Top Ten Reasons for Everything

In an ongoing effort to minimize the number of top ten lists in my life, it occurred to me that we could combine all top ten lists into one master list - the top ten reasons for everything. Imagine the possibilities. You'll never have to click on a top ten list again. After all, the top ten reasons for everything covers... well, everything.

Just as Einstein attempted his Unified Theory, this list is an attempt to provide the top ten reasons why all things happen - from top ten washed up celebrities to top ten ways to satisfy your spouse. It's all here, in one form or another.

10. Ignorance
Ignorance is an ugly word. It doesn't mean stupid, although it is often used interchangeably with that word. While stupidity implies a lack of mental function, ignorance has the connotation of choice - choosing to ignore facts out of sheer laziness and then carrying out actions based on little or no information. Ignorance is the stuff of ignoramuses and is partially responsible for wars, racism, prejudice and most things that occur in high school hallways.

9. Fear
Closely related to ignorance in many ways, fear is responsible for far too many things that happen. Fear of loss, fear of success, fear of failure - as Yoda once said, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side."

8. Greed
How many things happen because of greed? How much misery has greed caused? It cannot be measured. Greed manifests itself in many different forms, mostly material.

7. Miscommunication/Misinformation
Related to but a step above ignorance, so many issues in the world are caused by misinformation and miscommunication. From wars to simple overreactions, miscommunication causes almost as much harm as ignorance. How many people have lost jobs, spouses, lives due to miscommunication? The numbers are a sad testament to this all-too-preventable cause for many actions.

6. Apathy
Perhaps apathy is best described as the reason why so many things don't happen. Yet inactivity is as much an action as doing something.

5. Fate/Luck
Some people just seem to be born lucky. Yet luck and fate are similar creatures. Each is something uncontrolled. About the only difference is that fate can be good or bad, but luck is generally considered good. Proponents of the "things just happen" school of thought may attribute a great many things to fate or luck.

4. Desire
Greed is the step-child of desire. But while greed is generally thought of as a solitary pursuit, desire can involve mutual benefit. Desire is self-explanatory. When you gotta have it, you gotta have it.

3. Pain
Pain is nature's way of telling you you're doing something wrong (or at least doing something nature does not want you to do). Pain causes far too many actions in this world.

2. Curiosity
It may have killed the cat, but curiosity is the reason you're able to read these words right now. Whether it's invention or just trying something to see what will happen, curiosity has caused many of the things you can see on YouTube.

1. Pleasure
Okay, it's not all bad. Pleasure, and the seeking of pleasure, causes many things both good and bad. As the old Moslem proverb says, "All sunshine makes a desert." Still as a motivation for why things happen, I'll pick pleasure as my favorite.