From Here &
Back Again
By Jim Coufal
(Cazenovia, NY – Jan. 2013) It appears that most humans live by a common set of principles. What follows is based solely on observation, little research having been done. Thus, it amounts to one man’s opinion.
In no particular order, here are some of the basic principles guiding human behavior. First, “what’s in it for me?” This is also called, “Looking out for No. 1,” or more kindly, “self-interest.” It is the opposite of altruism, which asks, “How does this benefit others, or the whole, or all.”
Four years ago, S.U. alum and former football player Doug Marrone came to his “dream job” at his beloved alma mater to restore Syracuse to the football glory it once had. Now he leaves to go to another dream job, having made small steps on the path he touted, still having accumulated only a 25/25 record, savaging the coaching squad, and doing this at a critical juncture in the recruiting season, thus undermining the progress he had made.
Along with changing his dream, the apparent reasons for his move are more money and being in the “big time.” Not much altruism here. A colleague – an economist – once told me altruism is a poor motivator: greed is the real motivator.
There is an old saying that, “you can’t tell the player without a scorecard.” It’s passé, with players ignoring contracts without a thought and moving to another team and coaches doing the same.
Using another principle, “What have you done for ME lately?” Owners fire coaches who won big just a year or two ago but had a poor season this year. Loyalty of the kind Jim Boeheim has shown, perhaps a feature of altruism, falls by the wayside.
The sports example is just that, an example. Think of hiring and firing in business; gerrymandering, political elections, whose children get sent to war, and so many others in government; misleading advertising and commercials and the convoluted policies of oil and pharmaceuticals to name a few. “What’s in it for me?” And it is proper to add “right now?”
A second principle is “emotion trumps facts.” There are so many examples of this, it’s tough to pick just one. Naysayers of climate change is a start. They hold that there is no scientific consensus that there is climate change or that there is little, if any, human contribution to whatever climate change there is. National scientific societies around the world agree that there is climate change and that humans contribute greatly to it.
A story in the Jan. 18 Post-Standard says, “The draft Third National Climate Assessment, issued every four years, delivers a bracing picture of environmental changes and natural disasters that mounting scientific evidence indicates is fostered by climate change,” later adding that the consumption of fossil fuels is the main driver of climate change.
Of course, the naysayers find it easier to believe the propaganda. They are emotionally attached, for whatever reason, to their view, and facts be damned. They even jump to another conclusion based on the principle that if it doesn’t fit my preconceived notion, it must be a conspiracy.
We have conspiracies to hide where Obama was born, his religion, his moving us to Socialism; we have conspiracies as to who killed Kennedy, to who is behind the “hoax” of the Holocaust and on and on. These conspiracy theories are fed to us by the – corporate plutocracy, government and military – to keep our attention everywhere but on them.
Or am I seeing a conspiracy? I can offer a lot of evidence if you think so.
Allowing emotion to trump facts has consequences, Nobel Prize winning chemist (1997) Paul D. Boyer warns, “We humans have a remarkable ability to blind ourselves to unpleasant facts. This applies not only to mystical and religious beliefs, but also to long-term environmental consequences of our actions. If we fail to teach our children to think clearly, they will march behind whatever guru wears the shiniest cloak.”
Perhaps more succinctly, ethicist Peter Singer says, “Once you give up standards of reasoning and of using evidence for your beliefs, anything is possible, including a belief that it’s a good thing to fly aeroplanes full of people into office buildings full of more people, and that somehow that will lead to you being rewarded in an afterlife.”
I suggest we cling to falsehoods, that emotion trumps reason, because we prefer comfort to honesty.
I’ll mention one final principle of human behavior. “If it doesn’t affect me personally, I’ll pay lip service and ignore it.”
We know how many people live in poverty in our country, we know how many black Americans are unfairly imprisoned, we know many people are stigmatized by mental health issues and so on.
“Geez, that’s too bad. I’m sorry for them.”
As if that helps them. How does it fit with “Do unto others … ?”
There are clearly many good principles humans also live by, but I suggest they are being overwhelmed in our trivial, materialistic, look-out-for-number-one society.
Smokey said, “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
Only I, and you, can live righteous lives.
Jim Coufal of Cazenovia is a part-time philosopher and full-time observer of global trends. He can be reached at madnews@m3pmedia.com.