What are the true limits to motivation? The Programmers' Credo reminds us we do things not because they are easy, but because we thought they were going to be easy.

A student asks Yasutani how to realize his Self-nature. Yasutani replies that conviction creates determination and zeal, but without conviction—thinking 'maybe I can, maybe I can't' or 'this is beyond me'—awakening never comes regardless of zazen practice.

This connects to Eliezer Yudkowsky's 'beisutsukai' posts about finding the successor to quantum mechanics. We intellectually know current theories must be wrong, yet psychologically cannot tackle them with the energy of a paradox or anomaly. The students in Yudkowsky's story know quantum mechanics is wrong, giving them psychological advantages: willingness to scrap old insights and avoid patching up outdated theories.

Jeffreyssai explains that Eld Science failed because they thought it acceptable to take 30 years to solve a problem. Their social process was based on eventually reaching truth. Work expands to fill the time allotted. But people can think important thoughts in far less than 30 years if they expect speed of themselves.

The key insight: knowing there is a correct answer makes us far more motivated and effective than uncertainty about whether a question is even answerable.