Recently, I stumbled across an online survey. Normally I pass them up, but this one was too tempting to just click on by.
Apparently, upon completion of the survey, I was deemed 70 percent evil. Supposedly, I am very evil, too evil to care, not to mention those who love me also fear me, a lot.
This in-depth psychological profile includes tough questions such as:
Check all that apply:
• You've broken the law.
• You've secretly wished someone harm.
• You've killed a bug.
• You've blamed a fart on someone else.
Wow, I've never had anyone probe my psyche so deeply before. I'm pretty sure that everyone on the face of the earth would have to admit to the above evils. It begs for the question, why ask a question that everyone would have to check off?
A deeper look at these standards raises another question: On what standard do we base our decision-making? Where do the magnetic fields that point our personal moral compass come from? What do we base the paradigm of our fragile minds upon?
I may be 70 percent evil, but I consider myself a moral person. Does the moral wind blow from our religious beliefs? My personal beliefs are too scientific for most religious people and too religious for most scientific minds to accept. I guess it's a catch-22, but it does indicate that our beliefs are rooted much deeper than with something as superficial as religious conviction.
Perhaps they arise from the early learning imparted to us by our surrounding family structure. But that doesn't really make sense either — I have family members who have carried out some pretty despicable acts and their transgressions have not impacted my character. But there is a big difference between doing something you know to be wrong and believing it's an acceptable act.
We've all done things we know are wrong, but how do we know they are wrong? Who set the rules beforehand? And even more importantly, what scale do we use when weighing the cost of perpetrating a violation of our moral code?
Everyone knows that killing is wrong, yet some of us choose to kill anyways. A conscious choice is made and the act is carried out, followed by remorse. There are individuals that do not believe killing is wrong and engage in it wantonly. These individuals we assume have a "mental defect" that indicates our morals may be hardwired somewhere in the mass of grey matter living upstairs.
Perhaps our morals are ingrained deeply within the history of life on this planet. Maybe they arise from the intricate and harmonious ballet taking place on the surface, a ballet that has been playing out under a constant system of checks and balances from within the annals of history. A moral compass may be a way of the ecosystem ensuring its survival. A moral paradigm is the greatest contribution of Mother Earth; it ensures her survival as well as ours.
I may be 70 percent evil, but I hold a greater fear for those that are only 10 to 20 percent, because they must have lied a lot to get a score that low. Wait a minute; I think that was one of the questions . . .
To check out my flaming forked tail, you can reach me at: jamey.sackett@asu.edu.
