Champthrax said:
(by cheating I mean not playing by the rules: IE having answers to a test)
Now I will preface this by saying I do not agree that cheating is right, I just want to play devils advocate
So, can anyone tell me why cheating is bad? One of the most common things I hear is that it is not fair to other people. But you know what else isn't fair, that other people were born with more brains, or more muscle. This gives them an innate advantage, and would a cheater not simply be using their gift, cunning, to give themselves an advantage?
From an individualist standpoint, we try to do what is best for ourselves. So for example, If cheating on the LSAT would get you into law school, why should you flip burgers rather than go to law school just because your competition either has more intellect or drive.
Of course, cheating will probably catch up to you at some point, and getting caught is a major deterrent, but how is cheating unfair when life itself is not fair?
good that you clarified what you mean by cheating, because its such a broad term.
Cheating is bad because:
1. It incorrectly evaluates you. You feel well evaluated when in fact you are not knowledgeable. repeated this will lead to you feling overconfident while knowing nothing and yet still being valued high. this will lead to misconceptions about you for you and others, that can lead to a lot of bad situations. real world example: i knew a girl that used to cheat on everything. she eventually got a specialist position in some firm, but couldnt do the job because she didnt knew anything, not even the basic common sense things. that lead to a lot of trouble for her and the company.
2. It is an unfair advantage. while others have to study, you cheat. this leads to your evaluation being high, which may lead to not having to pay for your studies and other bounties that you did not deserve, while depriving people that deserve it.
3. It also bad because it discourages learning, and knowledge is very important, and anything discouraging knowledge is bad. yes, even the trivial knowledge that you think youll never use. i used to despise learning matrix calculations (no not the movie, the mathematical matrices). turns out, my work involves them now. who would have though. had i cheated, id be in a very bad position now.
Life is not fair, but the only way to change the world is to start with yourself. if you cheat, why do you expect others not to cheat you?
Noone is born with more muscle or intelligence (well, technically, more muscle mass and tendency to grow can be born into, but that does not mean squat in our case). it is all am atter of determination. if you want to learn you will. if you dont, dont complain that others want to. For the power of will you can watch the new chinese made Jet Lee movie (its filled with propaganda but the determination message is well shown). Lazyness is something you create yourself, not some fate or god.
Id liek to seperate cheating from consulting with a guy sitting next to you. that is not cheating. here in real life we call that cooperation.
No one actually cheats like that though. No one has multiple choice tests at uni level. Generally 'cheating' involves bringing in notes that you've written, and I don't see an issue with that, seeing as most people write their own notes, or at the very least have to read through the notes in order to copy the answers, and that's learning.
have you ever been to uni? like half the tests there are multiple choices, i should know, i been studying for 5 years.
if you bring the notes that you wrote up and read through carefully - thats is fine. if you bring a photocopied notes from your friend because you couldnt be bothered to get to class that day (out of alzyness, things like illness is understandable) and havent even read them once to see what was there and expect to copy the answers during the test - bad.
