[alicebot-general] Steven Reiss' sixteen categories of motivation

[Chris Lofting]

The fact that Reiss' work focuses on 16 basic desires indicates a
correlation with 16 persona types of the MBTI.

In the IDM work the focus is on 64 to 4096 types and on and on an on
(reflects hyperbolic development in the form of N^2 rather than 2^N) so
numbers like '2 trillion' etc are meaningless if they are supposed to
impress. Each category comes with their own spectrum covering both
properties and methods (and so purpose). (and there is correlation with the
MBTI, HBDI, Big-5 etc etc)

For a refresh intro to IDM see
http://members.iimetro.com.au/~lofting/myweb/introIDM.html

We also identify motivation in the form of basic emotions and we can map 64
to 4096 of those to start with! ;-) (note that, for example, the emotion of
acceptance is in the set of motivations given in the 16 you have mentioned.)

The issues overall are in what is the intent - to focus on the particular,
where a bot is a representative of some hard-coded trait and so an
allegorical focus, that gets into story through allegory, or a focus on the
singular which elicits 'unique' identity derived from mixing a particular
with the full spectrum of possible types given a context. Here story is
taken literally but is more so figurative.

(A lot of games are formed around the use of allegory)

Our brains are the source of ALL categories. Understand how it does it and
you are half way there in making 'correct', workable, categories, each of
which comes with built-in but general purpose. From that position comes
details that include all sorts of 'small world networks' such as Reiss'
perspective on motivations etc.

With three generic questions one can detect the general out of which comes
the particulars. Make it six and you have more precision. Make it 12 and you
are working with 4096 'types' each of which has 4096 qualities forming their
spectrum (aka DNA). IOW one can pre-empt where things are going and so pace
and then lead - be you pacing a bot or a particular human. What is
'emergent' are the choices in finer qualities that comes out of those
general and how they are delt with by our singular natures (a nature which
equates with each of our four billion or so population as compared to our
particular natures that equate with 'persona types)

Here is a little exercise I think I mentioned before - it based on the
premise that our primate emotions developed prior to consciousness and as
such all reality is 'emotional' such that any context will elicit some
emotional bias and so a response independent of our reason. It is this
independence that lets our reason be at odds with our emotions (where our
reason includes cultural censorships on expressions etc).

The point is that once an emotional response is interrogated it gives us the
context or a representation of the context that our consciousness
immediately recognises (and so 'bypasses' the rational focus where the
development of consciousness allows for true escape from an instinct/habit
through de-regulation.)

The exercise focuses on the isomorphism of basic specialist categories with
the brain's general method of categorising. In this particular exercise we
employ (a) the categories derived from self-referencing the fight/flight
dichotomy (the foundation of emotions), and (b) the categories derived from
self-referencing the yin/yang dichotomy (the foundations of interpreting
reality using that dichotomy in the I Ching).

This is an exercise of the 'vague' but it does demonstrate how the correct
questions can 'bypass' censorships and elicit the 'best fit' in describing a
context in which one is operating. Describe the context and you find the
source of what is pushing one's buttons and so motivating behaviour where
that source can be internal and so proactive or external and so reactive.

Preamble: 

http://members.iimetro.com.au/~lofting/myweb/EmotionalIC.html

Programmed page: 

http://members.iimetro.com.au/~lofting/myweb/lofting/icplusEProact.html

Chris.