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Throwing Out the Rules
What would happen if you had no rules about being a good person, a nice person, or a valuable person? Would you naturally care about people? Would you want to be decent and kind?
What would you do with your days if you had no financial or social pressure to do any particular thing? Would you lay around and do nothing forever? Would your natural curiosity and interest in the world surface?
What if your parents never taught you the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you? What if you didn’t know that “good” people tell the truth? What would you naturally do? Would you experiment and learn what drives others away and what would help you feel closer to them?
We see a lot of selfish, reckless behaviour right now. Entitled. Narcissistic. We are horrified to see police and military dispersing citizens with tear gas. We also see police taking a knee alongside #blacklivesmatter protestors. Citizens in Minneapolis are buying groceries and leaving them on sidewalks for people in areas where riots have shut down stores. Science tells us that people evolved to survive best through cooperating with each other. It is also true that humans are capable of a range of behavior.
We are conditioned to “go along” during childhood when our survival literally depends on it. School conditions us by approving when we act in…
