I don’t know where I have heard such words: "Pressure can bring motivation" and "People are compared to springs. Only with pressure can they have elasticity." But the reality is not what they say. It's so easy to talk, and some people just talk, without even thinking about whether or how to act. What's more, this is not a "famous quote" that seems to be convincing just by saying it casually. So I think the assumption that "pressure is motivation" is only a small probability event.

With:

The origin of this sentence must be due to the Chinese people's lack of thinking and being brainwashed by traditional ideas a few years ago, which determined the birth of this sentence. Human beings are not machines and cannot Work like a heat engine. Please put away the old traditional thinking. You not only regard pressure as the driving force for the operation of human society, but also ignore the nature of the driving force itself. Wake up. Human beings are not born puppets. They must rely on Pull strings as power to survive the puppet! Have you considered the power itself? What is the driving force that in itself enables us to live? Has everyone really been brainwashed? It is no coincidence that I came to this conclusion. Due to the long time, I cannot investigate the source of this sentence now, but what shocked me is that the entry has been viewed 24,494 times!

Therefore, this article is a positive challenge to inertial thinking, and it is also a positive and side refutation of the saying "pressure is motivation". Argument: Motivation is not caused by stress, nor does stress necessarily lead to motivation.

?

The persuasiveness behind the fact that this sentence is widely known may be supported by certain knowledge bases. In the final analysis, the knowledge that best describes this sentence is: Success Learning. So can success studies describe this sentence appropriately? Why are some contents so similar? Let’s start with the science of success itself.

This is the explanation given by the Baidu entry. Generally speaking, it is the knowledge of self-management and the educational content of ideals, beliefs and target actions.

This sentence:

So it is certain that success learning is indeed regarded as self-management knowledge, but is this the case?

An article from "Baijiahao". The so-called Western success theory, in my opinion, is understandable if the success theory is distorted. In my opinion, the "distorted" success theory is easily reminiscent of the so-called "Chicken Soup for the Soul." For example:

Taken together, in these descriptions of the so-called success science, there are also views on "pressure": how to reduce or release pressure

This is just release Or just a way to deal with stress, and there is no explanation for the pressure itself. I then looked up some explanations of Western success studies, and there was no explanation for "pressure is motivation". I couldn't find it. So, sure enough, this sentence does not belong to The study of success does not belong to the distorted study of success! So what is the classification that makes this statement so popular?

First of all, according to the so-called relationship between "pressure" and "power", it can be classified as: pressure = power (pressure is equivalent to power), and pressure → power (pressure leads to power). Let's eliminate them one by one. . First think about it in reverse. Since a person's motivation is caused or driven by pressure, it means that the original motivation is not enough to achieve the expected goal. Then the reason for the lack of motivation and this goal are naturally the root of the problem, so let's start with this. Starting from two aspects, we need a certain amount of motivation to complete a goal, or to complete a goal within a fixed time. This motivation can come from ourselves or from the outside world, but the size of the motivation first depends on subjectivity. If the goal comes from For oneself, or switching from external goals to one's own goals, the natural motivation will be slightly greater, then the goals given by the outside world will cause pressure, so the motivation will be smaller. However, isn’t this a common mistake that violates common sense? First of all, throwing away common sense will save you a lot of unnecessary detours. So then the reasons for the goal and lack of motivation must be analyzed from the side: the goal itself can naturally be classified, so one of the reasons for motivation was born:

This goal cannot be changed and reversed.

The goal itself is one of the independent variables of motivation. The nature of the goal determines the nature of motivation. Let’s start with subjectivity.

