What Motivates Man?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If we watch a dog, we find that its basic needs are food, sleep, and sex. And what motivates man?

Answer: In man, it’s the same thing: food, sex, and family. These are the animal, physical desires. The next level of desires are social, which are created in us under the influence of the surrounding society. It arouses in us additional desires: for wealth, fame (power), and sciences (knowledge). This means that the first three desires are physical and the next three are seemingly spiritual.

Question: Where do the things like confidence in the future for myself and my children come in?

Answer: Everything is included. Absolutely everything!

Everything is included within these kinds of desires: three corporeal desires and three desires that are, seemingly, “spiritual,” which are as if outside of the body of man and are not used directly for bodily pleasures.

Question: Is the desire of not doing anything, to have everyone leave me alone, to not touch me and just disappear, also included here?

Answer: This is what our general desire, egoism, wants.

The desire for peace can be discovered also when you are running around from corner to corner, but specifically it creates in you a sense of peace. Try stopping a child, for him stopping on the spot, on the contrary, brings a state of anxiety, and when he is running around, he enjoys it; it is peace for him. This is to say that rest is felt according to its desire. When it is in balance, in fulfillment, satiated, this is when the desire itself is relaxed.
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From KabTV’s “Talks with Michael Laitman,” 03/10/12 

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