“Suffering is the sole root of consciousness…consciousness is man’s greatest misfortune”, said the man from the Underground. Consciousness has led humankind through a circle of events in an attempt to understand life. However, drawing a map and designing a formula to decipher how a person thinks and behaves is impossible. Human behavior deserves analysis. Scientists wrote books and volumes regarding human psychology, motives, and components of human actions. Strikingly, discrepancy among their writings revealed evidence of real vague.
It is agreed that human desires generate actions and outcomes. Are we slaves to our desires? Can actions, when irrational and rushing, drive us? These questions are mere theories. Along the way of human behavior studying, the theoretician is thought of as removed from reality and dabbling in an irrelevant world of abstractions and fantasy. Nonetheless, theories are derived from scientific observation of human behavior. It postulates patterns of behavior that can be verified by others through further observation and research. Ethics had the upper hand to rule those theories of human behavior. Imagine a world without laws to define borders and redlines, it will be something similar to the Middle Ages. Ethics made a genuine effort to rationalize the morality of actions. A question is asked: “Is the end outcome the determinant of the morality of an action regardless of the methodology?”. This is wrapped with great uncertainty as there are many identifiers to that problem. The illusion of understanding our surroundings may even result in the misconception of what is right or faulty.
Thus, we constantly, and unintentionally, fool ourselves by constructing flimsy accounts of the past and believing they are true. Daniel Kahneman demonstrated the definition of the ‘Halo effect’ which gives coherence as it matches all the qualities of a person to our judgment of one attribute that is particularly significant. For example: “Hitler loves dogs and little children”. This sentence may be shocking to believe. However, with no educational background, it may create a Halo effect making Hitler the kind man who does good! Another example is the success story of Google company. Starting with two creative graduate students who came up with a superior way of searching for information. Within a few years, their company became one of the most valuable stocks in America. One is unlikely to imagine a story holding different outcomes. The human mind cannot deal well with nonevents as Daniel concluded. Consequently, we may underestimate real events and causative intentions compared to outcomes.
Sometimes they say aims justify means, but, in parallel, an essential word resonates within the ears: ‘Machiavellianism’. It originated as a political theory developed by the Italian statesman and writer Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), as presented in his best-known work, Il Principe (The Prince). Simply it justifies treachery, violence, and deceit for the sake of inflicting political powers. In psychology and personality theory, it reflects what is called the “dark triad” formed of relatively negative personality, narcissism, and psychopathy. Machiavellianism represents the emotional coldness and aggressiveness serving one’s interests rather than the greater benefit of the community. As described by scientists, Machiavellian individuals lack morality.
In contrast to the previous, medicine could showcase some incidents in which an outcome can severe the methodology. In other words, while the intention-based action itself appears to be moral, the outcome is not. Assisted suicide is a blowing example. The physician appears to be showing mercy by helping the rapid death of the patient whilst he is committing a crime of murder. Thus, mercy never justifies murder! However, that is not always the physicians’ viewpoint. Some physicians agree about euthanasia, but other physicians go to the other extreme of banning such action.
In conclusion, it is obvious that multiple barriers hinder the reality of our sense of morality. Variations in socioeconomic status, personality traits, parental upbringing, and brain health formulates our personality which creates different judgments. As I discussed before, it is uncertain whether outcomes are more important than actions because it depends on our perception of right and wrong, and the situation itself.
We humans, in order to reduce the nuisance, must appreciate the role of consultation. Asking other people and sharing ideas may open new horizons that could drive better intentions leading to more appropriate actions and beneficial outcomes for the best of humankind. Thus, those theories are not mere discussions, but they construct how we deal with our current evidence to create solutions. Solutions pave the road toward understanding human behavior.
Resources:
1. Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground, Translated by Mirra Ginsburg, Bantam Book, 2005, P.34.
2. Bernard D. Starr and Harris S. Goldstein, Human development and behavior psychology in nursing, Springer Publishing Company, 1975, Chap.8, P. 169.
3 &4. Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and slow, Penguin Books, 2011, Chap.19
5. Colón, S. "Machiavellianism." Encyclopedia Britannica, May 2, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/science/Machiavellianism.
6. Al Aïn, S., Carré, A., Fantini-Hauwel, C., Baudouin, J. Y., & Besche-Richard, C. (2013). What is the emotional core of the multidimensional Machiavellian personality trait?. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 454. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00454
7. Sutherland J. (2016). Physician-assisted suicide from a patient's perspective. Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien, 62(2), 115.
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