The Harvard Business Review’s issue for January 2006 is devoted wholly to decision-making. I’m about one-quarter of the way through the magazine where there is an article called Decisions and Desire by Gardiner Morse. It focuses on the neuroscience behind our decision-making capacity and the growing proof that "we have dog brains, basically, with a human cortex stuck on top, a veneer of civilization."
Now, before you get excited about the fact that scientists compare your brains to those of your faithful pooch, consider this: without that mammalian part of the brain, we couldn’t laugh, cry, or find contentment. We also wouldn’t be able to make a decision since this is an ability that takes some combination of emotion along with logic.
Later in the article, Morse addresses some of the why behind our attitudes toward money in our careers. Whereas an economist might argue that people work because they place value on the things that money can buy, a neuroscientist could argue that "chasing money is its own reward." Apparently, we have a region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens which is where our desires originate. In an experiment, scientists observed the reactions of test subjects who were presented with the prospect of receiving money. The higher the potential monetary reward, the more active the accumbens became. However, once the money was received, activity in this area of the brain ceased which led researchers to conclude that it was the anticipation rather than the actual monetary reward which aroused the subjects.
All of this seems to explain why we might decide to chase another job for better pay, but often find the same old problems in the new environment. And that’s not to say that better pay isn’t a reason to leave one organization for another. What it does mean is that it’s absolutely essential to be honest with ourselves and develop a good decision-making model. After the chase for a new organization is over, what then? Will it fulfill those other needs that might not be as sexy as money (like fulfillment and learning)?
In other words…can we live with the results after the thrill is gone?
I just posted on an article which says that Bangladeshis are the happiest people on earth. They, and all the other people whose countries landed top spots in the survey, are among the poorest people on the planet. Of course, one reason for this is because impoverished people actually do see an improved quality of life when their incomes increase, whereas a $10,000 a year increase for us doesn't make much of a difference. Also, however, I wonder how a steady diet of moderate poverty (with no hope of ever making more money) might quiet the accumben, therefore flooding the person with less desire and therefore less anticipation/stress/craving. I'm NOT a proponent of poverty, nor do I feel that poverty is better than comfort or wealth or any other human condition. But in looking at this from a Buddhist perspective (that the cessation of craving is the cessation of suffering), I think it's an interesting link. Here's the permalink to the article, as I posted it: http://iraisemykids.typepad.com/i_raise_my_kids/20...
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