People are rational: What do you expect?

As we already ascertained, humans are rational creatures. There's nothing much you can do, we were made that way, and it's probably what allowed us to survive as a species over the last 200,000 years. All those selfish scuffles, careless conflicts and aimless altercations, under the guise of "survival of the fittest".

So, humans only act out of self-interest to ensure their personal survival and success. That makes people annoying, mostly.

So what does it mean? if you're expecting somebody to do something for you, which might not benefit them (directly or indirectly), then you could be setting yourself up for disappointment. Note that the ability to see potential/indirect benefit typically varies on maturity and age.

For example, getting your child to complete their homework. Who does it benefit? And is it short (benefits are seen right away) or long-term (years later)?

• Obviously, people (especially young ones) only do things benefitting themselves. That is the entire point of this posting actually. So if you want to get your child to study, you have to frame it in a way that they see a direct benefit to their own life. For example, you will get into a good class (with your friends) next year, you might get the Edusave award, I'll buy you ice-cream/phone/book. Basically, there needs to be a reward that looks compelling. But with any benefit of this sort, the laws diminishing returns apply - meaning you will have to get bigger and better gifts as time goes on. Conversely, if there is nothing to be gained, which the participant can see within their limited frame of reference (see the next point), don't expect any (meaningful) action.
• As a person matures, they can see further into the future. No, they do not become oracles or fortune-tellers. We are able to project and predict the resulting outcome of an action we do today - it could be several hours to even decades. Of course, undeveloped young minds might only be able to think about something several hours into the future - e.g. if you finish your homework, I'll let you watch television tonight instead of you'll get a good job and become a successful business leader. Brain development levels are key, so know your target audience.

The bottom line is, don't expect too much from the stranger in front of you who's dropped their tissue on the floor, or left their trays of leftover food for the cleaners. They can't find any suitable benefits to align with their principles, which is of no fault to their very rational minds. But when it comes to people you want to shape (e.g. your children), you might need to do some creative thinking to come up with strong value propositions.

Habits and Leading by Example would also work, which I might talk about in the future.