Across various posts these past few weeks, we’ve been reading about the tragedy of war and calling for more peaceful solutions to end all the death, pain and suffering that we see happening in the world. I’ve provided links to a couple of these at the bottom of this post.
I came across the post I’m sharing on Medium by Deepak Chopra. In his post, he asks why people and countries don’t do the right thing. Chopra talks about the factors that shape our moral and ethical thinking. What helps us define right from wrong. He then goes beyond this to consider why, if we know what is the morally correct thing to do, do we sometimes not act – or rather why some people may not always act in the way we perceive as the moral path.
I hope you will enjoy his post as much as I did – I feel I should have had some coffee with my philosophy this morning. Please come back and tell me what you think.
https://deepakchopra.medium.com/why-dont-people-and-nations-do-the-right-thing-909af6cd8deb
💛
Thanks Brenda for sharing the post.
My pleasure, Sadje
Chopra’s article was very thorough- thanks for sharing it!
It was 😁
Thank you for sharing the link to Deepak’s article here. I would have missed it otherwise! He brought out a fine point most miss. How morality is so closely related to maturity. Most of us assume growing old automatically means our maturity levels go higher. Nothing could be farther from the truth! This also applies to nations. Countries as old as time tackling problems related to religion and ethnicity have been warring with each other for as long as forever. Without any decisive conclusion in sight. Powers have changed hands. Yet the war never ends. People come and go but the violence continues… It begs the question… When will people wake up from their slumber, enlighten themselves and help others enlighten so the moral compass of the world can find its true north?
I’m glad the article resonated. And I share your concerns/questions.
When it comes to people in general, I think it’s mostly because people feel motivated to execute tasks or to do the right things when the resulting gratification is immediate. Delayed gratification makes the tasks much harder to accomplish. Hence, we keep postponing these tasks (with delayed gratification). Also – people in general tend to make decisions based on their personal needs. When that’s gonna change, we can expect the world to be a better place for all of us to live.
It’s true that we tend to act in our interests, but I think its important that we take a stand when we see injustice of any kind.
That’s so true 👍 xx
Great share!!
Will read it
Thank you.
‘there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” – from Hamlet
great share, Brenda 🙏🤍
Thanks Destiny
most welcome 🤍
Determining right from wrong is subjective, influenced by diverse perspectives.
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” Rumi
Such a wise observation!
Our world grapples with contrasting beliefs.
Hence there is the need for empathy and understanding.
Amidst the chaos, fostering open dialogue and embracing diversity can pave the way for shared values.
Ultimately, the journey towards a harmonious world involves recognizing the inherent complexity of human nature and striving for a collective understanding that transcends individual interpretations.
This is not going to happen in another 10000 years
Apologies for my rant.
This is just out of frustration.
Talking of high moral ground seems to be a waste of one’s time and energy, because what you think is right, genuinely believed as wrong by the other.
We never intend to change because there is no such necessity in the first place.
In this world everyone is right and none can go wrong😂😂
Rant away Philo. I think the problem is that people generally are so focused on their own interpretation that they don’t consider or are willing to acknowledge alternative views.
Thank you for being kind.
Sometimes helpless makes one go mad and the rant takes upper hand.
You were fine Philo. We all need to rant sometimes.