinite drive out of nowhere.

The cooking analogy is good but here's an IMO better one - would you make a movie if you knew for certain nobody would ever watch it? I wouldn't.

You want to get a PhD - why? Is the PhD a mountain to climb or is it a pair of boots that will let you scale a mountain? Both answers are legit, but I think you do need to agree with yourself on one.

Motivation ex nihilo doesn't exist. Humans are goal-driven and averse to spending time on teleologically neutral things (enjoyment of the activity itself is, of course, a legit end on its own).

[muzani]

Internal motivation feels a little like fascination.

I do a lot of things that nobody will notice, that give me nothing, because there's an element of experimentation to it. To use the cooking analogy, it's like trying to replace butter in a recipe with margarine, making a french omelet as soft as possible, or pulling a perfect espresso.

I wouldn't say these things are enjoyable in themselves, but they scratch a curiosity.

One trick is to have different steps to try to follow. For example, I was very motivated to do a startup, because there were step by step instructions on what to do, and doing these steps consistently would result in becoming a billionaire.

It's an absurd idea and it didn't work, but it went much, much further than I expected, and it was fascinating to see how far it could go. Same with blackjack/poker - it's grindy and repetitive, but it's motivating to see whether the theory checks out.

[maps7]

Having an defined approach or steps to follow is a thing that actually demotivates me. I think it's why I don't cook a lot even though I can. I could follow defined steps and get an expected outcome but I'm just not motivated to do that.

I got disinterested in chess when knowing that all the best players have most moves memorized.

[idoby]

Then you were motivated by curiosity, which is great, but what if you weren't curious about the perfect espresso and knew that nobody would drink it. In this case, why make an espresso? You'd probably prefer to spend your time doing something else, right?

[bmitc]

I think that many artists serve as a counterexample to this sentiment. Many of them, even ones who eventually become famous, pursue activities without a care of who pays attention and without an end goal. They simply explore and seek out expression, where it almost seems to coming pouring out of them by necessity, obsession, or some combination thereof.

Some artists are so prolific, it can be mind boggling. Artists are not given enough credit for their work ethic.

There are plenty of artists who would make something, e.g., a movie , even knowing someone wouldn't see it.

[idoby]

There are some artists like that, sure, but plenty? I doubt it...

[ankothari]

Absolutely correct