Activities, Actions, and Operations (I)

Like the Simpsons, we are engaged in all kinds of activities every day. Ever wondered why we seem so occupied everyday but not sure what we are busy with? Why do we sometimes act so rashly, hastily, or irrationally, feeling "I should have said..." or "I shoudn't have done..."? Why do we behave differently in different situations? Do you understand yourself? Do you care?

Gadamer said in Truth and Method (1975) that "Long before we understand ourselves through the process of self-examination, we understand ourselves in a self-evident way in the family, society and state in which we live. The focus of subjectivity is a distorting mirror. The self-awareness of the individual is only a flickering in the closed circuits of historical life. That is why the prejudices of the individual, far more than his judgments, constitute the historical reality of his being."

We can't achieve a full explicit understanding of ourselves. It is in this essence that we need to gain more understanding of our assumptions so that we can expand our horizon. Contrast to traditional individual-centered cognition pyschology, Activity theory holds that each instance of human behavior is to be considered in light of its history and socio-cultural context. The integral units of human life, the way we interact with each other and the world, can be conceptualized as activities which serve to fulfil distinctive motives.

The structural units of human behavior, according Activity Theory, are Activities, Actions and Operations. Through the analysis of our activities, actions, and operations, we hope to gain more insights into our behaviors.