You know its strange to think about the behavior of people. We all seek the same things, but go about getting them in vastly different ways. Why? I believe this is because of the beliefs we carry in our minds.

If one person believes they will derive happiness from being wealthy and another from being poor on purpose because it is the lords work, then they both go after it adamantly. Neither is better. But it does explain strange behavior.

At the core we never do anything without a purpose. It is either to do what we believe will bring pleasure or what we believe will remove pain.

Because of this we have people doing everything from stealing to shooting up with drugs.

They believe this will ultimately lead them to the happiness they seek. People are simple, they do what they believe is in their best interest. And it makes sense. The difference happens in WHAT they believe is in their best interest. That can be a totally different thing depending on their beliefs.

Some believe its in their best interest to rob a place, others to shoot people. Why? The robber often sees it as the only way to get what he wants, if that were your perception, youd probably do the same thing.

If you saw robbery as the only way to happiness, then I doubt you wouldnt do it as well. Or worse. But fortunately we dont all have these kinds of beliefs, phew*

Now I want to talk about what are men and women both really looking for? I think its one thing, to love and to be loved. That is all. You see a lot of games, a lot of hurt feelings, but in the end, what we really seek in a relationship is someone to love and to love us back. Thats we really all search for. But sometimes its easy to lose sight of that.

yeah, i spend a lot of time thinking about human behavior...and i agree with you entirely.

nice post

This reminds me of Socrates' thought that no one does wrong willingly- that essentially each person behaves according to their level of understanding. And yet more recently I have felt that it is not always a person's belief system that determines their behavior but their neurochemistry and genetics.

I would disagree, I have seen people change their behavior overnight by changing their perspective.

If you have a smoking habit and someone shoots you with a taser everytime you try to take a smoke do you think your genetics or neurochemistry is going to change the fact that you will be very adverse to smoking now?

Likewise if you believe that 1 billion people will die if you dont rob a convience store, will your genetics or neurochemistry determine your actions or will the fact that you see robbing that store as the way to save the lives of 1 billion people determine your actions?

While people do not believe such extremes, they do however feel like it is that way. If you feel as though the rest of your life depends on something, then its probably going to take a LOT to deter you from doing it.

Most def....it's all about what you believe in.
The problem lies in figuring out living by values. People want to do right...but when faced with split moment decisions, it seems like training to not think before acting.

some people like to think before they act...but there's no limit on thinking ahead...it can be disappointing when confronted with those who react.

The same principle of success applies to both persons.

First an honest person gaining wealth may continue to try and do that from fear of losing what is gained already.

Second a person who has gain through dishonest means may continue to do that from fear of losing what has been gained already.

It seems more like a conditioned response for living on a day to day basis.

as important as wealth is, it would seem wise to focus on its purpose to fit in with ur values rather than just obtaining it