Bigthink - Idea Comments Feed

Comment on: How do you rank in your morality?

Bigthink — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:31:54 +0100

As we are informed by the lead in, very few of really see ourselves.

So for many it seems the answer is rejection of the results.

I didn't really care for my results either. I thought about it for a while and feel that the results may be much more accurate, than many of us would like.

I enjoyed the gentleman who felt a need to hide behind his politics. An interesting way to reject the results.

I guess Mrs. Clinton would disagree with his perception of why we "need" Obama.

In general many folks have a difficult time knowing and understanding themselves, and seem to need to project so many of their own deficiencies.

As I like to say, select your own dysfunction, and enjoy life.

Comment on: How do you rank in your morality?

Bigthink — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:16:48 +0100

I am a bit disappointed in the result because given the amount of stuff we filled in the results seem very nroad & macro...& frankly did not give me any new insight into myself or my partner. It just seemed to reaffirm how I thought about myself. Most good psycholigical tools make you more self aware by revealing previously unknown (sometimes pleasant...& sometimes unpleasant) facets to yourself.

Comment on: How do you rank in your morality?

Bigthink — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:16:09 +0100

A fifteen-minute questionaire such as "The Morality Test" can only scratch the surface. I think morality is too nuanced to be quantified so simply. I agree with Djebe it was more of a liberal/conservative test than a moral one.

As for me and my morality, I know if I have done something immoral by how my body responds to it. My stomach gets butterflies, my chest feels tight, and I feel anxious, in other words, the typical responses to guilt. I don't need a preacher, or a politician, or my next-door neighbor to tell me what is and is not moral.
I think most people have the guilt reflex that I described myself as having. Ignoring those feelings for selfish reasons is what allows us to behave immorally.
For example, I listed abortion as being "always" a matter of choice, although in my personal experience I have paid for an abortion and have felt like a selfish ass ever since. Killing a person who has not done anything violent to anyone or anything is wrong in my eyes, and yet I think it is wrong to force someone to have a child, so I take the precarious position that as long as a fetus is dependant upon it's "host organism" to remain viable, it is up to the "host organism" whether to allow the fetus to reach maturity. Notice I couched everything in stilted, formal language. That's how I know I'm rationalizing.

As for the results of my Morality Test, I ranked 76% on the liberal side. I agree with that assessment, but I still don't see what that has to do with my morality.

Comment on: How do you rank in your morality?

Bigthink — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:27:32 +0100

%u201CMorality%u201D may have predictable dimensions, in terms of social or natural conditions that cause suffering or well-being, but how can we qualify the nature of well-being over suffering, universally? Is it not the case that some types of suffering and intense hardship produce desirable ends? If society is organized based on maximizing well-being or reducing suffering, is collective mediocrity not a possible outcome? Is unqualified utilitarianism more desirable than qualified elitism, where a small group experiences great existential range at the expense of mass society? Can population levels and development be minimized to the point where a small society can achieve the greatest possible experiential quality and range? Do large populations necessitate lesser quality of life, given limited resource distribution and freedoms? These questions go unanswered by such a dimensionally narrow %u201Cmorality test.%u201D There are so many different interactions of disposition, emotion, social circumstance, and education that it does little good to talk of %u201Cmorality%u201D or %u201Cimmorality%u201D as if they were valid categories of measurement, in themselves.

Comment on: How do you rank in your morality?

Bigthink — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:25:34 +0100

I liked the questions they asked, but i disagree with their conclusions. Some of the questions though should have been split up, such as the Biodiversity and Environment questions. I have drastically different views on each of these topics.
Also, were did all of the data on god and religion go? And I wish they would show how they take into account class, location, and childhood. It seems like they toss out 1/2 of the survey, or am i missing a page of the results?

Comment on: How do you rank in your morality?

Bigthink — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:11:55 +0100

I agree -- the results were a bit disappointing and seemingly more oriented to political affiliation than moral leanings. Plus, it took forever to get through that thing. On the flip side, I've confirmed that I am morally (err...politically) upright than my younger sister.

Comment on: How do you rank in your morality?

Bigthink — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:49:21 +0100

I agree, I'm not sure the results from this test really refer to what I'd consider to be "moral values". No surprises in the results for me, though - they quite rightly predicted that I have a messy desk!

Comment on: How do you rank in your morality?

Bigthink — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:56:52 +0100

The results this "morality test" gives out is whether you are "liberal" or "conservative". Since when are these moral categories?

I think I see now why the US needs Barack Obama, somebody who leads the people together and has them agree that your political trend has nothing to do with your morality.

And, by the way, some of those questions are very strange. You are asked whether the "physical and mental differences in ability between races" come from genetics or enviroment. You are not told which differences for example in physical ability these guys are talking about. White men can't jump? Or, as they thought before WWII, Japanese flyers can't see in the dark?