Without emotion, we humans would be like lumps of flesh 
laying back on our slabs like Jabba the Hutt. No 
reasoning or intellectual introspection will compel us 
to move. The Subconscious Mind generates emotion energy 
to stimulate the Conscious into taking action.

We will get off the slab if we are hungry or thirsty, 
or to relieve pressure on our bladder, etc. We are 
motivated by desire for food, water or relief. Desire 
drives us to seek what we want.

We will also hop off the slab if there is a fire or if 
the room starts to fill with water. We are motivated by 
the fear of being burned or drowned. Fear drives us 
away from what we don't want.

We leave the house each day, motivated by either Desire 
or Fear, depending on our mindset. We are either driven 
toward what we want or away from what we don't want.

If we enjoy what we do – school, work or recreation – 
we anticipate the fun of social interaction, the 
challenge of handling tasks, the satisfaction of 
accomplishment. We are pursuing what we want.

If we don't enjoy what we do, our motivation might be 
Fear of becoming socially outcast, not having money to 
pay our bills or debt, or becoming ill by insufficient 
exercise. We are avoiding what we don't want.

For most activity, Fear is not the natural motivator. 
(Fear is only natural in cases such as the Grizzly 
Bear. Reminder: There is no flipping grizzly bear!)

Unnatural Fear as a motivator is a learned behavior, 
taught to us during our school years by well-meaning 
parents and incompetent educators. They teach a classic 
If, Then, Else formula of logic.

“If you pay attention in class, participate, study and 
do your homework, then you will get good grades and 
advance to the next class, or else you will fail and be 
forced to repeat the year” (thereby becoming a social 
outcast).

How about using Desire as a motivator? Mastering 
spelling, grammar and composition could lead you to 
become an award-winning journalist like Bob Woodward or 
Carl Bernstein, or a highly successful novelist like 
Stephen King or Stephanie Meyer. Mastering mathematics 
could lead you to be on the team that builds the first 
warp drive.

 I suppose it depends on how the educators feel about 
 their role in the process. Are they there to inspire 
 youngsters to become more, or are they running their 
 batch of kids through the gauntlet of the fourth grade 
 to promote them to the fifth next year so they can 
 start in again on a fresh batch of kids?

(I fired up my device and typed out this lesson 
motivated by my desire to communicate amd share my 
insights.)

Your Friend and Servant, 

Ken Klemm – Florida, USA

P.S. “I can make you feel, but I can't make you think.” 
~ Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull

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