Habits and Instincts

3 Commentsby   |  03.21.11  |  Beginning of Scientific Psychology (Part III)

I really like what William James had to say about human behavior. He felt that behavior was governed by instinct. He states that these behaviors develop with in a lifetime and he called these patterns of behaviors habits. I would have to agree. God gave us all some basic instincts of survival such as acceptance, security, or even sex. But we take these basic instincts and develop terrible habits. We allow the world to condition us to these instincts to the extreme, or better yet, not take them serious at all. We allow money, power, and sex to rule our lives for pure pleasure and prestige; then we are conformed to the world! James states that a habit is formed by repetition. But he adds that we have to place our self in circumstances that encourage good habits and discourage bad ones. He also adds that we should force ourselves to act in ways that are beneficial to us, even if it is at first distasteful and requires effort. Today, we act on what feels good at the time. We have become a society that is in it for mere convenience and pleasure. As I see what is taking place in the world today, I hope that we all can learn from James’ wisdom.

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3 Comments

  1. Jodi Bell
    11:23 pm, 03.21.11

    I think that humanity will always struggle with what the world tells us is okay and what God tell us is okay. While James warns us that we should not fall to the temptations on earth, this also speaks to the conditioning of habits like you said. Our instincts may not lead us to our bad habits though. they can be temptations or anything in excess. Do all habits generate from basic human instinct?

  2. Alison
    11:46 pm, 03.21.11

    This reminds me of the passage in Romans 12 about not conforming to the pattern of the world–in fact, your whole post brought to mind the things the Bible says about being in the world but not of the world. This struggle, this counter-cultural resistance in the face of instincts, negative environments, and bad habits is something to be constantly aware of. Thanks to you and William James for the reminder to always be aware of the influences around us.

  3. Lindsey Fleming
    11:57 pm, 03.21.11

    I absolutely agree about making ourselves to act righteously even if it is not pleasant at first. We really have allowed ourselves to be almost entirely about pleasure and comfort, but we have lost sight of self-discipline and being able to deny ourselves to work for the good of everyone, and to serve God no matter how uncomfortable it makes us to do what we are asked.

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