Chapter I

The Problem and Its Background

Peoples Greatest Desire

Introduction

Desire has been identified as a philosophical and psychological problem. Because

people become too engrossed with their desires, and this desire turns into obsession. And
sometimes, this obsession leads us to do bad things. Why? Because we badly want to
obtain something, something that will make us happy and satisfied, something or
someone that we long for. This may also lead to disappointment if we fail to obtain what
we want. They say that desire is the source of all problems. It is easy to understand how it
can be a problem not to acquire things, to be unhappy, to hear uninteresting sounds, to
have a bad reputation, to be criticized. These are commonly recognized as problems. But
you might not recognize acquiring things, having comfort and happiness, hearing
interesting sounds, having a good reputation and being praised as problems. However,
they are all the same; they are all problems. But the object itself is not the problem.
Having wealth is not the problem. So, what is the problem? The problem is the mind
desiring and clinging to wealth, it is the problem. Having a friend is not the problem; the
mind clinging to the friend makes having a friend a problem.

But desire is also the main reason why we want to live. It is a sense of longing for a
person, an object or hoping for an outcome. Desire is anything that brings satisfaction or

enjoyment; Happy Family, True Friends, Life Partner, Good Health, Career, Money,
Fame, Power and Influence. Why we want things? Because there is a reason for desire;
its because we are after an emotional experience. Think about it, would you want a life
partner if that person did not enhance your experience of intimacy, joy or love? Would
you want wealth if it didnt give you the emotional experience of freedom, expansion or
relief? Not really, right? So it is the emotional experience that we think our outer desire
will bring us satisfaction.

Desire has both positive and negative side; if it weren't for desire, most of the
positive things that we have in the world wouldn't exist, most of the positive actions we
experience and benefit from wouldn't have occurred, and most of our positive resources
just wouldn't be. Desire is extremely important in life, for it allows us, compels us to
work towards something better for ourselves and others. If I desire a better life for myself
and my family, I'm going to work towards that better life. If I'm satisfied with the status,
I'm going to remain rather passive, not looking to accomplish much, not looking to
advance. Of course, desire has its dark side, especially when it degenerates into
covetousness or envy. These traits are extremely destructive, and they definitely hold one
back from getting the most out of life. But another dark side of desire has to do with the
objects of our desire, and literature is full of examples of characters that have desired the
wrong thing and ended up hurting themselves and others because they've focused so
strongly on their own desires and on achieving those desires.

This study is about knowing what people desire the most. To know what things leads
us to happiness, and things that leads us to greediness, to know what things provoke us to
continue living and to know the greatest desire of the majority.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to present and discuss on how and why desire affects an individuals
life. It will focus on the advantages and disadvantages of desires.
Specifically it will answer the following questions:
1. What is the positive side of desires?
2. What is the dark side of desires?
3. What is the Peoples Greatest Desire?

Objectives of the Study

This research generally aims to study the psychological state of human and on how
they use it in their lives.
Specifically this research aims to:
1. To know what are the good effects of desire in our lives.
2. To know how desire leads us to bad things.
3. To know what is the Peoples Greatest Desire

Significance of the Study

This study contributes new knowledge to human where desire is usually known as a
motivation or sometimes destruction. This will provide important informations to avoid
us to be in the wrong path.

Chapter II
Related Studies and Literature

Articles

Increase Your Desire to Succeed

By Paul J. Meyer

Increase Your Desire to succeed the story of any achiever is one of desire. All
success, all achievement that is meaningful, and all success stories begin with desire.
Desire grips people with an insatiable appetite for action. If you have sufficient desire to
succeed, nothing can stop you from becoming a winner, a leader, or a high performer.

Desire is the burning internal quality that pushes you and produces restlessness with
things as they are. Desire empowers you to meet the challenges of life and compels you
to fulfil a purpose larger than yourself.

Everyday temptations: an experience sampling study of desire, conflict, and selfcontrol.

By Hofmann W, Baumeister RF, Frster G, Vohs KD.

How often and how strongly do people experience desires, to what extent do their
desires conflict with other goals, and how often and successfully do people exercise selfcontrol to resist their desires? To investigate desire and attempts to control desire in
everyday life, we conducted a large-scale experience sampling study based on a

conceptual framework integrating desire strength, conflict, resistance (use of selfcontrol), and behavior enactment. A sample of 205 adults wore beepers for a week. They
furnished 7,827 reports of desire episodes and completed personality measures of
behavioral inhibition system/behavior activation system (BIS/BAS) sensitivity, trait selfcontrol, perfectionism, and narcissistic entitlement. Results suggest that desires are
frequent, variable in intensity, and largely unproblematic. Those urges that do conflict
with other goals tend to elicit resistance, with uneven success. Desire strength, conflict,
resistance, and self-regulatory success were moderated in multiple ways by personality
variables as well as by situational and interpersonal factors such as alcohol consumption,
the mere presence of others, and the presence of others who already had enacted the
desire in question. Whereas personality generally had a stronger impact on the
dimensions of desire that emerged early in its course (desire strength and conflict),
situational factors showed relatively more influence on components later in the process
(resistance and behavior enactment). In total, these findings offer a novel and detailed
perspective on the nature of everyday desires and associated self-regulatory successes and
failures.

Desire: The Tyrant of the World

By Dr. M.W. Lewis

It is desire which leads to action, every action, and with that action, brought about by
the desire for the object of senses, comes attachment, and that attachment is what is the
cause of further desires. And there's no end to them, for one simple reason that desire is
not satisfied in the object of senses. It is not satisfied there at all. The fulfillment of desire

does not come through the objects of senses, but from the heart within. And that's why he
is such a tyrant, because he deludes us and keeps us in outward consciousness and away
from the Real Consciousness within.