There is No Right & Wrong

There is no objective right & wrong.

When a goal is defined, however, there is always subjective right and wrong.

Let's take the example of pushing someone. Is it right or wrong? Well, it depends on the goal. If the goal is to save someone from harm, then pushing them out of the way of an oncoming car is clearly the right thing to do. But if the goal is to assert your dominance over someone, then we may come to a different conclusion. We need to define the goal first, and then we can determine what is right and wrong in relation to that goal.

Generally, when people say something is good or bad, they have an implied objective that is assumed to be shared among those who are part of the discussion. We first need to define what that objective is to ensure we’re aligned about what we are trying to optimize for. This approach allows us to resolve issues faster and build empathy more easily. When we understand that people have different objectives and values, we can work together to find solutions that work for everyone. We may still disagree over what is right and wrong, but we can agree to disagree without wasting emotional energy. This is crucial for building a more harmonious society.

Of course, building a shared understanding of our objectives is not always easy. We are often influenced by institutional systems of moral rule-making that have been established over thousands of years. It can be easier to simply accept the rules that are provided to us rather than question them and build our own. But it's important that we take the time to do so. We need to build clarity around our personal and societal objectives so that we can work together to achieve them.

One way to do this is through methods like Whyse. By asking "why" repeatedly, we can dig deeper and uncover the underlying objectives that drive our beliefs and actions. This allows us to build a clearer understanding of what we truly value and what our goals are. With this clarity, we can have more productive conversations about what is right and wrong in relation to those goals.

But hey who knows, maybe I'm wrong.