Sometimes you hear the phrase: “Yes, this is an act!” She is usually pronounced with respect. But you can hear this: “What to expect from him? He is not capable of actions! ” There is certainly a mockery in the speaker’s voice, even contempt to some extent. So what are “acts”? Let's deal with this issue.
Unconscious actions
To answer the question of what actions are, one should compare the thinking being and the animal controlled by instinct.
Every living thing does something throughout life. It moves, eats, breathes, sleeps, relieves needs, produces offspring. Animals are driven by instinct. The same thing happens with very young children - with the exception of the reproduction of their own kind, the actions of the child and the animal are identical. These actions rarely fall under the category of acts. After all, they are connected with vital necessity.
Classification of the same action in different situations
And since we set out to find the answer to the question of what actions are, a clear line should be drawn between conscious actions and those that are performed out of habit or instinctively. Although this side can sometimes be shifted in one direction or another.
For example, a traditional meal in ordinary, familiar conditions, going to bed, an evening walk is not a perfect act at all. After all, all these actions are often performed unconsciously, the individual is not faced with the need for choice, overcoming, internal or physical struggle.
But if a person is deprived of the opportunity to eat normally in connection with a physical condition, for example, with an illness, and eating to maintain life is simply necessary and he makes an effort to do this - this is already an act.
Sometimes a person who is struggling for his survival is called a hero, although this instinct is embedded in every living creature on our planet from the very beginning. But that with which perseverance and strength of mind a person struggles with difficulties, with his weaknesses, pain, illness, causes respect. An example of this is Meresyev from The Tale of a Real Man.
Motivation and goal determine the quality of an act
In search of an answer to the question of what actions are, it is necessary to understand the reasons why a person acts one way or another, the motives and goals that he pursues. And if there is no motivation, if the action is performed thoughtlessly, does this mean that such an action cannot be called an act? Although many psychologists claim that this is so, there are also various nuances here.
Here is Victor Golyavkin’s story “In the closet”, which reveals to the reader a story about a boy who just wanted to make the children laugh in the classroom and climbed into the closet for this, where he was closed. As a result, three adults had to postpone their affairs in order to solve the problems that arose in connection with this: they had to first look for the key, and then completely break the cabinet door.
He acted rashly, succumbing to the desire to misbehave. The essence of the boy’s deed is that he is not good, kind, useful for himself and society, but stupid, thoughtless, causing trouble both to the hero himself and to those around him.
Do good and … throw it into the sea!
There are good and bad deeds. Usually good are those that make others feel better. In everyday life, we often see examples of actions that fall into this category.
The boy gave up a seat on the bus for an elderly woman, the man returned the seller extra money mistakenly handed over from a large bill, the grandmother brought homeless cats food on the street - the list goes on and on! Even the usual duty phrase addressed to an old neighbor: "How is your health?" - may rightfully enter the list of “Good deeds”. After all, it is important not how much resources, effort and time a person spent on good action, but what purpose he pursued and what is the result of the deed.
Evil deeds
Can only good actions be called acts? Of course not! There are also such actions that run counter to generally accepted morality, which contradict the concept of morality. After all, they are committed consciously.
That is, it cannot be called a bad deed that someone accidentally pushed someone on the bus or stepped on his foot. It is rather an accident. Even if such an action will have quite tangible consequences.
But the chewing gum stolen in the store, despite its meager cost, is already an act. Not good at that. And through it one can judge the inner world, morality, and the upbringing of the perpetrator.
