Why do we do what we do : motivation in history and the social sciences Biographical note: Ramsay MacMullen Dunham Professor of History emeritus Yale University (New Haven CT USA). Main description: This book tries to explain how decisions to act develop in the mind. Emphasis is on group decisions not only of the present but also from the past where laboratory techniques cant apply. What emerges is a description of a process rather than the definition of a word. The description points to kinds of data that need special consideration: data regarding ideas of right and wrong cultural traditions emotional packaging.