What makes a man?

I am a rational being. I have 9 GCSEs, 3 A Levels (4 if you count 'General Studies'), 2 degrees and a wealth of experience, both theoretical and practical. I can tile a roof, cut a slate, align a laser, help to draft vague, non-committal statements on climate change[1], and patronise policy officials who don't understand the difference between kiloWatts and kiloWatt Hours.

So why, when I extract my headphones from my pocket, pannier or rucksack, and they are all twisted up, do I randomly pull, jerk and twist the cables, desperately trying to free the trapped ends? I noticed that, after about 2 minutes of doing this, if I patiently sat down and examined the problem at hand, it was trivial to calmly track the knot back to its source and undo it. A pigeon could have done it in 30 seconds.

Why am I irrational? Is everyone irrational?

[1] I didn't write para 23, but it's exactly the sort of thing I spent 2 years doing, and I doubtless commented on it at some point - and yes, it's meaningless