Subjective goals

Subjective goals are self-set goals that achieve a sense of self-achievement and self-satisfaction. A positive goal often brings positive motivation to people. , On the contrary, negative goals will reduce motivation. Of course, the nature of this goal depends on subjective feelings, because everyone has a different view of their goals. Similarly, negative benefits and positive benefits are also one of the types of goals (no benefits or almost no benefits are definitely negative benefits. Because there is an objective thing called time, the benefits must be less than zero. For example, if you let you now If you do something you don’t need to do, and you have to bear the loss of time, energy and money, will you still have great motivation to do it? ). Having a goal of positive benefits often brings motivation to people. Whether it is meaningful or not is also one of the factors of motivation. A meaningful thing, or something that subjectively wants to do/is interested in, will bring great motivation to people. Meaningless goals will not be subjectively speaking. It creates motivation to put in the effort. There are still similar target categories, so I won’t give examples. If there are subjective goals, there must be objective goals, so the following are objective goals.

Here, pressure is not equivalent to motivation, nor does it lead to motivation.

Objective goals

Objective goals are goals that you must achieve due to various external factors, and this goal may also have a deadline, such as work, exams, external emotions, illness , objective goals caused by factors such as responsibility. And although it is an objective goal, it still has extreme differentiation, which can also be divided into negative, positive, meaning, benefit, etc. But it seems that most of the time our goals are objective goals, or our goals are composed of huge objective goals. In addition, it is composed of some subjective goals, so the first thing we are accustomed to or receive is the objective goal, because before the formation of self-awareness, we may only be able to set some goals that are insignificant or even just physiological needs, so the pressure brought by the objective goals is also Can be offset by the power of habit. Here, pressure is not equivalent to motivation, nor does it lead to motivation.

Neutral goals

With two levels, there must be a balance point, that is, a type of goal with very vague subjective and objective goals, or it can be classified as a subjective goal. Classified as objective goals. Generally speaking, these neutral goals exist in two states: subjective and objective at the same time, just like a "superposition state". For example, you make a subjectively determined goal, and objectively a and Your goal is exactly the same goal, or your subjective goal is also applicable to this objective goal, just like you are writing a paper on anthropology, and then you are notified that you have to write the same paper, or Say you see that you are missing a piece of clothing, but you suddenly think of buying the same piece of clothing before. The only difference is the order in which the information is received. Since the neutral goal is a superposition of the two goals, you have the dual power brought by these two goals, and the natural pressure is offset by a small part of the power. Here, pressure is not equivalent to motivation, nor does it lead to motivation.

The relationship between three goals and pressure

So what is the close relationship between these three goals and actual pressure? When a person has the motivation to achieve these three goals What happens to stress? When there is a subjective goal, you will not feel pressure, at least the goal itself will not bring pressure to you, while the objective goal will produce pressure if it has a negative impact, and this depression is only caused by the goal itself, but Since we have adapted ourselves to objective goals, the pressure it brings is much smaller and can even be ignored. If the goals are too many or exceed the scope of commitment, you will feel obvious pressure. This pressure comes from the inside out rather than from the outside in. This kind of pressure is the most common pressure. However, this kind of pressure can "need" Does pressure make you progress? I think the person who said this must have never thought that there is another thing called motivation, and the two are equal but not equivalent. Therefore, the saying that pressure generates motivation does not exist at the goal level, because Excessive pressure on the target level will only lead to mental torture when it exceeds the tolerance range or acceptance ability, and there will be no such thing as "potential". Therefore, from this point of view, "pressure makes people grow." The statement that "pressure leads to motivation" is untenable here.

So since goals cannot bring a lot of pressure to people, how do we feel pressure? In common sense, it is still There is a paragraph like "The road to success is sometimes difficult, sometimes broad." It can be seen that most people describe the concept of effort to success as a road, and the phrase "effort will inevitably bring pressure" was also born. Therefore, after abandoning the preconceived concept, I define this statement: If the difficulty of achieving the goal is set as a road, then the goal is the end point, your process is the movement reference system, and your expectation value for the goal ( The influence of the goal (subjective and objective) is your motivation. In this way, another important element is exposed - I call it the "shortest path", so it is also one of the factors that affects the definition of pressure and motivation. .

