Every person in his life every day performs a number of different actions. But do you know what actions are? This question seems quite simple, but if you think about it, few people know the definition of the concept “action”. It is everyday, in one day you may well mention it several times and hear it even more times, but you will never think about what exactly was meant. That is why you should carefully study this article. From it you will learn not only what actions are, but also what types and characteristics they have, which include a number of components. Naturally, in real life this information will not be too useful for you. After all, everyone knows that actions are actions that a person performs. However, to expand your horizons, you should still get into this topic.

What is an action?

So, first of all, you need to understand what actions are. It would seem that the question is very simple and banal; many people will laugh when they hear it. But if they think for a minute, they will realize that they cannot give an exact answer. Yes, actions are the actions of a person, but in this case, how do actions differ from actions? The answer, by the way, is quite simple. After all, an act is a conscious and only conscious action that a person performs of his own free will. Thus, the act is the embodiment of the realization of an act of free will. Actions are very closely related to a person’s character. After all, they are a reflection of a person’s character traits in the real world. Very often, psychologists define them as a person’s assertion of himself as a specific individual. As you can see, actions are a very important thing about which it is worth knowing more details. For example, what types of actions are there, what characteristics they have, and so on.

Types of actions

A person's actions cannot be attributed to one level, because they are very different. There are several types of behavior that you should pay attention to in order to understand this issue.

The very first type is a reflex. Many people may think that a reflex does not apply to an action because it is not conscious, but they would be wrong. Indeed, a reflex is not a conscious action, it is an unconscious reaction to an external stimulus, but the message to action comes from within. That is, if the sun is shining in your face, you reflexively raise your hand to close your eyes, and if any object flies at you, you reflexively step aside. This is a basic level of behavior that describes only basic instincts. But reflexes are still actions, since at the most banal level they describe certain aspects of a person’s character. If we take the example of the same flying object, different people may have different reflexes: someone will try to catch the object, someone will try to dodge it, someone will kick it, and so on.

The next type of action is instinct. This is an emotional and purposeful action, which is distinguished by the fact that a person performs it consciously, but is not aware of the results that he will receive as a result. A person eats because instinct tells him to do so - he does not need to remind himself every time that he needs to have lunch so as not to die of hunger.

The most common type of action is conscious action. In this case, a person not only consciously commits a certain act - he also knows what the consequences of this action will be, and also strives to obtain a specific result. It is precisely such actions that reveal to a greater extent the character of the person committing them.

As you can see, a person’s actions can be divided into several different types, which will characterize this or that person in their own way. What else can you tell about actions? For example, you can look at what characteristics they have, that is, what components can be identified in their actions.

Motive

The first feature of actions is a motive, that is, something that motivates a person to perform a particular action. Every committed action has its own motive. Even reflexes have it, although it is subconscious. Unmotivated actions are a deviation from the norm, and if a person commits them, then he needs the help of a psychologist or even a psychiatrist. However, motive is far from the only component that every committed act has.

Goals

The purpose of an action is what a person wants to get by performing this or that action. At first glance, the concepts of motive and purpose may seem similar, but in reality they are very different from each other. A motive is what is the initial reason for performing an action, while a goal is the final result towards which the person performing the action moves. It is goals that can determine whether actions are good or bad. For example, this can be done by looking at whether the interests of the person performing the action coincide with the interests of the people around him. If interests coincide, then the action may be good, but if this does not happen, then the action will definitely be bad and selfish. Naturally, there is no categoricalness here, so interests often partially coincide. Accordingly, there are not only good and bad deeds, but in any case every person knows this.

Conversion Item

It is the subject of transformation that distinguishes an act from an action. An act, the essence of which is to transform one’s own personality or the personality of another person, differs from an action that can be directed in absolutely any direction under any circumstances.

Means

An act is never done just like that - to accomplish it a person needs certain means. And if you don’t see these funds, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. The means can be very varied, verbal or practical. Examples of actions that use practical means are numerous. This could be going to the store, playing football, or cleaning the apartment. An act that uses verbal means is a little more complex. It does not include action as such and is based only on speech. However, this does not mean that any statement cannot be an action: a motivational speech or a call to save stray animals is already an action that characterizes a person from one side or another.

Process

There is no point in talking a lot about the process, that is, directly performing the act itself, but it cannot be ignored. Moreover, the process of committing an act can vary greatly. For example, the actions of children usually have a fairly simple and uncomplicated process, but with age it gradually becomes more complex, including preliminary thinking, planning, options for the development of events, and so on. However, as in all cases, it all comes down to taking the action and getting the result.

