Reason

What is the reasoning behind reason?

Why do we do things a certain way? How do we make decisions based on our specific circumstances? Yes, we must have the knowledge to understand these circumstances, the memory to recall our long term knowledge based on everything leading up to the circumstances and the imagination to picture the outcomes of the potential decisions that we could make, but there must be a combined purpose for applying all of these to the situation at hand. This is primarily what reason is; a pathway to making a certain decision, whilst applying all of the other ways of knowing. It is the way in which we try to make sense of the world using logic, rationality, comparison, judgement and experience.

Reason is specific, meaning that it can be applied in a unique and singular way to any context. We make major decisions based on reason, which can be applied in a number of ways. Weighing out the pros and cons of a certain situation is a popular one, as it can lead to a more thorough outlook upon the conception at hand.

Our reason nearly always occurs instinctively, as we decide on the best path to take almost unconsciously, depending on previous experiences involving similar situations. 

'It is possible to train ourselves to reason consciously, though, and the more one thinks about the decisions one is making, the more one is able to have active control over them. Some people have termed this intellectual enlightenment, the point where we are consciously aware of every choice we ever make. The extent to which this is achieved determines how rational we are.' according to theoryofknowledge.net

Some people however, make irrational decisions, not utilizing their reason completely or occasionally at all. We all make decisions on the spot sometimes, but when making decisions of high impact, we must teach ourselves to use our reason thoroughly, in order to prevent any regrets or irrational decisions which may be irreversible.

To what extent can we trust our reason? 

Our reason is something that develops over time, but can we truly trust it at all times? Is it possible that emotion plays a role in the context of reasoning? When emotion is applied nearly everything is considered biased, but is it possible that emotion, in this case, can be applied rationally? I believe that reasoning is a crucial aspect of making decisions, but one must still be careful when applying it, making sure that their reason is logical and analytical, as well as has only been slightly influenced by emotion.