Ways people act

[Shadowseeker]

So far I had been thinking about my own actions and then had to ask myself: How do I act?

Three possibilities were given:
Instinctively (is this a seperate category?)
Emotional
Rationally (this should be clear)
Subconciously (This is the weirdest one for me..it implies your subconciousness knows what might happen and lets you act in a certain manner. Does not fit into the first two categories.)

If I were to ask myself I wouldn't know which I am. I would assume I am a mix out of all, like other people in general are..but for my taste that 3rd category, subconciously, has to be emphasized. Is there truly such a thing? And if yes, how would you try to explain it? (Yes I know, this sounds like the principle of imagination.) Also, how would you judge your actions this way, what type are you?

But the main question is, which really leads to the results one wants to see?

Feel free to read, discuss and flame (as long as you have good arguments).

[Ren]

I think your categories might be a little off... Emotional and Instinctive aren't alike at all... One is a gut reactive feeling, and is rather subconscious. The other is more like... "listening to your heart." Not necessarily reacting instinctively, but rationalizing based on what you feel instead of based on facts/lies. That having been said...I kind of think you need to make emotional into a category, and combine subconscious and instinctive...

Though, I highly doubt those are the only categories available. I don't really feel up to trying to figure out what they are right now, though.

I know I'm mostly instinctual.

[Shadowseeker]

Interesting there's only one post here so far.

And I would admit emotional is a different category, so I added it. However, is the action you do on pure reflex or instinct really subconcious or can that also be something different? I mean with subconciously I am assuming your subconciousness knows what will happen if that is done, and instinctive behaviour can lead to the opposite.

Nobody else who wishes to discuss this? I'm really interested in this.

[stormrunner]

instinctive reactions and subconcious reactions are the same thing just it called subconcious when someone(maybe not the person having the reaction) can find a reason for it but instinctive seem to have no reason to anyone most of the time and when it does it makes no real sense maybe not even to the person having the reaction but it is always hard to shake

[Glaistig]

I should stop reading topics . . . and replying . . . but since it seems interesting and so far lacking in response, I'll contribute my little part. It doesn't matter much if the person plays MD or not, now does it? Of course not, not when it's me!

I agree with Shadowseeker and stormrunner; emotion may be another catergory but instinct isn't necessarily subconscious. It's percievable and thus conscious. You can choose not to act on instinct. However, it's similar to subconscious matter in that it doesn't involve rationale and yet still compels. The relationship between the two, according to Merriam Webster, is: behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level.

So it's conscious, but determined by unconscious stimuli.

If I had to judge for myself, I act mostly on emotion. I wish I didn't, though; I think rationale, while not always correct, often leads to better situations. Emotion is temporary and volatile, and instinct does not always consider to the results you desire. As for unconscious reactions..

I don't think you act purely unconsciously a lot, unless you mean sleepwalking or idly scratching, etc. But I think actions/reactions are mostly based on the unconscious. You can say you use rationale, emotion and instinct, but each are heavily influenced by unconcious factors. So, while I wouldn't really say I act unconsciously, I would say that all my decisions in essence are derived from the unconscious part of me.

[Shadowseeker]

A nice idea concerning that. Well, what you say about subconciousness does seem to be quite logical..however, I might wonder whether it actually is the subconcious which is determining your conciousness, even if you want to deny it.

I mean, if I remember correctly it takes up 80% or 90% of the whole brain capacity. Could it actually be that our own conciousness does not realize it's just sort of a subsitute and the subconciousness breaks through when it's about major decisions (or not if it fails to do so, then you're doomed if that were right)?

It's become a fascinating theory to me since I noticed that some actions of mine were leading towards something I wanted to realize in a way, but it was just too much of a coincidence to be true again.

PS: Of course you don't have to play MD; it's just to discuss here.

[Soltis]

[quote name='Shadowseeker' post='19778' date='Nov 13 2008, 02:42 PM']A nice idea concerning that. Well, what you say about subconsciousness does seem to be quite logical..however, I might wonder whether it actually is the subconscious which is determining your consciousness, even if you want to deny it.

