Schauer Thoughts How To Create a Self-Curriculum! Pt. 2
Mar 4, 2026
They explore desire, interoception, and how bodily awareness fuels self-directed learning. Topics include motivation versus punishment, starting hard things, and designing curricula that actually motivate learners. Conversations touch on storytelling, AI, the polyvagal debate, and research linking self-objectification to blunted bodily sensation. Movement, affect, and practical ways to notice inner signals round out the discussion.
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Interoception Powers Desire And Motivation
- Interoception is the body's internal sensing system and a core driver of desire, craving, and motivation.
- Sarah Schauer highlights the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves as primary interoceptive channels shaping wants and sustained pursuit.
Stop Self Policing To Recover Bodily Signals
- Stop self-policing and self-objectifying to restore access to bodily signals that guide learning and desire.
- Sarah urges reducing policing of expression, appearance, and novelty so your hands aren't metaphorically tied when creating a curriculum.
Objectification Cuts Off Body Awareness
- Self-objectification literally reduces bodily awareness, explaining why people wearing little clothing can feel unbothered by cold.
- Sarah references the study ‘When Looking Hot Means Not Feeling Cold’ as evidence that objectification blocks interoceptive sensation.
