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Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » For those who are conscience-free this question is not for thee. Would you use a conscience button so you could do wrong and feel no guilt?
RosieG

For those who are conscience-free this question is not for thee. Would you use a conscience button so you could do wrong and feel no guilt?

A button you could push in advance or a switch you could turn off and do whatever you wanted to do. Then when you did the deed  you could turn it back on and no one would be the wiser INCLUDING YOU. Think it could be a big seller or do folks who do wrong not care about guilt and those who care avoid knowingly doing wrong?

Posted - July 10, 2018
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Responses


  • 7280
    Well, if I did that in order to kill someone, I'd be fine; but they would still be dead.  (Oh wait...cool)

    Seriously, the definition of conscience that I was taught is that it is the last judgment of the practical intellect prior to one's acting.

    (Which leads directly to the importance of the proper formation of one's conscience.)

    But I occasionally struggle with things that my mother told me I shouldn't do (damn superego) that I understand are perfectly within my moral and ethical right to do, but still find it hard to do---like saying "No" instead of "Yes"---and that button would be very useful in a practical sense.  
      July 10, 2018 3:35 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    I'd be afraid to use it tom. Why? Because I have no idea what evil may lurk deep within me that having such a button could unleash. Maybe I'm a Pandora's box? I mean how do I know what's there? I honestly don't know if it's my conscience that keeps me from intentionally doing wrong and without it whom would I be? I do know that I tell the truth because being called a liar is something I could not bear. I'd rather tell the truth as I know or think it to be and take my hits up front than lie and later on have someone unmask the lie and brand me as untrustworthy. Why that is I don't know. As a kid of course I told a lie here or there. I don't remember when or why but one day I just stopped. If someone asks me a question I don't want to answer I usually counter by asking "why would you ask me that" and let them squirm a bit. Or I will say "I prefer not to answer that" or I will say"that is a private matter and really none of your business". But I will not lie. Do you feel comfy with whatever it is deep down within thee? I mean how far does "good" go? Is it superficial, temporary?  Can it change at any time? I know. What is the definition of "good"? Thank you for your reply and Happy Wednesday. I think I'm not brave enough to use such a button. There is an old Armenian saying. "If the soup tastes good don't stir it to see what's at the bottom". Or something like that.  :)
      July 11, 2018 1:57 AM MDT
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  • 7919
    Yes, but probably not the way you think. Some decisions have no right choice. Imagine you're driving and you have a car full of kids when you see a massive truck heading your way in your lane. The only way out is to veer onto the sidewalk and strike a pedestrian. Either way, people may die. If I survived it, I'd want a button because no matter what, there would be immense guilt over the decision. 

    Would I proactively seek out activities that would normally make me feel guilty? No. 
      July 10, 2018 4:21 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    The horns of a dilemma.  Between a rock and a hard place. Scylla & Charybdis. In that circumstance that you posit I have no idea what I"d do JA. I might just panic and freeze. It would be terrifying. If numbers count of course I'd prefer to kill the fewest. Who wouldn't? Thank you for your thoughtful reply and Happy Wednesday! :)
      July 11, 2018 1:49 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    Well, in that situation you have a legal right to avoid the truck---period.  (There was something like that happened a number of years ago.)

    No way to get a win-win out of that ahead of time though.
      July 12, 2018 12:39 AM MDT
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  • 7919
    Law and ethics are two very different things. 
      July 12, 2018 1:21 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    True, but given the amount of time that you have to make a decision, what a "reasonable man" would do works for both the law and the ethics.

    You know for sure your first job is to protect yourself and those kids---or just yourself if you were alone in the car.

    Justice Black of SCOTUS commented in one of his decisions:  "We must act, on peril of our lives, because time is short."   
      July 12, 2018 3:24 PM MDT
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  • 7919
    My point was that it might be legal to make such a decision, but I would have trouble living with myself after. Ergo, I'd be legally off the hook, but morally and ethically, I would not be. 

    A couple years ago I gave CPR to my neighbor. He didn't survive. I still illogically blame myself. I can't look at his house. I avoid all contact with his widow. Now, I know I was not at fault for his death. There was nothing I could have done to prevent it. He was dead when I got there. But, if I feel guilt over that, there's no way I could be ok after deciding to take another life. A court could tell me I was reasonable in my actions, but that would have no bearing on my conscience. 
      July 13, 2018 12:40 PM MDT
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  • 7280
    Let me say I understand your position---I do.

    And if none of the following helps, please ignore it.

    When I was in my late 60's a counselor said that I had finally overcome the negative aspects of my childhood.

    And shame is what we feel when we don't live up to the standards in the society in which we live and those standards we agree with.

    And guilt is what we feel when we don't live up to the standards we set for ourselves, regardless of society.

    You could also have not given CPR.  He would be no less dead, but would he be off your conscience?
      July 18, 2018 4:36 PM MDT
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