I have been thinking lately that if you look at the world views of most people there is the underlying expectation that people will act in a rational way that is in their best interests; and that irrational behaviour is because of a lack of understanding. From what I have seen in my life, it is becoming more and more clear that (while most people may act rationally most of the time) everyone will make choices that are irrational even if they fully understand the situation. Emotions are (often) able to overpower rational thought and make people do things that they know are not in their best interests; and there are countless people who have (probably) realized this and use this to their advantage.
With that said, it is my belief that most people generally have the best of intentions and are trying to do things that are in the best interests of everyone involved. When they end up doing harmful things to themselves or others it is probably because they lack the knowledge or tools to make a better decision; or some significant emotion is driving them to act in an unreasonable way.
