The following video created by the RSA is based on a lecture from Dan Pink and his book Drive. In the book he basically explores what motivates us and how what we think we know about motivation is far from the truth. He covers topics such as incentives, rewards, growth, punishment, and more. In the lecture he focuses on the dynamics of rewards and punishment, which you can check out below.
A lot of interesting things to think about here. I’ve always found these topics fascinating and this in particular reminds me a lot about the area of behavioral economics, which is essentially about the irrationalities of our behavior. Check out Dan Ariely for more about behavioral economics and for more by Dan Pink, visit his blog.