This "path" is based on logic.

3. "Shortest path"

"Shortest path" can be understood like this: when you have many goals When it comes to the goal, the path with the least loss is the shortest path. So what is the relationship between this so-called path and the goal and pressure? What new properties does pressure have on this road to the goal? Is the pressure the same or different? In my opinion, the pressure at this time depends on the nature of this "road", which means that the saying "pressure gives power" may be true. We might as well list a few things about this first. Generally speaking, the nature of the shortest path, as long as it is a road, will be defined by factors such as length, width, friction coefficient, undulation, horizontal curvature, slope, road surface integrity, etc. This also corresponds to the so-called "success requirements". At the same time, these factors also affect the rate of advancement of the frame of reference. Abandoning preconceived concepts is fatal to common sense thinking and inertial thinking. In my opinion, inertial thinking is the problem for almost everyone. There is nothing lacking, so in order to avoid common sense, I adopted reverse thinking and tried to see if I could conversely deduce from the previously defined "shortest path" that "pressure can make a person progress, and sometimes some pressure is needed to grow. "Pressure is motivation".

First, conduct a side analysis of this "road" and classify the previously listed factors into three categories: length, negative factors, and positive factors.

Length

As the name suggests, the length here is the length of time required to achieve the goal we set or are set, so the position we are in before we complete the goal is related to the length. , (and we often use the difficulty of achieving the goal as the benchmark for measuring length, but this is also a common sense mistake, which I will talk about later) A practical question arises - how long is this length? How long is it? It is not difficult to figure out that two branches of length are born here: known length and unknown length. It’s not over yet. Don’t forget that this “road” is closely related to the nature of the goal. The nature of the goal is also the nature of this “road.” What is the nature of the goal? There are still three: subjective, objective, and neutral. But one thing to emphasize here is that neutrality has no meaning in the definition of "road", because this road can only be favorable or unfavorable. So:

Subjectively known length

Imagine that there is such a path in the so-called success study. This path with the least loss after your rational thinking is open in front of you, open to you. Stretching forward, when you look towards the end point, you find that the end point is not far in front of you! You are very happy at this time. You feel that you are inexplicably full of energy. Your legs move forward unconsciously, going faster and faster. Finally, you start to run. Looking at the end point flying towards you, you open your arms, Prepare for the last hug... This is a "friendly" road, a road that brings you happiness and a sense of accomplishment, and at the same time, it is a road of your own choice! This is the benefit of subjectively known length. When you carefully imagine it, two things do not appear - pressure and resistance. When you know how long this road will "take", you first feel at ease, and secondly, this road is tailor-made based on the goals you want to achieve according to your own requirements, so naturally you are full of confidence in this road. Naturally, we don't care about the pressure and resistance on this "road", even if it is paved with stumbling blocks and thorns. Therefore, from this level, it is impossible to deduce the absurdity of the so-called "pressure makes people progress" conclusion. However, there is another situation that cannot be ignored, so you ask, since this is a situation, why not list it? Because this doesn't happen - the length is known relative to infinity. Now let's think about it in reverse. If this road is almost infinitely far away from you, it is equivalent to 96 billion light-years in the known universe. Even if you travel at the speed of light and nothing stops you, it will still take you 96 billion years. Finished! Isn't this also a situation? No, if you knew it would take you a ridiculously long time to accomplish this goal, would you still do it? First of all, you will consider whether this road is worth taking before taking it, right? So here, pressure is not equivalent to motivation, nor does it lead to motivation.

