Understanding how the human mind works is one of the great challenges facing many scientists today. Nathaniel Barrett, researcher of group 'Mind-brain' of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra, is one of these experts. Specifically, he tries to understand the mind and cognition from its origins, from evolution, and to do so he focuses on experience through affectivity, pleasure, pain, enjoyment...

He has recently published a series of scientific articles in the journal Adaptive Behavior in which he explores motivation as a fundamental element for the existence of cognition. Thus, he proposes to describe what motivation is, to deepen the relationship between motivation and cognition, and to delve into the relationship between motivation and causality. 

As he explains, understanding the mechanisms of motivation is one of the oldest problems in psychology, since it is not clear how it is possible to understand it as a natural cause. 

"One of its characteristics is that it directs behavior but not in a specific way; it constitutes a preference," he explains. For example, he says that by observing an animal we can understand its motivation through its behavior: if it is looking for food, if it is afraid... "Motivation serves to explain a complex diversity of behavior," he says.

In his work, Barrett draws on the financial aid of physics to bridge the gap between motivation and causation. In his view, the former functions as a force-indeed, it is often described as such-and, ultimately, forces are governed by physical laws.

Ends and entropy

From agreement with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, every closed system tends to maximum entropy. In fact, some natural processes go to the extreme -either to the maximum or to the minimum- some of their characteristics in order to achieve this equilibrium. As described at researcher, many times these extreme behaviors are so complex that they cannot be explained with a formula and can only be accounted for through the corresponding physical law. 

For example, if we heat oil in a Petri dish, the oil will change its structure, forming columns that allow the hot liquid to rise and the cold liquid to fall. Why does this happen? Because it tries to lower the temperature in the fastest way. "We explain the structure by what you get through it," details Barrett. Thus, for the expert we understand natural tendencies as 'preferences'.

The researcher of 'Mind-Brain' states that this approach can be applied to motivation: it suggests that perhaps there is a deep relationship between extreme characteristics and motivation in living beings. Thus, according to his proposal, by observing behavior one can understand the motivation and purpose of living beings. 

He points out that they have to obey the law of maximizing entropy production, which, in this case, can be translated into self-preservation behavior. However, he points out that, at the same time, "they can take advantage of this tendency for their own ends. That's how motivation works. Thus, as long as they manage to stay alive, the Law of Entropy financial aid: "They use the force of nature for their own benefit".

• On the nature and origins of cognition as a form of motivated activity (January, 2019).

• Extreme properties and self-preserving behavior (July, 2019).