If we’ve never paused to wonder about our motivations, we might assume that we know exactly why we do things. Not having practiced introspection, we might have a huge gap in our own self-knowledge - and we don’t even know that we don’t know
Sometimes people believe that motivations are simple. For example, an atheist will declare that a theist believes in heaven “just because he’s afraid of death.” Yet when we do ask why people do things, we find that it’s difficult enough to understand our own motives, let alone the motives of others.
In fact, the reasons people do things are various, multi-layered, and often contradictory. When we look inside we can see that, and as a result we can more deeply relate to others.
For the transcript: Asking Why A Beautiful Thought