I mean, if I remember correctly it takes up 80% or 90% of the whole brain capacity. Could it actually be that our own consciousness does not realize it's just sort of a substitute and the subconsciousness breaks through when it's about major decisions (or not if it fails to do so, then you're doomed if that were right)?

It's become a fascinating theory to me since I noticed that some actions of mine were leading towards something I wanted to realize in a way, but it was just too much of a coincidence to be true again.

PS: Of course you don't have to play MD; it's just to discuss here.[/quote]
I've noticed over years of watching others act that the subconscious acts on an almost omniscient level from the rest of your mind. There is always an ulterior motive in there, and even the calm types can have a violent, usually destructive storm inside their hearts trying to figure this basic thing out: What do I want? After that comes the rational, "How can I get this?" Usually, but not always, there is the mandate of survival and self-growth/protection in there somewhere as well.
Let's take a comedian- he likes to make people laugh. But why? It makes him feel good to see that he's made so many other people happy. This spurs self-growth, but the feeling is subconscious survival and self-growth.
Some of the more forceful or traumatized personalities are missing some of those key elements or are stuck so harshly on one of those questions that they act in strange ways.
Take a doctor. He likes to heal and help others, that's what makes him feel happy. But this doctor takes his job too intensely and failures completely consume his life, destroying his personality and eventually, himself. You would think that such a personality would act good towards itself, but one must be able to perceive past that and know all the thoughts going on at the time. When he fails, he fails personally as well, leading thoughts such as wondering where others would be without him there as opposed to with, and wondering if they would be better. In this personality, the "What do I want?" has overridden the survival instinct and to help somebody going through this, you must attack that and tell or prove that vital link- that his survival grants his desires better.

I use all those terms loosely mind you, but much of what I learned is unexplainable in short, I think I'd need to write an entire goddamn book to convey it all. That passage though, if studied and learned from, is I think a good starting point. Abandon thoughts of both idealism and harsh judgment on those examples, take them to be people.
The best starting point for me to say I started studying the mind, or when I began my observations, was really when I was a good 4 or 5 years younger and searched for answers to such harsh, deep questions inside myself- I consider myself lucky I was able to read some stuff online by chance one day and pull myself out of what I realize now was no less than complete clinical depression, from love no less. When you observe most of your life, understand yourself so, it often becomes heart-hurtingly obvious what is happening in front of your eyes and what the things you can do will reverberate into.

If you're lucky like me, you've got control of a gut instinct that flashes momentarily when you look at or hear someone in person (And I've done it more than once online believe it or not), and for a moment you understand intent by feeling it no matter if it's directed at you or not and can work with that, add that to what you've been doing.

[awiiya]

This post is a little long, so here is an overview for those that want a summary:

In short, I think all forces work together at one time to produce our actions. Actions cannot be categorized as one type of response. Although usually a person follows one more than others, they are all present.

I view actions more as a blurring of the categories. I consider emotional and rational (usually) before continuing. My first response is almost always emotional and instinctive (whether a strong disgust, or a love, or something of the sort) but then my rational side takes over and tries to determine whether my first response was accurate or not.

If you have ever read the book Blink, the author talks about how the first reaction is unusually accurate, and that subconsciously we think a lot about the thing and that thought process (although we don't know it) provides us with instinct and sometimes emotion.

For example let's analyze an action:

I meet a person and this happens:
1. Instinct: Instant dislike
2. Emotional: Repulsion
3. Rational: I think to myself that this person has a sloppy appearance.

Now that's just the first reaction. All three are acting at once to provide a strong sense of disgust with the person. First came my instinct which is mostly subconscious, and the first reaction is dislike. The emotional came second, but almost at the same time as the first. This emotion usually controls the facial expression, as well as body language. The third is the rational, which is when my conscious thoughts begin and I make observations about the person I am meeting. I believe that some of these thoughts have already happened unconsciously, but the thoughts that happen consciously along with the feelings will be put to memory.

Of course these categories are really arbitrary and an oversimplification, and are used only for clarification. I'm a little bit unsure of what actually happens, but I believe that the brain takes in signals from both the nerves and other parts of the brain and assembles an opinion and from that opinion an action is made.