The "Why-Because" Circle

I had an experience recently that I think Aspies will understand, and even the more laterally thinking NTs... The "Why-Because" Circle. When I don't understand things, I question until I do, which would be fine in an Aspie world, but not in one where my rulebook is different from everyone else's.

The crux of the issue is the difference in opinion of what a 'reason' is. I like solid reasons like an answer to "Why do we eat?" - simply "Because we have the urge to, we get good feelings when we do and bad feelings when we don't", or even "If you don't eat, you die." The type of answer I hate is "...because that's what's done".

I suppose if something is done long enough it is tradition, and I'm fine with that, but couldn't someone have pointed out the stupid ones before they became long running. An example from physics is the conventions for current in a circuit - the convention is that positive travels to negative, but in actuality does the opposite. So why not change it when we found that out? Because that's the way we'd done for a long time. Other situations like this are not the worst ones - at least they have a discernible source.

Often, when a person is told to do something a certain way, they do it that way. Some will ask why, and will get the response "because this is the way we do it". I would always want to know why, why do it that way? Sometimes because it seems inefficient or illogical. The 'best' people always explain why (probably because they know, and weren't just told themselves), but other will just say "it's done that way because that's the way everybody does it". Cheers, that's real helpful. And I bet you can guess why everybody does it that way... because it's what is done.

These kinds of arguments can infuriate me if I don't take a step back and tell myself it's not that big a deal. On the grand scheme of things it isn't, but Aspies can magnify small issues (quite often, too) to make them seem big to themselves. I think, once you are aware of an issue, you are already better equipped to deal with it. Self improvement isn't just for outward appearance.