Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work? | Video on TED.com
ted.comWhat motivates us to work? Contrary to conventional wisdom, it isn’t just money. But it’s not exactly joy either. It seems that most of us thrive by making constant progress and feeling a sense of purpose. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely presents two eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work. (Filmed at TEDxRiodelaPlata.)
Curiosity, learning and humans
From wondering about how ants move to gazing at the vast distant sky above us, human are forever seeking meaning in things. Our drive to learn has shaped humanity from its very inception, and it will always be a part of us.

Being curious and inquisitive are the very traits that make us human. As soon as a child is born, he/she explores the world and starts to wonder about its grandeur. This urge to learn is what underpins our whole human experience.
But, why are humans so naturally curious? From an evolutionary perspective, it is simple. For example, if people did not wonder as to how plants grow and how we can use that to our advantage, then we would never have discovered farming. Simply put, it gives us a huge evolutionary edge over other animals.
We have evolved as a species to use curiosity as a survival strategy. And it seems to have worked. We are now the dominant species on this Earth.
In fact, our brains are hard wired for learning. Whenever we learn something new, we get a pleasure response from our brains. That is why we love playing, solving puzzles, etc. so much; we learn something new by doing them.
Curiosity drives us to find out things around us, and hence, use it to further our evolution. Most animals are curious, but, by having a bigger brain, we are able to wonder and analyses about things in a much clearer fashion. It is safe to say that our curiosity and big brains is an awesome combination!
Our insatiable appetite for knowledge, coupled with our ability to understand things, is really the core essence of being human. Not only are we curious about everything around us, we are also able to analyses things and come up with a plausible explanation.
And this, in fact, is what leads to science and learning. Pursuing science is really just a manifestation of the human drive for knowledge.
Our increased thinking capacities also mean that we can solve problems in better and more unique way. This explains why humans are so creative. A drive to learn and ability to think clearly give all humans incredible creativity.
The little things that we do out of impulse every day, because we just want to know about it, are all due to our curious nature. From our scientific endeavors to things in our everyday lives, learning is at the heart of it all.
Thus, curiosity is what it means to be human, our whole lives are governed by the fact that we are beings that constantly wonder about the world around us, and this is part of our everyday lives.
If we are to live life to the fullest, we must be inquisitive and always ready to learn. After all, living is nothing but learning and wondering about this amazing world around us. Living is certainly devoid of life if we are not curious. Curiosity and our drive to learn is what give us meaning in life. Being curious is being human.