ABSTRACT
What makes human motivation human? How do the motives of humans differ from the motives of other animals? I believe that the best single answer to these questions is that humans are motivated to share their inner states. This motive is captured in the urgency of a 1-year-old girl who is trying to grab her father’s attention to share with him her feelings about, her thoughts about, the object she is excitedly pointing to. This motive for joint evaluation, for joint understandingfor sharing an inner state-is what makes us so different motivationally from other animals.
