Thanks for the feedback. The second post was handwavey - or at least, link-wavey. I basically just gave some links and a brief discussion to indicate that a "causal theory of reference" should be the go-to way to try to understand the reference of desires.

All of which was to support and help interpret one sentence of my last post:

The words and concepts we use for these things - pain, passion, elation, for some easier examples - refer to the actual processes in human beings that drive the related behavior.

But maybe the two stories (Gasoline Gal, and Carol) do that better, than appealing to a causal theory of reference.