6 Rules of Pain and Pleasure The Science Behind All Human Action

1
6 Rules of Pain and Pleasure The Science Behind
All Human Action
2
Rule 1 All Decisions Made by Human Beings are
to Avoid Pain or Gain Pleasure

• When it comes to motivation and why people do the
  things that they do, it comes down the simple
  science of pain versus pleasure. In its simplest
  form, all decisions that human beings make are to
  either gain pleasure or to avoid pain. Any act
  can be broken down this way. Why do you brush
  your teeth? Why would a woman spend precious time
  applying makeup before going out? Why would
  someone go to the gym every day? All of these
  actions can be sliced down to an individual
  trying to attain pleasure and/or avoid the pain
  that an action is going to bring. Its all pain
  and pleasure.

3
Rule 2 People Will do Much More to Avoid Pain
than they Will to Gain Pleasure
As it turns out, while human beings want to both
avoid pain and gain pleasure, they will do more
for one than the other. Avoiding immediate pain
is much more motivating than gaining immediate
pleasure. If there is a lion running after you
versus a suitcase full of money in front of you,
which would motivate the average human to act
quickly? Avoiding a certain amount of immediate
pain wins over gaining immediate pleasure every
time. Studies have demonstrated time and time
again that people will do much more to avoid
short term pain than they will to gain short term
pleasure.
4
Rule 3 Perception is Reality!

• Its the perception of pain and pleasure, not
  actual pain and pleasure that drives people. At
  first, this concept might seem a bit strange but
  a quick inspection makes it seem rather obvious.
  Since we dont really ever know for sure what the
  future will hold, our brain, specifically the
  prefrontal cortex within the frontal lobe of our
  brain, is constantly making assumptions and
  judgements about the future. Its this perception
  of future pain and pleasure that drives our
  actions. Unfortunately, it turns out that our
  perceptions are often very flawed, especially
  when it comes to things that are a bit more
  complex than running away from a predator or
  falling from heights.

5
Rule 4 Pain and Pleasure are Modulated by Time

• Not only are we trying to avoid what we perceive
  to be painful and get what we perceive to be
  pleasurable, but timing also matters. We are
  focused avoiding immediate pain and we are trying
  to attain immediate pleasure. The closer
  something is to this moment, the more pain or
  pleasure we attach to it. Therefore, pain
  tomorrow is not as powerful of a force as pain
  today. Pain in a decade is absolutely far less
  motivating (or demotivating) that pain a week
  from now. This is precisely why most human beings
  have such a hard time saving money even though
  you can receive interest and free money by
  delaying spending.

6

• As time goes on, our perception of pain and
  pleasure changes. Every decision you make results
  in at least one or more of the following short
  term pain, long term pain, short term pleasure or
  long term pleasure. Short term always wins over
  long term unless there is a substantial amount of
  pain or pleasure associated with the long term
  avoidance of pain or gain of pleasure involved.
  Pain, or the level of perceived pleasure
  decreases with time.

7
Rule 5 Emotion Trumps Logic When Thinking of
Pain and Pleasure

• When thinking of making a decision based on
  gaining pleasure or avoiding pain, there is also
  an emotional aspect to the decision and a logical
  or more intellectual aspect to it. How many times
  have you looked at some ice cream sitting in
  front of you and had the ice cream even though
  you knew intellectually that you should not have
  the ice cream? We have all been there. Logically,
  you shouldnt have the ice cream but emotionally,
  you want the ice cream. What wins? Intellect or
  emotions?
• An ounce of emotion wins over an ounce or two of
  logic every time. The pain or pleasure related to
  our emotions are hard-wired in our brains to be
  much stronger because its the primitive part of
  our brain that tells us to act rather than think
  ahead to the future. This also further explains
  the modulation of pain and pleasure by time. When
  something is going to happen now, its much more
  likely to trigger an emotional response in us
  than something that is going to happen decades
  from now.

8
Rule 6 Survival vs. Desire in the Pleasure
Pain Principle

• Finally, anytime our survival response is
  triggered, everything else essentially shuts
  down. This concept can be explained by thinking
  that pain and pleasure can be further broken down
  into things that are hard-wired for survival and
  things that are mere wants. Its easy then, to
  understand, that if something triggers a survival
  response, such as running away from a predator,
  it is going to override just about every other
  desire in that moment. When most people hear this
  principle, however they assume that the survival
  instinct is naturally going to be the one that is
  trying to avoid pain but that doesnt always work
  the way you would think.
• The desire to consume sugar or other addictive
  foods is the perfect example of something that is
  absolutely hard-wired. If you love cookies and
  someone puts a cookie in front of you, you are
  instinctually driven to eat the cookie. Now, many
  times, we are able to use enough logic and future
  pain to stop ourselves but over 50 of the US
  population loses that battle several times per
  day! You are hard wired to eat sugar to stay
  alive and while processed foods are only 100
  years old, our genetics are over 100,000 years
  old! From a survival perspective, the more
  calories, the better. Your brain thinks eating
  the cookie means survival and not eating it means
  death!

9
Putting Pain and Pleasure Principles Together

• We want to avoid pain and to gain pleasure
• What we want more is to avoid pain, even if we
  wont get pleasure
• But we dont know what is actually going to cause
  pain or pleasure so we have to rely on what we
  perceive to be painful or pleasurable
• Then the clock takes over and we focus on now
  rather than later and immediate pain or pleasure
  become magnified
• If for any reason emotion enters the equation,
  that element gets much more magnified, regardless
  of the type or reason
• Finally, if anything triggers our survival
  response, all else goes out the window because we
  are hard-wired to survive.

10
Putting The Pain and Pleasure Principle to Use in
Your Life

• Everyone has specific formulas for what works for
  them. How can you use these rules to influence
  and motivate yourself to do the things that you
  want and need to do? For one, knowledge is power.
  Use the rules of the pain and pleasure principle
  to your advantage. In addition, think about what
  works for you. Knowing that your brain is focused
  on this moment, come up with ways of making
  future pain seem more real now.

11
Questions? Comments?

• We are happy to help you!

• Website https//titaniumsuccess.com
• Titanium Success
• info_at_titaniumsuccess.com
•  844-884-8264
•  
• Sources
• https//mcb.berkeley.edu/news-and-events/departmen
  t-news/the-science-of-pain
• https//titaniumsuccess.com/6-rules-of-pain-and-pl
  easure-the-science-behind-all-human-action/