1Please, can someone quickly explain to me why it is that human beings are so stupid? I realize that we are in fact highly intelligent beings, and can figure out the answers to some of life’s most puzzling questions. If we have the knowledge, why not use it, right? Yeah, I thought so too, but now I wonder.

You may wonder exactly what is going on in my head at the moment, so allow me to briefly try to give you an overview. Let’s say for example that person A is a rocket scientist. They are capable of creating and explaining some of the greatest mysteries of space travel, among other things. Person A wakes up and goes to work for a full 8 hour day. Over the course of that time, he or she has completed a replica of the space shuttle that he or she plans on launching the following year. It is successful. The world is awed by the person’s intellect and ability.

Tired after a full day, Person A gets in their car to head home, but then realizes that he or she needs to stop by the store to pick up something for dinner, as there is no food left at home.

Person A heads over to the supermarket nearest to his or her home, and enters it. Browsing the aisles, person A tries to decide what he or she would like to have for supper. Deciding on spaghetti, person A begins walking in the general direction of the tomato sauce, which is located in aisle five. Along the way, however, person A is distracted by something that he or she spots in aisle four. Walking into that aisle, person A picks the appetizing product up off of the shelf, and turns it over. Person A knows that they are on a tight budget for time being, and should not overindulge in buying little unneeded extras. Person A is looking at a package of cream-filled snack cakes. Overpriced at $4.98, Person A knows that he or she should put the product back and move on. However, person A is still tempted. Reading the nutrition facts on the back of the box, Person A confirms what he already knew. High in fats and sugars, these empty calories will be of no addition to his or her life - except of course, for those few extra pounds that he or she might gain..

Person A says to himself, “I need to save my money. It would be nice to pay the bills on time this month. I should also probably go on a diet. I would like to lose a few pounds before summer, so that I can feel comfortable in whatever it is I decide to wear. I would like to become healthy, and strive to become physically fit.” After telling his or herself this, person A grabs the package and puts it in his or her grocery cart.

Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on here?

I know that as times are changing, the people of our world continue to base more and more of their decisions on what they believe to be ‘logical.’ Most of the time, I am not even a big fan of logic. In fact, I encourage others to look beyond it, and search elsewhere for answers. But if they want to be ‘logical’ people, that is fine by me. Go ahead an use it - Please use it. But when you’ve got a person who says, “This product is going to make me gain weight. I do not want to gain weight. This product is going to take away some of my money. I need to save my money.” You’d think that their final decision is to head over to the spaghetti aisle like they originally planned. But just when you think that is what they are about to do, you hear them still over in aisle four, talking to themselves, saying, “Okay, I’m convinced, put it in the basket!”

If they were using logic, it could be just me - but I would say that they wouldn’t purchase the product. After all, if they do not buy it and put the temptation in their home, they won’t have to worry much about eating it either. Where is the reasoning in putting money towards something that is going to have effects that you do not want, and go completely against whatever it is you are trying to achieve.

The other day I was walking down an aisle in a store, waiting for my ride after I got off from work. As I was browsing the aisle, I saw sugar-free peanut butter cups. They were almost twice as expensive as the ones without the sugar, and still had the same number of calories, and an even higher fat count. Are people really spending MORE money on products to convince themselves that they are sticking to their diets? Just to avoid eating sugar, or carbohydrates, or whatever it is that they have decided to stay away from? They sacrifice one of their goals (in this example, saving money) to achieve another (following a diet in order to lose weight). But if you lose out on one to achieve another, are you really gaining anything? I think not.

The way I see it, if you are trying to lose weight, keep junk foods out of the house. If you are trying to save money, keep it out of your pocket. You can’t very well spend money that isn’t there. Don’t carry a credit card. Don’t carry unneeded cash. It is common sense that doing these things would help ease the difficulty of accomplishing these goals.

If someone offered you a million dollars if to withhold from eating chocolate for a said number of days, and chocolate was your favourite snack, wouldn’t it make sense that you don’t allow yourself to set foot in a chocolate shop? Wouldn’t you want to keep all chocolate out of the house? Maybe it is just me, but it seems reasonable.

I find that it may be a bit ironic that beings of such supreme intelligence (whom bask in self-righteousness) can muster enough stupidity to contradict themselves one-hundred percent and be completely blind to it all the while.

Just a bit.