Unreasonable Reasoning
Reason:
- A statement offered in explanation or justification
- A rational ground or motive
- The thing that makes some fact intelligible - the cause.
- A sufficient ground of explanation or of logical defense especially : something (such as a principle or law) that supports a conclusion or explains a fact
- The power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational ways.
While “Why?” is precise, exact, and understandable. What follows is anything but. Reason, by its very constitution, is complicated, unclear, and obtuse, not to mention subjective.
The DNA of Reason: There are three strands that when woven together create reason.
- Why people say they do what they do - reason, the statement.
- Why people think they do what they do - reason, the rationalization for the statement.
- Why people do what they do - reason, the internal comprehension of logic, motive and intent.
When the three strands don’t match, which is often the case, the result is ambiguous. While there may be a perception of clarity to an answer, it may in fact not exist at all. Truth is like a genetic code where all three strands become uniform.
Answering “Why?” with reason is like showing up to a knife fight with a spoon. So, how does one unlock the truth, when reason has so many layers?
The three strands of reason represent our human manipulation of logic (intentional or unintentional, conscious or subconscious) to fit a story. Reason is often pliable because there’s more than one, thus it’s possible to pick and choose to fit a narrative. The factual reason is closest to truth and it is often linked to our instinctual need for food, safety, and shelter, while the reason we state to the outside world or even to ourselves is the molded and sculpted version that conveniently or more often than not, self-servingly fits a story.
By understanding the unreasonableness of reason, one, first and foremost, can better understand themselves and what is revealed is an ability to better and more accurately understand others. When one unclutters the raw truth hidden behind the multitude of layers of reasoning, one then is predisposed not to become so hurt or insulted by the actions or act of others, realizing that the truth is based on one’s natural instincts (food, shelter, safety). One can further understand that by asking the question “Why?” you are inviting someone to create a narrative where the individual asking is left to determine how closely really does the story align with the truth. In the equation of life, the actual reason is always the X factor, wholly unknown to the person who asks the question, and perhaps even more probable, also unknown to the person answering.
People often times ask the question “Why?” out of a genuine desire to understand the intent of those they interact with. “Why did you do this?” Where truth is often times an unknown, the most prudent precautionary step one can take is in the choosing of one’s surroundings, that is the ecosystem of people and the nature of the environment in which one chooses to dwell. By the choice of friends, customers, and all relationships (you can’t choose your family) based on their ability and/or desire to seek knowledge, self-reflect, and choose truth versus deception, and good versus evil, one can mitigate the inevitable damage and outcome caused by poor, untruthful, malicious, or irresponsible reasoning. This means creating an environment where you wholly trust the judgment of those around you where they have been preselected specifically for your network based upon their predisposition for transparency and truth. In other words, their disposition to the Code of Good Reasoning.
“Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.” - Johann Wittgenstein. The best part of reasoning is that it brings us closer to ourselves. It begins by simply noticing the distance between the reason you think you do what you do and the reason you say you do what you do. In closing this gap, one then begins to question if the true reason for doing what you do is different from the internal false narrative. As a result, truth and reason become one.