Facing choices in life and work

Ethics are needed where we face choices and there’s no one but ourselves to see what we do. If there are rules to follow, the choice is between compliance and rebellion. That isn’t an ethical matter. It depends on fear of punishment versus desire for whatever lies outside the rules.

If you face shame or scandal if you’re caught, that isn’t an ethical decision either. Prudence or fear decide the outcome. But if you face nothing beyond your own thoughts about living as you wish to live, you’re confronting a purely ethical decision.

The decision to gossip and pass on a rumor that will embarrass someone; the choice to go easy on a task and cut yourself some slack; the time spent chatting around the water cooler; using office phone lines, computers or stationery for your private needs; all are ethical decisions. No one will know what you’ve done (or they’re doing it themselves and in no position to point the finger).

These small, everyday instances of ethical decisions–are no different from the decision to win a deal by misleading the buyer, cheating a little on an expense claim (everyone does it, right?), or dropping a few words into a meeting that you know will mean someone you dislike will find him or herself under suspicion.
Continued

How false beliefs become fixed in people’s minds

Source Amnesia diagram
Source: Wikipedia

As we remember things, we also forget where we heard them or who told us about them. As a result, we easily forget whether a supposed fact is true or was originally merely a rumor.

Even when we are told something with a good many caveats attached, when it comes back into the mind, the disclaimers have probably been detached somehow, so we recall it as factual.

That’s the claim of this article in The International Herald Tribune (“Your brain lies to you”). The authors, Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt, explain how information is moved around and processed in the brain before being stored in memory. It is this processing and re-processing that strips the supposed fact from the context in which it was originally received as data. Continued

Try using this proactive tool for making better decisions

One of the worst aspects of the modern world is the way that speed rules people’s lives. Sometimes it seems that doing something quickly is seen as more important than doing it right. And nowhere is this tendency more common — and more dangerous — that when it comes to making up your mind about someone or something.

We’re also encouraged to accept superficial news measured in sound bites, accept the word of spin doctors as essentially true, jump to emotional conclusions rather that wait until feelings subside and reason re-asserts itself, and assume that there is a single, one-size-fits-all, ‘true’ answer to everything.

That’s why it’s important to train yourself to open your mind and see all those aspects of a situation that you miss by rushing — or which other, highly interested parties want you to overlook, so your decision works in their interests. Continued

“Nothing is more dangerous than an idea. . . especially if it’s the only one you have.”

Ideas are like wrench sets. If you have too small a set, you can be sure that you’ll never have the one you need when the lawn tractor breaks down. Obsessive people buy huge wrench sets with every possible size, imperial and metric, just in case. Smart ones buy an adjustable wrench or two.

Ideas are much the same. When you need one, it’s usually too late to take the time to find it. And, unlike that vast case of wrenches, your mind can’t hold that many ideas or random bits of information without forgetting most of them. You need the mental equivalent of an adjustable wrench.

That’s a concept: a way of looking at something that can be adjusted to provide the precise answer you need in specific circumstances. Human minds are bad at holding lots of disconnected ideas and bits of learning, but first-rate at recalling and using concepts. Continued

Most people today strongly advocate sincerity. Here’s an opposing viewpoint

I recently came across this challenging viewpoint in an article on a British blog called “Stumbling and Mumbling” (“Against Sincerity” ). The writer bases his point on the idea that what’s true is true, regardless of what anyone else believes about it. Taking the argument round the other way, what’s false is simply false, even if you believe it to be true.

I can’t help agreeing that there’s altogether too much emphasis being based today on personal belief — faith, if you like — as the basis of correct actions. It’s obvious that even the strongest belief can be mistaken, where truth is always true (if it’s mistaken, it’s no longer truth). Using belief as justification absolves people from the need to seek further after what is factual. It erects emotion as a sign of correctness (belief is, after all, as much or more emotional as rational). It removes much of the need to find firm evidence to support what you assert. Continued

Does America (and other countries) suffer from a nasty strain of anti-intellectual ‘elitism’?

Photo credit: D. B. King

When is being part of an elite — or having an ‘elite’ level of knowledge, attainment or expertise — a handicap? It seems the answer is “when someone wants to denigrate your ideas without having any evidence to support them.”

To be accepted as part of an elite used to be a source of pride: a recognition that you had finally arrived amongst the best in some field (which is what ‘elite’ means). Now it’s an insult — branding people as “not one of us” and therefore to be treated with suspicion or disdain. That’s the message in this article by Susan Jacoby in The New York Times (” “Best Is the New Worst”)

What was once an accolade has turned poisonous in American public life over the past 40 years, as both the left and the right have twisted it into a code word meaning “not one of us.” But the newest and most ominous wrinkle in the denigration of all things elite is that the slur is being applied to knowledge itself.

It looks to me as if the causes of the problem are a potent mix of envy and fear: envy of anyone who seems to be ‘better’ than us in some way, and fear that we will lose out in some way if their superiority is recognized. Continued

How often have you decided — firmly — to do something or avoid something, only to forget all about your resolution when temptation arises? We all know how difficult it can be to stick to our decisions, but have you ever wondered why this should be. Amongst all the wonderful adaptations produced by evolution, why should humans be left with minds that seem to have minds of their own?

That’s the provoking questions posed — and answered — by Gary Marcus in this article from The Los Angeles Times (“Does your brain have a mind of its own?”).

It seems the answer probably lies in an aspect of evolution that seems curiously . . . well, human: the fact that everything is built on what went before, even if starting from scratch seems the best option, and ‘good enough’ is readily accepted. Continued

How to use your time wisely by reflecting on experiences so you are free to make good decisions.

Webster’s Dictionary defines reflection as a fixing of the thoughts on something; careful consideration.

Reflection is not highly thought of today. Those of you who like to spend time reflecting may be accused of “doing nothing” and “wasting time in idle speculation.” If you take time to come to conclusions you are labeled a procrastinator. If you spend time with imaginative thoughts, you are a “dreamer” or accused of being idealistic and impractical. Modern society values immediate action. You are not given the time for reflecting on what that action should be. You’re expected to be able to select the correct action instantly, even though you have no basis on which to decide how to proceed.

This is ridiculous, and leads to all sorts of mistakes, when people are unable to take time to see the truth of what is required. The world is viewed through the ideas and values learned from the past. And that view will be faulty if those ideas and values are not sufficient for your to see clearly, or if they are obscured by falsehoods.

Will success only come about if you have experience you can call on? Are copying others or using standard approaches sufficient? Continued

Most businesses pride themselves on their innovation, but if schools neglect to teach young people to think creatively or critically, where will the next generation of creative people be found?

An article in Management Issues (“High school leavers can’t think, can’t communicate”) suggests that our schools are more focused on cramming their pupils for standardized tests than helping them develop critical skills they will need for employment. Continued