Result

Since we are talking about the result of an action, we need to dwell on this concept and analyze it in a little more detail. As with ordinary action, in most cases, after completing the process of action, a certain result will be visible. However, actions and deeds differ from each other in that the action includes consciousness. Accordingly, as already said in the paragraph describing the subject of transformation, the result is not only what happened as a result of completing the process of the act, but also personal changes in the person performing it, in another person, as well as interpersonal changes. Simply put, taking an action only gives the actual result. While committing an act also carries with it moral consequences.

Grade

Well, the last point that is worth talking about is the assessment of the action. This is the highest level of human consciousness when performing an action. As mentioned earlier, an action can be reflexive, instinctive and, finally, conscious. The latter includes the understanding that there will be some result in the end, as well as movement towards a certain goal. But there is an even higher level - the assessment of the act, that is, the analysis of what happened, what factors were involved, what consequences emerged, and how it affected people and the environment as a whole. However, to fully evaluate an action, you need to know all its components, starting with the motive and ending with the final result. Only then will you be able to evaluate the action objectively and draw appropriate conclusions regarding it.

Well, now you know what an action is, how it differs from an ordinary action, what its types are, what its features and components are, how good actions differ from bad ones, and so on. This information is not vital, you can easily exist without it, but still it may turn out to be useful, informative and more than interesting for you.

“Not a single good deed, no matter how small, is wasted.”
Aesop

1. A good deed that led to a woman risking her life to shelter a Jewish family

In 1941, Zofia Banya, a poor Polish farm woman, discovered that she did not have enough money to buy the supplies her family needed at the general store. The store owner, Israel Rubinek, told her to take the items she needed and pay for them when she could. This act of kindness was literally unheard of in war-torn Poland, and Banya did not forget it.

Two years later, the Nazis were hunting down Jews in Poland and sending them to concentration camps. Fearing for the life of the kind young man who helped her, Banya, risking her life, hid Rubinek and his wife in her house for two and a half years. Seven times German soldiers came to the Bani farm in search of hiding Jews, and each time Sophia's family hid them in a tiny underground. One night, Nazi soldiers slept in the Bathhouse's living room, just a few centimeters from where Rubinek and his wife were hidden.

Decades passed, and Rubinek's family met the woman who hid them from the Nazis. Their granddaughter says: “One incredibly kind deed in an incredibly difficult situation changed everything. The depth of the human soul cannot be measured or explained. These poor Polish farmers feared for their lives, yet they decided to help two people they barely knew.”

2. Kind words from a boss kept a man from committing suicide.


Tim Sanders is a personal development coach and former head of marketing at Yahoo! Sanders recommends that all of his employees communicate with their colleagues and subordinates and praise them for their work. He often tells the story of how he did just that: he talked to his subordinates personally and praised them for the work they did, and let them know that he personally and the company as a whole appreciated their efforts. Sanders remembers once telling a person that he was glad that this person came into his life and that he appreciated him.

After Sanders visited the man's team, he was shocked when the man showed up a few days later and gave him an expensive gift - an Xbox game console. As it turned out, the employee purchased this game console in exchange for a revolver with which he wanted to kill himself. After he heard kind words from his boss, the man decided to move on with his life and recover from depression. Just a couple of kind words kept him from committing suicide.

“Sometimes people just need to see a human touch,” Sanders says.

3. Teens saved a little girl from being kidnapped


In July 2013, five-year-old Jocelyn Rojas was playing in her yard in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when she suddenly disappeared. Rojas' parents feared the worst, so they notified the police and began intensively searching the area.

Instead of waiting for the police to find the little girl, fifteen-year-old Temar Boggs and his friend decided to start searching for her themselves. They soon noticed Rojas in a car with a man, so they followed the car on bicycles. The teenagers chased the car for fifteen minutes while the man behind the wheel tried to escape from them. Finally, he apparently gave up, pulled over and threw the child out of the car.

“She ran up to me and said she wanted to see her mom,” Temar said.

4. A 21-year-old organ donor saved seven lives.


Organ donors are heroes who perform the most selfless acts imaginable. When Henry Mackaman, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, died of bacterial meningitis in May 2013, his family found some small solace in his decision to donate his organs.

McMann's simple decision to check the Organ Donor box on his driver's license proved to be an invaluable act that would later save the lives of seven people. His mother wrote the following on the CaringBridge website: “We are all proud of Henry's decision to be an organ donor. His generosity does not surprise anyone who knew him. Thanks to his decision, up to 54 people will have the chance to improve their lives thanks to a piece of the incredible life Henry lived.”

