Objective vs Subjective Benefits

Objective vs subjective benefits. It’s an interesting relationship in regards to what we do, how we act, and the choices we make.

In terms of the general concept, people will tend to choose subjective benefits over objective, even if there is an objectively negative effect (albeit usually minor). Major objective losses, though, will outweigh all.

Alright, fine. Let’s try that again.

Do you have a friend that swears by his stick shift car, and will never drive automatic?
Are you a thrill-seeker, doing crazy stunts for the adrenaline rush?
Does your sister insist on her high heels, when regular shoes are perfectly fine?

All of these are examples of an interesting phenomenon. We, as in humanity, tend to do things that are objectively worse, because it gives us some form of pleasure or excitement.

Some of those examples, you might’ve thought are perfectly reasonable. Others, completely stupid. But I’m sure you can come up with many more examples in your own life, where you do things you like, even if it’s harder, more painful, or more time-consuming.

But why do we do it?

Why?

You might say, “Well, that’s easy. Because I like doing it!”

But does that make any sense?

Why would we waste time with the scenic route, when the highway takes us to work faster? Why do we eat sugary cereals, when Cheerios™ and Bran Flakes are much better for our bodies? And who on earth thinks that sitting on the beach is a good idea – so much time being wasted, getting sandy, wet, and burned?

We say we like these things, but who cares what we like, if it’s not helpful, or even harmful?1

Doing these things “because I like it” would be an OK answer, if it could be universally agreed that it was worth it. But the very nature of “fun” things, is that they’re subjectively fun. Meaning, that there is no one thing that everyone agrees is fun, or exciting. So for every thing that you enjoy doing, there’s somebody else who thinks it’s stupid.2

You can argue that it doesn’t matter if what you like doing isn’t helpful or good for you, because what you’re trying to accomplish is enjoyment, not success or efficiency. In other words, you like it, so screw everything else.

You can even add, that it doesn’t matter if other people don’t like what you’re doing, because you like it. They’re not doing it, so it doesn’t matter that they don’t like it.

The Nature of the Question

Let’s think about this for a second.3

We’re asking a question about subjective behavior that subjectively doesn’t make sense, but we’re looking for an objective answer as to why it’s done. Does that make sense? How can we ask a question, when everyone has their own same but very different answer? It’s sort of like asking what’s the best shoe size. Everyone will have a different answer4, but also the same answer – their own shoe size is the best.

But that analogy highlights what we’re looking for. The answer “Because I like it” is a subjective answer, and it’s the same as answering “Size 11 is the best” – it is only true for the person answering the question, and so it’s not a very good answer if you’re trying to understand human nature.

There is an objective way to answer this question, though. Going with our shoe analogy, the best shoe size is the one that fits best, the one that is most comfortable. That is true for everyone, and so is a valid, objective, answer.

So that’s what we need.

Objectively, Why?

In case you got lost in all that, here’s the original question again. Why do we do things that objectively do not help, or even harm us, in order to get subjective benefits?

I do have to apologize. I mislead you a bit, telling you that “Because I like it” is not a valid answer. It is – but not for the reason I led you to think.

Saying just “I like it” doesn’t work, but only because it’s short for “You might not, but I like it, so too bad”.

If, however, you say “I like it, because it provides me with pleasure and excitement”, that is an objective answer.5 We know it’s objective, because everyone will answer that same answer when asked the question.

And there we have it, our answer.

We do these things, because we enjoy them. Because they provide entertainment, excitement, pleasure, all things that are usually6 lacking in the rest of our lives. Slipping that car into the next gear, skiing downhill at top speed, jumping out of a plane, or even just spending hours relaxing in the hot tub, all provide spice to a life filled with monotony. They allow us to explore our senses, get in touch with the world, and make boring things interesting. These experiences provide the fodder for our pasts; they’re what memories are made of.

Maybe it makes no sense to you how somebody could sit for hours staring at a screen. Maybe nobody understands why you love eating handfuls of spicy chilis7. Maybe you’re the only one in your family that can sit and watch the leaves fall. We all have that “thing” we do, that nobody else seems to like.

That doesn’t invalidate what we like to do. It doesn’t mean that our hobbies are stupid. It means that life is interesting, where different people have different ideas of what a good time is. Instead of thinking, “That’s such a waste of time, why would anyone want to do that?”, try to tolerate other people’s fun things. Ask them what they like to do, and why. Explore hobbies you may have in common, or laugh about how different your enjoyments are. Realize that while you might like sitting and relaxing, and he loves wild action, you’re both just doing what you love to do.

And that’s what makes life interesting.

I love writing these articles, and drawing up blogcomics. Check out my other posts!

You know what I don’t like? Four swiveling casters.

I hope you liked reading this! Comment below what you love to do!

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