[lbo-talk] in the American grain

[Gail Brock]

There are a number of factors in the satisfaction derived from a difficult task.  Our brains/nervous systems feel good exercising the nerves, which are most dense in the parts of our bodies that we use in artistic endeavors -- fingers, eyes, ears, mouth and throat.  We like to doodle, knit, and hum as well as paint, play piano, and sing opera.  Too little obstacle is boring; too much, frustrating.  We also have a status issue, in enjoying the admiration we get from conquering a difficult task.  Anyone who doesn't keep up resolve and self-discipline with fantasies of weeks atop the charts belongs to a different species than I do.  Most of all, we like to have an effect on the world around us, and I think it's fulfilling that goal that is the primary satisfaction.  Everybody wants to be able to say, "I made a difference."  The thought that "I was able to make the difference only because of the difficulty and effort involved" can lead us to assign more

 value to the difficulty.

I've found that I enjoy working on something difficult that involves effort far more AFTER I get past the really tough beginner stage.  It's just so hard and takes so much time for so little payoff.  Once I've gotten some skill or laid out the plan for proceeding, then I enjoy putting out the effort to go forward, precisely because it's so much less laborious and I get the satisfactions other than just expending effort.   

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Marv Gandall <marvgandall at videotron.ca> on Mon, April 19, 2010 7:55:45 AM wrote:

On 2010-04-18, at 10:57 PM, SA wrote:


> Michael Smith wrote:
> 
>> On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:29:51 -0400
>> SA <s11131978 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>  
>>> Anyone who's ever done the painstaking work
>>> of trying to learn a foreign language, or master a piece of music, or
>>> solve a difficult math problem, knows that such endeavors are deeply satisfying and that it's precisely the difficulty and effort involved that make them so.    
>> 
>> Having done some of the things mentioned, I'd have to say this statement is dead wrong. The "difficulty and effort" form no part of the pleasure. 
> 
> Really? Well, it's a big world out there. Having done them too, I'd say difficulty and effort are part of the pleasure - or more exactly, the satisfaction. I wonder what others think.
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I agree. Nothing more satisfying then a hard, sweaty workout or the labourious shaping and reshaping, the crafting, of written or physical material. But then again others like to stroll and to observe and to fish. And most of us like to do both at different times. The issue becomes how to eliminate the constraints which prevent people from a) taking satisfaction in their work and b) having the opportunity for more leisurely activity. 
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