5. A man jumped onto the tracks to save a stranger


In January 2007, twenty-year-old Cameron Hollopeter was waiting for a train on the New York subway when he had a seizure and began convulsing. Trying to get up, he fell on the tracks at the exact moment when the train came around the corner and rushed towards him.

Fifty-year-old construction worker and Navy veteran Wesley Autrey was talking to his two daughters when he saw a man fall. In a split second, he made a decision and jumped onto the tracks to help Hollopiter. Autry covered Hollopeter with his body, pushed him and moved him so that they lay together between the rails. The driver honked his horn and tried to stop, but it was too late and the train passed over both men.

Five carriages passed over the pair of men, just inches from Autry's head. When the train finally stopped, he told the people screaming in horror that they were okay. Hailed as a hero, Autry later said, “I don’t feel like I did anything special, I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I had to do."

6. A ten-year-old boy stood up to bullies to save a cat.


Standing up to bullies isn't easy, but that's exactly what Wendell Overton did when he saw a group of kids tormenting a stray cat in the area. Overton had spotted this cat in the area several times before, but one day he saw a group of hooligan children, ranging in age from five to thirteen, running over the poor animal with bicycles, throwing it into the air, and spraying energy drinks in its face. Fearing they would kill the cat, Overton bravely intervened and took the cat home to his mother, who called the Outer Banks Humane Society.

When news of Overton's compassion and kindness became public, he received countless letters of praise and encouragement from all over the world.

7. Strangers lined up to save a drowning boy


On a sunny day on the beach in Napier, New Zealand, twelve-year-old Josh McQuoid was standing in knee-deep water playing with friends when a dangerous current knocked him off his feet and carried him far from shore. The boy tried to keep his head above the water, struggling with the raging waves.

Another beachgoer and two police officers spotted the boy struggling in the waves and rushed into the water to help him, but the waves were too strong. After Constable Bryan Farquharson realized he couldn't reach the boy without falling victim to the waves himself, he organized a chain of people to reach the child while remaining tied to the shore.

8. A stranger’s kiss saved a man who was trying to commit suicide


In the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, a sixteen-year-old boy stood on a bridge, threatening to jump off and commit suicide. Hundreds of onlookers watched in horror as he refused to cross back to the safe side of the railing. The police arrived at the scene and began to negotiate with him, but no one could reach him.

At that moment, Liu Wenxiu, a nineteen-year-old hotel waitress, was returning home from work when she noticed the guy and knew that she had to do something to help him. Wenxue herself once wanted to commit suicide, so she knew exactly how the guy felt. After telling police she was his girlfriend, Liu got close enough to talk to him. She shared with him her sad story of a difficult life and showed him the scar on her wrist left after she tried to commit suicide by cutting her wrists.

“He said he was hopeless and that I shouldn't waste my time trying to save him. But I told him, “I'm not trying to save your life, I just want you to understand how stupid you are being. Look at me, I was in the same situation as you, but now everything has changed,” Wenxue said.

Finally, the girl was able to lean in and hug him, and then she suddenly kissed him. The police were then able to take the knife the guy was holding and move him to the safe side of the bridge railing.

9. A woman saved children from a rolling truck


Lezlie Bicknell had just parked in a store parking lot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when she noticed a small child in the driver's seat of a truck parked next to her car. Suddenly, the truck began to roll backwards, straight towards a very busy street. Without a moment's hesitation, Bicknell jumped out of her car to stop the moving car. Because of this, her own car began to roll backwards, cutting off the truck's path and stopping it from entering the highway.

Below is an amazing video of the incident:

10. A woman donated a kidney to a complete stranger.


Retired police sergeant Michael Newman needed a kidney to survive, so his former officers made a desperate appeal through local media to find a donor. Michael, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, didn't have much hope that anyone would be his donor. However, a local woman named Kellie Boff printed out the article and set it aside. Boff says she kept coming back to the article, drawn to it for no reason. Finally, she picked up the phone and called the Mayo Clinic.

It turned out that Boff was the ideal donor. So she agreed to donate one of her kidneys to Sergeant Newman, whom she had never even met.

An act is a certain action motivated by the inner world of a person formed at that moment. Actions can be moral and immoral. They are committed under the influence of a sense of duty, convictions, education, love, hatred, sympathy. Every society has its heroes. There is also a certain scale by which a person’s actions are assessed. According to it, it is possible to determine whether this is the act of a hero, which will serve as an example for subsequent generations.

Even ancient philosophers thought about the concept of feat. Contemporary thinkers have not escaped reflection on this topic. All human life consists of a continuous chain of actions, i.e. deeds. It often happens that a person's behavior and thoughts differ. For example, a child wishes only the best for his parents. However, their actions often upset them. We can say with confidence that our tomorrow depends on our actions today. In particular, our whole life.