Subjective unknown length

It’s still the same road, but this time you find that this road is a little different from the previous road. You stand there confused for a while and find that you can’t see anything in front of you. When you see something, something similar to fog blocks your view, so you decide to take a few tentative steps forward. At this time, you remember that you have planned what the end of this road should be, so you You tentatively ran again, but you felt tired and lonely not long after running. No matter how fast you ran, there was still fog ahead, but there was always a voice in your brain telling you where the end of the road was. Brilliant, you will speed up your pace every time after listening to it, and finally you will suddenly cross the finish line when you are exhausted, and you will be shocked yourself. What greets you is a great sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction... This situation is very It’s common. I think everyone who has experienced self-study will feel it, but not everyone’s version of the story is like this. Some people cross the finish line before they are ready to run, and some people are too confused and suffering on the way. , and finally gave up the sprint. Some people overcame many obstacles but found that what was waiting for them was only a small reward. Some people knew what they had to go through on this road, and then in turn used this road to gain growth. This is exactly what happens to everyone who is setting goals for themselves. But what does this have to do with pressure? In the subjective "road" of unknown length, these pressures are brought about by subjectivity, whether it is suffering, difficulty, loneliness, confusion, giving up, or regret. These negative emotions are the pressure that affects you, so you cross the finish line, and your gains and growth will compensate for the pressure you experience. So ironically the saying that stress makes you grow is true here! However, the saying that only pressure brings motivation is definitely not true! The cost of subjective goals does not allow excessive pressure from the outside world. If these pressures exceed the "threshold", they will ruthlessly interfere with everything on this "road". These pressures are brought by the outside world. It’s pressure that will definitely push you backwards in the opposite direction, and there will be no compensation once you reach the end. So in general, for a subjectively unknown length, the nature of the stress determines whether it can make people grow. Here, pressure is not equivalent to motivation, nor does it cause motivation.

So in the subjective "road" brought by subjective goals, the saying "pressure makes people grow" holds true.

Objectively known length

This time I think you should know the direction of the story.

You are forced to come to a road that is unfamiliar to you, but you can see something in front of you that is attracting you, and you can see the end of this road. The voice in your brain sounds again, and you know the end of this road. What is it, but you don’t know anything except the end point and the reason for coming to this road... This is the situation caused by the objectively knowable length. You only know the length of this road, and you may also know the "road" "What kind of pressure will you encounter, so in order to ensure the maximum benefit without knowing it, you will analyze your situation and how to go more smoothly, so the pressure at this time not only comes from the heart, but also from the outside world. This is the objective pressure caused by the objective. Since we have been experiencing these "roads" since birth, you who are smart will pass the end point in the shortest time without wanting to stop at all, so you happen to take advantage of these "roads" no matter where they come from. Use pressure to gain motivation, that is, let pressure do work for you, so here, the sentence "pressure will make people move forward" is correct, but if you don't know how to use pressure and let them become resistance freely, Even if one more unit of pressure is added at this time, all you will feel is suffering. Therefore, the phrase "pressure equals power" does not exist at this time. Can something become subjective when it is objective? Yes, it means growth. The sentence "Life is a process of growth" is absolutely correct. It tells us all the time that no matter what the attributes of this road are, you will gain something more or less from it, unless your brain loses memory ability. Here, pressure is not equivalent to motivation, but it leads to motivation.

