Personally I think the greatest motivation a person needs to thrive is his /her "WHY"
W=what
H=hurts
Y=you
What hurts you most could be anything so a deep meditation on your "why" will help push you a bit harder on you career endeavor.
I am struggling to make meaning of your words but I guess you are talking about being motivated by a problem or challenge. Motivation can be generated by the drive to tackle what hurts you. A problem can be a source of motivation especially when one begin to strive or devise means to over come it. Many inventions were born out of the need to tackle a problem. So I agree that when people begin to inquire "why this problem", it could serve as motivation..
On this note, as an individual which do you think is the strongest motivation,should we say it is,
- self motivation or
- a second party motivation?
Let's share your idea.
I don't really care about the source of motivation as much as it is positive. If the motivation is to contribute positively to society, the source is irrelevant. To be self-motivated is better because it is internal and requires no external force. If there is nobody or thing to motivate someone that depends on external motivators, such a person will not make progress. I prefer to be self-motivated so that I will be independent.