# Things you do despite knowing they're completely irrational **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174 "2018-07-18T23:17:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/1 "2018-07-18T23:17:08Z")
I’ll start: One of my favorite chocolate bars is Twix. A typical pack contains two identical bars. A little while back they started selling packs that, while still containing two bars, claimed to contain “just left Twix” or “just right Twix”. The joke being, there’s no actual difference between a “left Twix” and a “right Twix”, so nothing has changed except the writing on the package. Here’s the irrational part: Whenever possible, I buy Left Twix instead of Right Twix. For political reasons. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/2 "2018-07-18T23:18:59Z")
Makes sense to me. I check that the door is locked even though I know I locked it. Not totally OCD as I only check once. So far. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/3 "2018-07-18T23:20:37Z")
I read fortune cookies. They’re true, dammit! Though I do seem to get other people’s cookies by mistake pretty often. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/4 "2018-07-18T23:27:52Z")
Still worrying about small amounts of money. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/5 "2018-07-18T23:36:13Z")
Wear the same polo every Thursday during baseball season. That’s my last day of the work week. Use a special coffee cup every Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. They date back to around 1998 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/6 "2018-07-18T23:40:12Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Here’s the irrational part: Whenever possible, I buy Left Twix instead of Right Twix. For political reasons. 🙂 ”Thank you for your unwitting participation in the psychosocial experiments of Mars, Inc. For our next query, we’d like you to respond as to your preference for the **red** or **blue** M&M.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/7 "2018-07-18T23:45:12Z")
Try to explain things to the pets. Worry if the lil’wrekker is driving carefully. ( she’s never been a reckless driver, she’s 19yo and lives at her college). Fight with myself about being so agoraphobic. At this point it’s never gonna get better, but it could get alot worse. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/8 "2018-07-18T23:51:35Z")
Trying to compute the square root of two exactly. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![katgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@katgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/9 "2018-07-19T01:11:32Z")
Sometimes I get a wild hair and drive crazy like the locals. There are no patrol cars monitoring traffic. I look at my speedometer out of sheer curiosity. It’s fun as hell, keeps you on your toes. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/10 "2018-07-19T13:20:25Z")
You know when you buy bulk food in a bag? I never put a knot in the bag, because the knot will make the bag weigh more. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/11 "2018-07-19T13:56:42Z")
In a thread from a few years ago, someone mentioned “toilet races,” as in flushing the toilet before you’re finished, with the goal of the final bowl-clearing event happening just as you finish peeing. Why do I keep doing this? There’s no point. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/12 "2018-07-19T14:31:42Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I read fortune cookies. They’re true, dammit! Though I do seem to get other people’s cookies by mistake pretty often. Do you find that often they contain advice instead of fortunes? ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/13 "2018-07-19T14:34:03Z")
I don’t step on cracks in the sidewalk. Or lines (which are different from cracks. Lines are put there intentionally by the contractor - cracks develop due to tree roots or the heat/freeze cycle). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/14 "2018-07-19T14:38:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Do you find that often they contain advice instead of fortunes? I’ve never found a fortune in one of those. I consider a fortune to be at least $100,000. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/15 "2018-07-19T14:42:44Z")
I regularly get angry at inanimate objects when they aren’t doing what I want them to do. I’ll put the remote control on a table, and then it falls off, and I know that I put it in the right place so it must be the fault of the control or the table. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/16 "2018-07-19T14:48:58Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’ve never found a fortune in one of those. I consider a fortune to be at least $100,000. Do lottery numbers count? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/17 "2018-07-19T14:56:45Z")
Winning lottery numbers do. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/18 "2018-07-19T15:02:09Z")
I’m glad I saw this, I was going to start a thread about it. When I’m watching a tv show or movie, and one of the actors has an accent, I always turn the volume up. It doesn’t make sense to me, but I do it, all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/19 "2018-07-19T15:08:12Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Winning lottery numbers do. [That happened once.](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fortune-cookie-fortune/) 110 people won either $100,000 or $500,000. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174/20 "2018-07-19T15:34:00Z")
Personify things. Maybe it’s more of a deep seeded psychological thing that I’m willing to admit, but I have a lot of fun personifying inanimate objects. For example, I have a little, potted plant at work. His name is Mitch and he’s grown a lot this past year! Good for Mitch. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-despite-knowing-theyre-completely-irrational/818174.md?page=2)