What motivates you?

[HyacinthMacaw]

Hey folks,

So I thought I could start a psych-specific poll and thread on what motivates us to pursue our goals. I have often felt overwhelmed by the specter and indeed the certainty of failure in this line of work. That failure in science is generative, at least romantically speaking--that is the only thing that reassures me. I'll be the first to confess that succumbing to self-reproach (or whatever doubts exist about the rewards of academia) has tempted me many, many times. After all, the hierarchical organization of academia and its high-strung denizens terrify me. I am egalitarian and communal.

The truth is, I'm about to embark on a career that I would not wish for my children. Yet, for all my questions about my competence, the depletion of my self-worth, and the pessimism that I can grow into the man I envision, a hero, I'm still going. As lonely and as painful as this career path may become, I have to hope that this is the way to mature into someone I can love (and that someone else can love). Restoring pride in my existence starts now.

I have zero confidence in my abilities, my future, and my contributions to those whom I love and to the broader society. I am unlikely to succeed in this field. But I can at least try and give it everything I've got. In the end--no matter how spectacular my failure, how horribly I've embarrassed myself, how much I despise myself--I can lay claim to a life of honest hardship that bestowed profound wisdom.

So what inspires the better angels within you to sing? What makes you think that it's all worth it?

[BlueRose]

I am not in psych, but I think most of us proto-grads are in the same boat.

What reassures me is a kind of radical version of Impostor Syndrome. Yes, I am laughably inadequate for the tasks at hand. That's fine. So are you, and so is everyone. Humans doing science is like hamsters playing chess; if you're worried about being the smartest hamster in the pet shop, you shouldn't be, because the difference between individuals is miniscule compared to the difference between where we are and what competence would look like. We aren't going to run out of science in our lifetimes. We can only do our best...and hope it's enough that society wants to continue paying our grocery bills.

As for motivations, there are many.

1] Getting paid to think and create knowledge is, frankly, a rather nice job. People solve puzzles for free; not only do we get to play in the world's most awesome puzzle factory, we get paid to do it. The tradeoff is that you can never completely turn it off - there's always more to do. However, it is possible to set limits, provided you are willing to deal with the consequences (if you insist on working 50 hours per week instead of 100, you will be less competitive for the plum jobs).

2] Being part of a community. Most problems are too big for one person to solve; they require a team of people with different skills. This can lead to the usual array of interpersonal problems, but more often it leads to friendships with smart, interesting people. (Yes, there are unpleasant, selfish, and/or deranged people in academics. Let me know if you find a career path without such people; I don't think it exists.)

3] If you're doing it right, other people are interested in your work; they can build on it, expand it, and use it to solve their own problems. This is what progress looks like.

4] Every so often, your field progresses to the point where it can actually do something useful for the world - something that wasn't possible before. Granted, people who take this as their daily motivation burn out pretty quickly. (I am "curing cancer" - but what I do is a decade away from usefulness, provided it's actually useful, which most of it won't be.) However, every so often, it's a nice change of perspective to look up and see the products, clinical trials, policies, and so on that your field's work made possible.

5] If I fail, I'm learning technical skills that have at least some value on the job market. (Clearly, different fields will vary! Mine has a passable-but-not-great market; the good jobs require a PhD, but tend to be more competitive.)

I'm not so worried about the demotivators - yes, academics is a hard slog, but it's not like the other options are easy!

I'd also say that you sound emotionally attached to the idea of being an academic. This is something I struggle with too, but it will make your life that much harder. A degree, a position, or a stack of papers will not magically complete you and turn you into a good, happy person. Believe me, the higher levels of academia have more than their fair share of miserable bastards - some wonderful people too, but they had to put in the work to be that way.