Why You Do The Things You Do

You and I, human beings, have been described as reasoning animals.

And, let's face it; every one likes to think this is describing him or her.

There was a time when the instinctive and impulsive side of our nature, as opposed to the rational, was ignored by almost everyone. It was thought not to be a very respectable subject.

Nowadays, people from all walks of life know the important role impulse and emotion play in human life.

People act on emotion and justify with logic

The reality is people don't usually act rationally.

What I mean is a person will act without taking into account all the different reasons to do or not do something.

How often have you bought something because you like the look of it, only to try to come up with reasons why you need it afterwards?

Or, how many times have you bought something on the spur of the moment... only to regret it later?

I know I have. Too many times.

That's the emotional way of buying. Without thinking of the reasons why and the consequences of that buying action.

That would be the rational thing to do.

What it boils down to is the fact that the fundamental source of our actions is always some instinct or emotion that we want to satisfy.

I'm not saying this is wrong. In fact, a lot of times it's better to act on impulse than to calculate everything.

I'm sure you can think of many times and reasons when that was the best way for you.

While a lot of wrongs can be attributed to the uncontrolled working of selfish impulses, so can too many calculated actions.

Just look at what's happening all around the world right now.

Also, while impulse is a non-rational side to our nature, it's not irrational. Nor does it work against reason.

And don't forget, many of the arts and sciences are a result of impulsive actions.