Poll: Why do YOU do what is right?
- Thread starter Doitpow
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I put "ego, self image," which for me is sort of half of it. I think it ultimately comes down to empathy. If I do something that makes someone feel sad/angry/frustrated/embarrassed/disappointed, or fail to do something that could have stopped them from feeling that way, then I'm acutely aware of the unpleasant feeling they're experiencing. Then I feel like an ass for making them feel that way (or not helping them not feel that way). I don't want to be an ass, or feel like an ass, or have other people think of me as an ass. So, I do my best to be nice.
Granted, being friendly comes naturally to me for the most part. The difficult part is not letting myself justify being nasty to people who are being nasty to me. It's so easy to say, "This person's being such a jerk to me, therefore she is a bad person, so it's okay to be a jerk to her," but the sad part is that she's probably thinking the same thing. I try very hard not to get trapped in that kind of cycle because I always feel like an ass after I cool off, but it's not easy.
Granted, being friendly comes naturally to me for the most part. The difficult part is not letting myself justify being nasty to people who are being nasty to me. It's so easy to say, "This person's being such a jerk to me, therefore she is a bad person, so it's okay to be a jerk to her," but the sad part is that she's probably thinking the same thing. I try very hard not to get trapped in that kind of cycle because I always feel like an ass after I cool off, but it's not easy.
Because I fundamentally believe that doing the right thing.. is the right thing to do. Which is a bit tautological now I read it back but essentially what I mean is I guess that I like to think about myself as the sort of person who does the right thing... plus I believe in things like justice, honour, and integrity... not to mention politeness and kindness.
Most of the time I help someone out it will be solely for my own benefit. I.e., helping someone lift something heavy around, to stay fit. Or to stave off boredom. Those rare times that I am being entirely altruistic, well...I have no good reason to help, but do it anyway. No idea why.
Altruism ain't impossible, in fact it makes perfect evolutionary sense, because the trait protects the genes of your relatives.dagens24 said:
I do it because I was taught to to nice things and to never do anything that would hurt other people or things
UNLESS THEY HURT ME FIRST.
Well I wasn't even taught, my mom would hold doors open for people and if people open doors for her she would say thank you.
Or if there was a homeless person asking for money she would give it to them or ask them if they wanted her to buy them food if she had no cash on her. So I just followed her example.
But if people treat us like shit we will fight back. One time I told her about the bullies that were bothering me in middle school and she said "Don't be afraid, I don't care if your teachers say its bad, or if you get expelled, fight. Fight them, don't take their shit."
I do the right thing because it is in my nature
UNLESS THEY HURT ME FIRST.
Well I wasn't even taught, my mom would hold doors open for people and if people open doors for her she would say thank you.
Or if there was a homeless person asking for money she would give it to them or ask them if they wanted her to buy them food if she had no cash on her. So I just followed her example.
But if people treat us like shit we will fight back. One time I told her about the bullies that were bothering me in middle school and she said "Don't be afraid, I don't care if your teachers say its bad, or if you get expelled, fight. Fight them, don't take their shit."
I do the right thing because it is in my nature
I'm no altruist, I view if i am nice, people will like me, and if people like me, then maybe I can make the world a beter place, at least, thats what I do, I know that this doesn't make me altruist, but I don't careDoitpow said:
I picked the shrug option because I don't really know why I do nice things. I just sort of do. I guess because it just feels like the right thing to do and seeing other people sad makes me unhappy so I try to help other people. I really don't know which option that would fall under.
If no one knows about it then I don't feel like I have to do the right thing. What you don't know won't hurt you.
This list is missing the real explanation:
Psychological evolution - Humans are social creatures and have evolved to work best as a collective. Asking "why do you do good" is like asking "why do you like sex" - they're both pre-programmed, but some people aren't neurologically inclined to the "standard".
"Spiritual reward" is just an artificial boundary to make people conform to doing what is "right" as defined by a small subset of people, without there being any evolutionary or rational explanation for the behaviour.
This discussion only gets interesting when you start talking about either what "right" is, or neurology.
Psychological evolution - Humans are social creatures and have evolved to work best as a collective. Asking "why do you do good" is like asking "why do you like sex" - they're both pre-programmed, but some people aren't neurologically inclined to the "standard".
"Spiritual reward" is just an artificial boundary to make people conform to doing what is "right" as defined by a small subset of people, without there being any evolutionary or rational explanation for the behaviour.
This discussion only gets interesting when you start talking about either what "right" is, or neurology.