Socrates' Search for the Meaning of Life

Socrates was one of the active seekers of the meaning of this concept. He was trying to figure out what a true heroic act should be. and the evil in which a person makes a choice - all this worried the ancient philosopher. He penetrated into the inner world of a particular person, his essence. I was looking for a higher purpose for my actions. In his opinion, they should be motivated by the main virtue - mercy.

The basis of actions is the goal of learning to distinguish between good and evil. When a person can penetrate into the essence of these concepts, he will be able, according to Socrates, to always act courageously. Such a person will definitely perform a heroic act for the sake of the greater good. Socrates' philosophical reflections were aimed at finding such an incentive, a force that would not need recognition. In other words, the philosopher is talking about self-knowledge, when a person will have internal motivations that replace centuries-old traditions.

Sophists vs Socrates

The philosophy of Socrates tried to explain the essence of the concept of “action”: what is it? The motivating component of his action is the opposite of the position of the sophists, who teach to find out their hidden motives, giving them the status of conscious ones. According to Protagoras, who was a contemporary of Socrates, as an individual it is a clear and successful expression with the ultimate satisfaction of personal desires and needs.

The Sophists believed that every action of a selfish motive must be justified in the eyes of relatives and other people, since they are part of society. Therefore, the environment needs to be convinced, using sophistic technologies of speech construction, that it is necessary for them. That is, the young man who accepted sophistic views learned not only to know himself, but also, having set a certain goal, achieve it and prove that he was right under any circumstances.

"Socratic Dialogue"

Socrates departs from the earthly. He rises higher in considering such a concept as an act. What is it, what is its essence? This is what the thinker wants to understand. He seeks the meaning of all human existence, starting from the physical and selfish. Thus, a complex system of techniques is developed, which is called “Socratic dialogue”. These methods lead a person along the path of knowledge of the truth. The philosopher leads the interlocutor to understand the deep meaning of masculinity, goodness, valor, moderation, virtue. Without such qualities, an individual cannot consider himself a human being. Virtue is the developed habit of always striving for good, which will form the corresponding good deeds.

Vice and driving force

The opposite of virtue is vice. It shapes a person’s actions, directing them towards evil. In order to establish himself in virtue, a person must acquire knowledge and acquire prudence. Socrates did not deny the presence of pleasures in human life. But he denied their decisive power over him. The basis of bad actions is ignorance, and the basis of moral actions is knowledge. In his research, he analyzed a lot of human actions: what is his motive, impulse. The thinker comes close to the Christian views formed later. We can say that he deeply penetrated into the human essence of man, into the concept of the essence of knowledge, prudence and the origin of vice.

Aristotle's view

Aristotle criticizes Socrates. He does not deny the importance of knowledge for a person to always do good deeds. He says that actions are determined by the influence of passion. Explaining this by saying that often a person who has knowledge acts badly, since feeling prevails over wisdom. According to Aristotle, the individual has no power over himself. And, accordingly, knowledge does not determine his actions. In order to perform good deeds, a person needs a morally stable position, his volitional orientation, and a certain experience acquired when he experiences sorrow and receives pleasure. It is grief and joy that, according to Aristotle, are the measure of human actions. The guiding force is the will, which is formed by the freedom of choice of a person.

Measure of actions

He introduces the concept of the measure of actions: lack, excess and what is between them. It is by acting according to the patterns of the middle management, the philosopher believes, that a person makes the right choice. An example of such a measure is masculinity, which falls between such qualities as reckless courage and cowardice. He also divides actions into voluntary, when the source lies within the person himself, and involuntary, forced by external circumstances. Considering the action, the essence of the concept, the corresponding role in the life of a person and society, we draw some conclusions. We can say that to a certain extent both philosophers are right. They looked at the inner man quite deeply, avoiding superficial judgments and searching for the truth.

Kant's view

Kant made a significant contribution to the theory that considers the concept of action and its motivation. He talks about the need to act in such a way that you can say: “Do as I do...”. By this he emphasizes that an act can be considered truly moral when the motivation is free morality, sounding in a person’s soul like an alarm bell. Historians of philosophy believe: human actions and their motives are determined by Kant, from the point of view of rigorism.

For example, considering the situation with a drowning person, Kant argues: if a parent saves his child, this act will not be moral. After all, it is dictated by a feeling of natural love for his own heir. will be the case if a person saves a drowning man unknown to him, guided by the principle: “Human life is the highest value.” There is another option. If a truly moral heroic deed worthy of high recognition was saved. Later, Kant softened these concepts and combined in them such human motives as love and duty.