Objectively unknown length

Here’s the point. The “path” of this attribute is very different from the first three, but it is very common. The first three are all on the same path. The way you know or plan to achieve external goals or self-goals, and this "road" of "objectively unknown length" is that you can only control your own "variable" and do not understand any other parameters, and this kind of "road" of "objectively unknown length" "Road" is generally macroscopic, and the goals it brings are also macroscopic. As a moving point, you can only control and plan your own variables to achieve the goal. Since this is a path that exists in an objective form, It means that you cannot refuse to participate in this "road". Everything is unknown to you, there is no absolute sense of security, and this road continues to change with the changes in the outside world, and at the same time you cannot see clearly. This "road" can "see" you clearly, thereby exposing your various "parameters and variables" (there will be an explanation of the meaning of all quoted "parameters and variables" later) to the general environment. , of course, generally speaking, this macro-state path is valid for an indefinite number of individuals. Each individual can be likened to an "adventurer". On this path, you can obtain the information you need, so you can obtain other Individual information is no exception. (I will also explain the nature of individuals later) So what is the role of stress here? It can be said that this type of road itself is a certain amount of pressure, and there is basically no motivation at all, so it is impossible to gain motivation? No, after slowly becoming familiar with the general direction of this road, smart people will take advantage of these unfavorable conditions to gain information about this road. The more information collected, the greater the chance of gaining momentum and the wider their vision. broad. For example, people start going to school when they are young, but when they are young, they don’t know what the meaning of going to school is, and they don’t know when it will end. All they can do is keep learning, but the pressure inevitably exists in real time and will continue to increase. Can the so-called increasing pressure at this time make children motivated? Employees in the company are motivated by being "loaded" by their bosses who only want to make money? Thinking about it from the perspective of children and employees, can these pressures be applied to motivate them who are already anxious about this path? Does this exist? So here, pressure is neither equivalent to motivation nor does it cause motivation.

Summary

Within the definition of "road", only the sentence "pressure makes people grow" is always true, and only the subjective and unknown long "road" in which pressure can lead to motivation .

As mentioned before, there are two more attributes that determine this path, the favorable factors and the losing factors, that is, motivation and resistance. Let’s take a closer look at the significance of motivation and resistance in the so-called premise of success learning.

Favorable factors——motivation

Let’s first take a look at the explanation given by the Baidu entry:

The “spiritual motivation” in the Baidu entry can be understood It is a kind of spiritual motivation that promotes people's normal activities, thoughts, and work. This ideological motivation comes from faith and spiritual stimulation, including ideological and political work, and the infinite spiritual power obtained. (Spiritual stimulation? Ideological and political work? The endless power of faith. Is this spiritual motivation or "spiritual deception"?) Because of certain factors, it is enough for us to adopt the first sentence: Spiritual motivation is to push people to actively work, study or complete something. The ideological motivation of the task. And favorable factors will directly lead to motivation subjectively, which can also be understood as favorable factors = motivation. Therefore, the favorable factors in the definition of "road" are one of the sources that directly lead us to gain motivation. In order to understand its meaning more broadly, let's take a look at Wiki's explanation

Motivation (motivating is translated as motivation) in psychology is generally considered to involve the origin, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior.

In organizational behavior, motivation mainly refers to the psychological process that stimulates people's motivation. The process of generating an inner drive in people through stimulation and encouragement to move them towards their desired goals.

The motivation in Wiki is a kind of psychological motivation, while the Baidu entry gives ideological motivation, so the motivation itself is a kind of psychological, ideological, or spiritual stimulation. Behavior. Overall, motivation is a driving, positive mental process.

Failure factors——resistance

Or the explanation of Baidu entry. From a spiritual point of view, pressure refers to the ideological burden, which comes from three aspects: society, life and competition. Apparently this editor didn't delve into the specific definition of what is called "stress." Mental pressure directly brings resistance, or it can also lead to resistance, and resistance requires motivation to overcome in order to achieve the goal, so in the final analysis, pressure cannot bring motivation.

Classification of failures and favorable factors

After analyzing the failures and favorable factors, it is not difficult for people to think of the things or people that caused these factors, that is, the "causers" - ——Human factors and non-human factors.

Human factors

As the name suggests, human factors are some failures or beneficial interference caused by external human interference. When it comes to pressure, human factors have the upper hand and cannot control the situation. The deterministic and time-changing nature amplifies favorable and unfavorable factors, making it difficult to find patterns. Therefore, even changes in human factors will only generate power when human factors have a dynamic impact, and not the other way around.

Non-human factors

Non-human factors, on the contrary, are the effects caused by objective facts. This influence can be beneficial or unfavorable. Why are we talking about non-human factors? Usually it will cause the smallest or largest impact. First, we have been exposed to objective facts and their effects since childhood. Whether it is habits, defense or acceptance, we have formed an understanding of non-human factors, so once non-human factors affect ourselves , we usually have reactive countermeasures. If there is no experience or assistance, the consequences are huge, such as winning the lottery in the positive and illness in the negative. When non-human factors cause failure conditions, there will be no so-called "power".

