Conversation

I've heard of 3 hypothesized "basic drives" for living things: seek pleasure, avoid pain, minimize energy. I don't know that any of them is based on anything more solid than Freud-level hand-waving, but I think there's a fourth one: regulate uncertainty.
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As in, arrange behaviors, intentions, expectations, actions to keep uncertainty in a band around a set-point that's comfortable to you.
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I've often thought of myself as being driven primarily by the "minimize energy usage" drive (alternately, "path of least resistance") but I think "regulate uncertainty" is a better description.
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