My subjective opinion on the use of “for the sake of it” in any conversation, or communication for that matter. Spoiler alert! My opinion is in the title 🙂
Small intro
Before I start with this opinion of mine, and an argument that will package it, you need to understand some things about me.
I have a master’s in communication and one in philosophy, and I work in IT. Therefore, when I read, I tend to go deep into each word that I’m seeing, and when I listen, I truly listen. This means that I will try to decrypt your message on all layers and get clarity, sense, and purpose from your input (either written or spoken).
That being said, let’s talk about the elephant in the room “for the sake of it”.
The issue
Nothing happens without a reason. There is a purpose and a sense to everything that happens around us and with us. The causality of life from birth to death is an oriented path, that drives our decisions. And when I say decisions, I mean from the most primal ones like “what to eat?” to the more elevated ones like “is she/he the partner for my life?”.
Things are determined by one or more factors, and the need for something generates the actions to obtain it.
When you say things like:
- “I am writing for the sake of it”
- “I am reading for the sake of it”
- “I am singing for the sake of it”
- “I am being kind for the sake of it”
- “I am helping for the sake of it”
and the list can go on and on – you are consciously defying the PURPOSE and the REASON for that action.
I think that if you answer a “why?” question with “for the sake of it”, you:
- are lying, or you do not want to disclose the reason for your actions
- do not know consciously why you did that action
- did not think about the wording used
I think it is impossible to do something for the sake of doing something. I believe that another party needs to hold a reason for your actions.
The only exception to the above argument would be knowledge or learning. Knowledge for the sake of it is something that I recognize as a need that is satisfied by itself. Everything else can fall into unacceptable nonsense.
Before you go…
What do you think? Do you have another exception besides knowledge? Do you think that “for the sake of it” is acceptable? 🙂 I would love to see your ideas and comments on it.
I know this is merely the tip of the iceberg with what motivates us and why we do what we do, but bear in mind that this was just a teaser to ask yourself a nice question:
WHY am I doing something?
Be honest, and your inner wonders await! I will walk the dog now, to satisfy its needs 😀