Philosophy of Genetics

Steve Jobs and slot machines

I just finished reading a biography of Steve Jobs, the charismatic co-founder of Apple Computers.  He is able to attract top talent to any company he starts, and those computer engineers willingly work 90 hour weeks on his behalf.  Yet, after he charms and attracts them with his vision of the future (often referred to as his "reality distortion field"), he is often abusive to those same employees, paying them poorly, taking credit for their work, and shunning them (even after many years of service) if they are critical or disloyal in any way.

So why do people continue working for Steve Jobs?  I'm reminded of the psychological concept of "partial reinforcement", often used to explain compulsive gambling. It goes like this: Slot machines reward their players at random intervals.  You never know when you will be rewarded, so you keep playing.  Random reinforcement turns out to be one of the most powerful human motivations.  Some people forget to eat or sleep, regardless of their finances, in pursuit of possible reward.

Followers want to identify with their leader's emotions.  They want to please him, and receive approbation and approval in return.  They are happy when he is happy, and sad when he is sad.  That is the nature of being a follower.  If the leader is abusive toward them, they feel stress and dismay, but also more motivated to please him in the future.

Steve Jobs naturally taps into the motivational power of partial reinforcement.  He is just being himself, although he is more rare breed than the rest, the distribution of traits at work.

What is Expectation?

Expectation is an assumption built into one's form.  Such assumptions are made during the process of an organism's development, as well as in the organism's present decision-making.

What does it mean to have an assumption built into your form?  During evolution, organisms always existed in a certain place and time, with a given environment.  As organisms evolved (in that place and time) in response to changes in their environment, certain aspects of the environment became the assumption behind the new form.

For example, frogs evolved to detect fuzzy dots in the sky and to leap toward them with their mouths open.  The expectation (built into the frog's form) is that fuzzy dots are flies for a meal.  In this sense, expectation is another way of saying "circumstances from long ago that are assumed to have remained constant" and thus are implicit in the frog's design.  (Also, note that "design" only becomes apparent in a specific environment -- if fuzzy dots are not flies, the frog will soon die).

Present-day decision-making also involves expectation.  A general may command his army to dig trenches or prepare artillery positions and wait for his next command.  Once these are in place, the general can expect that his simple order canl be detected by the prepared troops (verbally, or electronically, or visually), and once received, that signal will trigger a great battle. 

Compare this to hormone receptors, which (like a general preparing for battle) are strategically placed throughout the body to await a signal (a few drops of hormone), for which they already know how to respond.  Once that hormone is released into the bloodstream (like a general's order), those receptors detect the signal and enact their scripted response.