The next question to ask is ‘why not?’

The human species is a contrary species. When we enter a situation in which a decision must be made, we usually ask ‘why? And frankly, we will generally come up with the wrong answer at least half the time just out of general cussedness.

This is amply verified by a study I think I once read. Now although I am going to try to recount the details to you with general accuracy, you should be warned that when I considered whether or not to largely make up some of the statistics I asked myself, why not?

In this significant study which tried to understand why in some countries 80 % of the driving public were willing to declare themselves to be organ donors and in other countries only 20 % did so, the researchers came to a somewhat surprising conclusion. The conclusion was surprising mostly because they had failed to pay close attention to millennia of human behavior. It turned out that in countries in which more people went to church or more people drove pickup trucks or more people ate a proper sit down breakfast, those facts did not correlate at all with whether they were willing to donate their bodily organs when they no longer needed them. It came down to ‘opt in’ or ‘opt out.’

In other words, it mattered most if the question at the DMV, or whatever it’s called were these studies were conducted, was worded like this: If you wish to be an organ donor, check this box, OR instead like this: If you do not wish to be an organ donor, check this box. The same choice - but not the same question. Why or why not.  The results: 20 % versus 80 % - give or take.

Now I don’t wish to compare human beings to computers, but our brains have been programmed by millennia of prior generations passing along patterns to the next generation so that we remain largely unconscious of our decision making strategies. Unless somebody does a study.

Like the computers we created in our own image, much of our behavior is shaped by binary operations. At countless levels we can only choose yes or no. To be or not to be. But the universe is analogue. And yet our choices, even apparently multiple choices, often break down into do I or don’t I. And this after we’ve asked ‘why?’ or ‘why not?’

Consider my experience. And though it’s true that human beings aren’t all alike, human beings are all alike. Studies have shown this. And if anyone was paying attention, they would realize that opposing statements are often true or false.  Either/Or. GIGO (Garbage in, garbage out.)

So. I wake up in the morning and consciousness intrudes on blissful sleep. A mental picture of possible futures begins to form. I remember that I have nothing important to do before eleven.

I don’t have to go to the bathroom. I am as warm and comfortable as I can be. As long as I keep asking the question, why on earth should I get out of bed, I don’t move. As with our computers, my central processing unit repeatedly sends that query to my consciousness, why don’t you get out of bed? My answer is always the same. Why should I?

But then other information intrudes. The thought occurs to me that if I got up I could have oatmeal or bacon, and I think: why not? I’m up.

Now I’m not suggesting that we are automatons; that we have no choices. Free will apparently abounds. But if we ask ourselves the wrong question, we are likely to make the wrong decision.

To give ourselves at least a fifty-fifty chance we should ask ‘why not?’ as often as we ask ‘why?’

Now there are more forks in your daily path than you can shake a stick at - 457,382.6 decision points to be precise – on average. Now 92 % of those decision points are largely within the unconscious realm so never mind about them. Of the remaining 8 %, only about .67 % are at all significant. That still comes to more than 300 important choices every day, statistically speaking. Your own number might vary.

If you almost always ask ‘why?’ it will take you forever to get out of bed in the morning. If, when you’re faced with the choice of going for a walk around the block instead of scrolling down through more of that facebook a little longer and the question you pose for yourself is, ‘why?’ as in why go for a walk, two thirds of the time you’ll stay parked at the computer. If on the other hand you are asking yourself whether you should pick up a book and read awhile and you frame the choice with ‘why not?’ the odds jump into your favor that you will in fact read a book. This has been studied.

And if you’re considering trying anything new, like a restaurant, or music, or checking out that really interesting bit of sculpture on the corner across from the city building, ask yourself, ‘why not?’ for a change. Same decision to make, different question.

Of course, ‘why?’ should remain the default question when you’re asking yourself whether you should quit your job after you’ve been told to do something ridiculous for the 56^th time, or you’re considering whether to walk out your spouse because he or she just told you your butt looks fat in those jeans. ‘Why not?’ can sometimes be a risky question to ask.

So after all the studies have been considered, I’m not suggesting that anyone should give up their organs prematurely or do anything without thinking carefully about all sorts of things. I’m only asking you to think as much about the questions you pose as you do about the answers.

Why not?