Summary

From the above we can see that both motivation and resistance are factors established within the definition of "road", and no matter what angle it is judged from, it does not matter. It will lead to absurd conclusions such as "pressure = power" or "pressure → resistance".

Four. The special properties of the "reference system"

Let's look for the answer from the source. With the path and the end point, it is time to explain what impact we can have on "power" and "resistance", that is, "reference" "Relation", this is also the last "relevant variable", and we have previously analyzed the goal and path, two changing factors related to pressure dynamics, then the next one is self-evident, we ourselves, the definition and nature of a goal It cannot ultimately affect ourselves, and the same is true for the path, but we ourselves affect the path goal. The point of action of pressure and motivation is ourselves, which means that our own nature leads to these so-called "pressures", "resistance", " power". I said at the beginning: "Since a person's motivation is caused or driven by pressure, it means that the original motivation is not enough to achieve the expected goal. Then the reason for the lack of motivation and this goal are naturally the root of the problem." So is stress related to our own motivation? Is this the flaw in my claim? .

Seeing this, I will try to find ideas that can overturn my argument. I have mentioned the path and goal above. There is no situation that proves that pressure is equal to motivation. So is there pressure equal to motivation? Or A situation where motivation equals pressure? There must be, otherwise why do so many people still believe in the inertial thinking brought about by this so-called "common saying"? I will introduce this possible counter-evidence below:

Since it is a "person", it should have corresponding properties, such as character, personality, concepts, thoughts, thinking, experience, knowledge, disposition, habits, Hobbies, psychology,... In the same way, everyone is different, and the way to withstand pressure and generate motivation is absolutely different. Therefore, naturally everyone has a different definition of stress. Some people may feel that they are more motivated when they are stressed. Furthermore, they may express their experiences incorrectly. For example, the saying "Only when you are stressed can you be motivated." Explanation: Pressure can be converted into aggressive power, so if I explain it like this: Two identical straight-line formula cars have the same power, and we add 500 kilograms of weight to the first car. This is pressure. If this car If the car has a competitive driver and meets the key factor of "pressure can be converted into power", then if you want to catch up with or even surpass the second car, increasing the power is a must. Yes, here is the first car The car "accelerates". When you see this, you will definitely say, "Look, pressure produces power." But what is the power here? When the second car keeps driving at a constant speed, if the first car wants to keep the same speed, it must increase the accelerator to get more power to drive away the excess pressure, and the premise is that the driver must have a necessary Confidence to win.

Now let's change the conditions and install a Boeing engine on the second car. The result? The first car cannot keep up with the second car even if the accelerator is fully applied. What I'm trying to say is that not only is it unrealistic to focus too much on stress, but it's also a myth to think of stress as a source of motivation. Pressure can indeed be offset by the power of transformation, but after all, everyone is different and has different resources. Maybe you are riding a BMW bicycle and competing with the Enterprise to see who can reach the Oort Nebula first. What we should pay attention to is not pressure. , but how to gain power, dragging a ton of scrap behind you vs. Upgrading your engine will make you more confident of victory? This is naturally self-evident. Here, counterevidence is invalid.

5. Summary

In this article, I demonstrated the impossibility of the phrase "pressure is motivation". Through the analysis and examples of pressure itself, I eliminated the source of success learning, although I also know the saying It itself cannot withstand scrutiny, but why are there still many people spreading this point? It is unacceptable. Inertial thinking and traditional thinking are not necessarily worthy of admiration, and most of them cannot withstand the questioning of thinking and time. With independent thinking, reversal thinking and constant questioning, traditional thinking will no longer spread and influence everywhere like a cult.

6. Mind Map

Above.