Imagine yourself as a working class person, living each day with the same routine; you eat, you work, you pray, then you sleep and the next morning you repeat the process. Now imagine that one day during peace times and the rebuilding of a nation a person comes along, a strong, opinionated person. This person tells you and the other members of your nation that they can make life better for you, easier, more prosperous, and give you the same rights and benefits as the person next to you. This person, you think, sounds great and you look forward to their leadership in the future.
Now here’s the catch, in order to do this for you, this person, my murder millions of people who they think is inferior to you and them self. The people being killed could be your neighbors or complete strangers, are you able to handle that? are you willing to let that happen? is your life more precious than another?
You believe that what this person says they can do is in your best interest even though the effects on others are catastrophic, your belief and the way you think begins to form and mold into how they think. Your belief is now that you are superior, the way you think has changed.
This is how belief systems are shaped. They, beliefs, are formed and molded by your surroundings. And a belief system is what you think and feel which controls your daily activities. A Huge problem with beliefs is that rarely do people agree on them; although you might have similar thoughts, your belief will never be exactly the same because everyone is different.
The things you believe in make sense to you, not always to someone else. Because of this, there are things called moral dilemma’s; one of the largest being: can killing be justified? Even if it’s for something you believe is the right thing to do? Another dilemma, littering, you believe it’s wrong because that’s what you have been told it’s wrong and that it’s your responsibility to not litter. That belief was shaped for you by society. Also, bottled water, most people don’t have a problem with it because it’s just water, other people do. Those other people believe that bottling the most abundant resource on our planet is wrong, most likely because the idea (personal belief) was put into their head by someone else.
All in all beliefs are shaped by society. If one person believes on thing and you believe another that’s ok, but eventually one of you will bend slightly, but just enough to consider the belief of the other person, that’s just how society works.
I love that you brought up an idea similar to "The Box." I think this is the perfect situation to really examine when you think about a moral compass. I think it's easy to say, "I wouldn't harm anyone, even for money." But, when that reward is right under your nose, it's a much harder decision.
ReplyDeleteI love that you took this concept and added even more depth to it. It's not a personal reward anymore but that it will bring a societal wealth. Suddenly, it makes this decision even more challenging.
I have two questions for you. The first is a moral compass one. We send drones out to attack our enemies knowing that innocent people will probably perish but doing so might mean that we save lives in the future. What do you believe must be considered before making that decision? Because, as we know this very decision is made frequently.
The second question I have is in reference to your last point. What does it take to bend a belief? And, does it always work?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed it!
I really like the scenario you used to show how morals can be shaped, molded, and even changed. I know you don't specify any names, but are you talking about Hitler?
ReplyDeleteI love the Hitler example, it's an almost perfect example how an offer of better things to come can completely re-write a group of people's aspect of right and wrong. And your right, the world isn't black and white...it's grey.
ReplyDeleteI love the perspective you took on while answering the question. I like the fact that you stressed the occurance of one person influencing another's morals because that is a major part in what ultimately makes us believe what we do as people.
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