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Why are We So Obsessed With This?

Why we love challenges: The science behind our need for adventure and risk-taking.

By saad faouziPublished about a year ago 3 min read
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Why are We So Obsessed With This?
Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash

From the beginning of time, the human brain has been and still holds into a lot of secrets, how did we develop it, where did it come from, and why do we do what we do.

Our behaviors, our emotions, our thoughts, where did all that came from. Surly science has come to a lot of conclusions regarding these ideas, but overall it’s still a mystery.

And since we are not going to talk about the whole brain function, because that will take a lot of effort and research, actually.

What this article is about will ask a rather interesting question; why do humans love to challenge? Why do we lean toward it? Why are we so obsessed about it? And what’s so special and charming about challenge we are willing to ignore all the red flags about something just to involve in this hot mess?

What is Challenge?

Firstly, am not going to give any philosophical terms here, just relax, there will be no “what is life” type of questions, clear? Cool. Challenge basically means anything that requires a great amount of effort, whether it is physical or mental. Challenge is anything that is capable of testing your ability and your strength.

As it may seem static, the truth that it’s very relative, and shapes from one human to another. Lifting a 100 pound bum bell may seem challenging for you, but for a bodybuilder is just a warm-up method. Even doing the laundry, one of the easiest tasks out there, may seem hard, challenging, and requires so much processing when you buy a new washing machine.

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What is the Psychology behind Our Love of Challenges?

The psychology behind our love of challenge is, rather, a quite simple one. Take it like this, you do something because it satisfies you, not because you're actually going to benefit from it. And that what will call ladies and gentlemen: “The Intrinsic Motivation”, which means the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for separate consequence.

And you may say: "but! Doing laundry is not fun and not rewarding or satisfying, and I do it anyway.” Yeah, you do it because you have to do it, but if you are given the option, you won’t do it, no one would do it.

This has to do a lot with your dopamine levels, and dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that is associated with pleasure and reward. When we overcome a challenge, we experience a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, which reinforces our motivation to continue seeking out new challenges and achieving our goals. It’s like you are on drugs, but it’s not drugs, it’s challenge, the more challenges you overcome, the more you want.

In general, Humans are naturally competitive and enjoy the feeling of winning. Challenges can provide a platform for individuals to compete against others and showcase their skills and abilities.

Is challenge good or bad?

Whether challenge is good or bad depends, again, on the person himself, you can’t have the same answer from a lazy person and a hardworking guy, and you’ll get a completely different answers.

However, from a global prospective, which means scientifically, challenge is genuinely good for you, but same as everything else, a lot of challenge may harm you.

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Why do we need challenge?

So far we talked about challenge in kind of negative tone, well don’t get the wrong idea, challenge is necessary for humans. Challenge has a straight effect on Self-improvement, Many people are always striving to improve themselves and challenges can be a great way to do so. By setting a difficult goal or challenge for themselves, individuals can work towards improving their skills and abilities.

In addition, it gives that sweet sense of accomplishment. Challenges provide great opportunity for people to push themselves outside their comfort zones and achieve something that they may not have thought was possible. That’s way people like you and me are always seeking to try new thing (that’s why I am writing this article).

The sense of accomplishment when you beat a challenge and climb another stair to success can be very rewarding and satisfying.

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