Dive deep and get active. To know is one thing. To do is another. We've included challenging questions to start discussions, offline activities to get you moving, and creative outlets to stretch your brain in new ways. No right or wrong answers here -- just space for the curious mind.
What incentives motivate you? What incentives motivate your other family members?
Should family members all be motivated by the same things? Why or why not?
Which do you think are powerful: incentives that come from the outside (money, awards, success), or incentives that come from the inside (sense of accomplishment, mastery, ethics)?
Consider your relationships with people in your life. Do you have different levels of trust with different people? How does that affect your willingness to work with them?
In your opinion, what motivates Synthesis students more -- internal growth or winning games? Which is your own motivation?
Do individuals have more of a responsibility to themselves or to each other? Why? Do your parents agree with you here? Ask and find out.
Do you believe that human behavior is predictable? Why or why not? Do you behave in predictable ways? What about the people you know?
Watch the "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" video on the "Explore" page. On what level of the hierarchy are you? Pick a few other people (family members, friends) -- are they on the same level as you? Or are they higher (or lower)?
Evaluating incentives. Incentives can be positive (rewards, praise) or negative (punishments, scolding). In your life, where do you see these used on you? School? Sports? Performance? Parents? And the hardest question of all -- which type of incentive is more effective on you? Why?? Be honest. Challenge extension: discuss this with your parents. Ask them about what incentivizes their own behavior. The conversation may surprise you.
Mapping your motivation. What drives you more? External rewards or an internal sense of accomplishment? Make a list of everything you do in a week (like, everything: good stuff, bad stuff, fun stuff, boring stuff). For each item on that list, ask yourself, "Does my motivation to do this come more from outside or more from the inside? Put an E for "external motivation" and an I for "internal motivation". At the end, is there a balance? Or does one motivator have more?
Individual vs. the Collective. Analyze social dynamics that you see as you move through your environment this month. See if you can identify two common incentive structures: (1) individuals acting in their own interest at the expense of the common good, and (2) individuals acting in the interest of a larger group at their own personal expense. See both? Tell a parent and see if they agree with your findings. (And if you find really good examples, consider submitting your discoveries in the Photo Essay below!)
Photo essay. Use a phone or digital camera to capture images of this month's concepts in action. Can you get a picture of (a) people working toward a collective goal; (b) people working toward an individual goal; (c) people motivated by positive incentives; (d) people motivated by negative incentives. Got them all? Upload your pictures, explain your rationale by video or text, and submit them to Synthesis.
Experiment...on yourself. For this one, you'll need to grab a parent. And some of their money. Decide on two personal goals with your family. These can be anything, as long as they're challenging (e.g., cleaning the entire house, or saying 'Hello' in ten languages). For one goal, they'll pay you to be successful. For the other goal, there will be no reward at all, only a sense of accomplishment. Before you start, predict whether you'll be successful in both, only one, or neither. You know yourself. Or do you? At the end, grab a camera and tell the story of what happened; we'd love to hear it. Submit here.
Explainer video. Pick a specific concept from this month (like "Are internal or external motivators better?" or "What makes the strongest incentive?") and make a short video that discusses your reasoning, some examples from the world, and how the concept applies to your life. Your audience is students the same age as you. Why? Search the internet: there are lots of resources for adults, but there are fewer for students. And there are barely any made by students. Time to change that. Want to share it with us? Submit here.
