Want and Desire: Misunderstood and Universally Accepted

Want and Desire: Misunderstood and Universally Accepted

I recently came across a debate regarding “want and desire”.  This is the sort of semantically accepted explanation for motivations and their subsequent actions that troubles me a bit.  Want and Desire are Results, are outputs from very basic psychological equations.  Wants and Desires are not in themselves foundational variables in these equations, and this concept is so often left unconsidered, that the resulting impact is the complete and utter lack of understanding in regards to human behavior.   

"Want" is not is not an atomic level catalyst. It is the result of something(s) far more basic, and often mindlessly(mind is an entire discussion in itself, taken up in another thread)  synthesized from far more rudimentary emotions, instincts, and programming(subtly different than instincts).  Does a sperm really “want”? Or does it simply “do” based on its genetic programming.  As “wants” manifest in more sophisticated entities, the question is always going to be “Why”.  There are many, many examples of this, but I’ll use one or two of yours:

-          “Two humans want a baby”…Why?

o   To quickly cover-off instinct and programming, we could say it’s not a “want”, but a simple genetic program running with the human body that compels most animals to procreate.

o   But conscious “want” is a simple logical chain, even if it is not always examined….e.g.

§  Susan and Paul “want” a baby.

§  They “want” a baby because all of their friends have babies and are always doing baby-oriented things, which is alienating Susan and Paul from their friends

§  Susan and Paul don’t want to lose their friends.

§  Why don’t S & P want to lose their friends?  Who cares? Why does it matter to them so much?

§  S & P have fun with friends.  Friends supply S & P with Joy

§  S & P feel alone without friends.  They become Sad.

§  S & P rely on friends for help. Their friends pet sit for their dog.  S & P need help from those they can Trust.

§  S & P “want” a baby to avoid losing a source of Joy, to avoid being Sad, to avoid the difficulty of receiving help from those they Trust

o   – (Joy + Sad +Trust) = “want a baby”

 

-          “A parent wants a child to succeed” – Why?  Who cares if a child succeeds or fails?

-          I think we could more safely say that parents want their offspring to live.  Why?

o   Genetic programming often includes the mindless, instinctual actions of perpetuating a bloodline

-          So with bloodline perpetuation covered, if we mean “success” to be something other than mere survival, why do extraneous popular measures of success (house, car, job, etc.) matter?

o   The simplest answer would be something like: the parents understand *instinctively* that food, clothing and shelter increase the likelihood of surviving and reproducing in order to maintain a bloodline.

-          But society has its own judgments that many people choose to take interest in:

o   Successful children can be a source of Joy

o   Dead offspring can be a source of Sadness and Anger

-          Parent want their child to succeed because they are seeking Joy, and avoiding Sadness and Anger

I think that is possibly enough logical relationship examples to explain what I am getting at, but feel free to add your own.