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Actions Count, Reasons Don’t
It doesn’t matter what our motivations are ; the only thing that matters is what we actually do
Many of us are told from an early age that it’s important to understand other people’s perspectives so that we can empathize with them. Empathy, it is believed, helps make us better people and enables us to get along more constructively with each another.
While these ideas are true to a limited extent, unfortunately they are for the most part misleading, especially when well-meaning people imagine that motivation is more important than action. As the old adage says, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” People who believe themselves to be doing good are, as we all know, often those who end up doing the most harm.
There are many reasons why we should not be overly interested in motivation but should instead focus on behavior, and we’ll look at just a few examples here.
The human brain performs a variety of functions. Some are autonomic such as regulating breathing, heart rate, and so forth. Some are associated with functioning, such as maintaining balance, hand-eye coordination, and kinetic awareness. Only a tiny part of the human brain is evolved to support rudimentary reasoning and, because attempting to learn and reason consumes precious calories, we’re hardwired to avoid proper thinking whenever possible.