Relevance of the concept of action

The concept of good deeds continues to be discussed today. How often does society recognize as moral the actions of great people, the motive of which in fact was not at all good goals. What is heroism and courage these days? Of course, to save a person or animal from death, to feed the hungry, to clothe the needy. Even the simplest action can be called a real good deed: advice to a friend, help to a colleague, calling your parents. Taking an old woman across the road, giving alms to a poor man, picking up a piece of paper on the street are acts that also fall into this category. As for heroism, it is based on sacrificing one’s life for the benefit of others. This is, first of all, the defense of the Motherland from enemies, the work of firefighters, police, and rescuers. Even an ordinary person can become a hero if he carried a baby out of the fire, neutralized a robber, or covered with his chest a passerby at whom the barrel of a machine gun was aimed.

According to many psychologists, philosophers and theologians, until the age of seven, a child is not able to fully distinguish between good and evil. Therefore, appealing to conscience is useless, due to the fact that the concept for it has very blurred boundaries. However, from the age of seven, he is a fully formed personality who can already consciously make a choice in one direction or another. The actions of children at this time must be skillfully directed by their parents in the right direction.

P Remember the song of the old woman Shapoklyak from the cartoon about the crocodile Gena: “You cannot become famous for good deeds.” Unfortunately, in the modern world, negative events and actions generate more interest than good deeds. But the people from our article do good simply because they have a pure heart and this makes their souls happier. Do good no matter what!

About the victory of good

The story began when Glen James, a homeless man from Boston, found a backpack containing a large amount of cash on the street. He was very lucky, but the man did not lose his head and handed over the find to the police so that the money could be returned to the owner. The owner of the backpack was so shocked by what happened that he organized a campaign to raise money for the man. So far they have collected twice the amount found. Glen James, who lost his home and job eight years ago, said he wouldn't take a penny from what he found even if he was desperate.

Friendship + car = good

Many girls dream of a little black dress, but Chandler Lacefield always dreamed of a big red car. But when her parents gave her a red jeep, she decided to sell her dream car in order to buy two: one for herself, and the second for a friend from a poor family.

Welcome to the subway

In the Canadian subway, the turnstile was broken and none of the workers were there. This is what passengers left at the entrance.

Valuable note

Entrance to a house in Helsinki. The inscription reads: “20 euros. Found in the entrance between the 1st and 2nd floors on September 11 at 18.30.”

Kindness in Russian

Kind-hearted grandmother

A Kolmyk grandmother knitted 300 pairs of warm socks for flood victims. As you know, there are no small good deeds, and once again we find confirmation of this in the wonderful news from Magadan. A local resident, pensioner Rufina Ivanovna Korobeinikova, knitted and donated them to flood victims in Khabarovsk three hundred pairs of warm socks.

Over the course of several years, the elderly woman knitted about two thousand woolen items, which were donated to the children of an orphanage and to a home for the disabled. Since things knitted by a merciful grandmother were usually given to those in need at Christmas, over time a very warm tradition of “woolen gifts” developed in local shelters, and Rufina Ivanovna was already knitting new socks for the upcoming holiday when the flood began in Khabarovsk.

Rufina Ivanovna, having heard in the news about the tragedy associated with the flood, decided that now her “woolen gifts” are more important to the victims, because many people were left not only without housing, but also without clothes.

Written gratitude to dad

How much does it take to be happy?

Farewell screensaver

The creators of The Simpsons said a touching goodbye to the late actress Marcia Wallans, who voiced Edna Krabappel. In the last intro for the cartoon, Bart is practicing his spelling as usual, but this time the reason is sad. The inscription on the board: "We will miss you very much, Mrs. K."

Kim Kjellstrom comforts an autistic boy

This happens before the start of the match with the German national team. Little Max was frightened by what was happening, and the football player supported him. Later, the boy's father wrote a touching letter of gratitude to Kim.

Pope Francis hugs a mutilated man

Many people love the new pope because he follows his motto and leads a modest lifestyle, refuses unnecessary honors and is truly open to all ordinary people who need his support. For the first time in many years, this post was occupied by a person who is ready to share the sorrows of the world and console the weak.

The Scorpions singer sang the song Holiday to his fan over the phone

The Scorpions group was on tour in Moscow. At this time, a message from a charitable foundation appeared on social networks that a fan of the group, who was in a Moscow hospice with a serious diagnosis, dreamed of going to their concert. Within a day, the message received several thousand reposts, and Klaus Meine, Scorpions vocalist, found a way out of the situation. If Alexey cannot attend the concert, he will hear his favorite band over the phone.