LET'S LIVE WITHOUT HARMING!: AWAKEN OUR INNATE ETHICS

Are we born with an inner sense of right and wrong?

Except for psychopaths, we all have an innate sense of right and wrong, varying greatly among individuals. This is not about the morality, often benevolent and harmful at the same time, with which we have been educated, but rather an inner quality we are born with completely independent of what we are taught or told.

This ethical compass represses our basic instincts, which are solely self-interested, promoting a balance in the interest of justice.

A combination of studies in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology provides evidence that justice is not merely a social construct, but a fundamental characteristic of our human nature.

Those of us with children know that from an early age they show preferences for ethical behavior and an aversion to injustice. Even before being significantly influenced by education, it is observed how, when watching television, they naturally perceive the lion in a documentary eating a zebra or the human in a movie whipping a slave as bad.

An experiment conducted by Yale University provides evidence of the early presence of a sense of justice in humans. In it, researchers showed babies aged six to ten months a series of theatrical performances with puppets, where some helped, while others acted abusively. The results showed that most babies preferred to interact with the former.

Furthermore, a study by the University of Washington demonstrated that children as young as 15 months old can distinguish between fair and unfair distributions of resources. Babies observed scenarios where rewards were distributed equitably or inequitably and showed surprise and displeasure in the latter case.

Regarding adults, research from the University of Zurich has proven that their willingness to punish injustice, known as “altruistic punishment,” is present across different cultures. This phenomenon has been observed in economic experiments where participants are willing to sacrifice personal resources to sanction unfair behaviors, demonstrating that ethics is a universal value deeply rooted in human nature.

On a neuroscientific level, researchers at Emory University, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, discovered that certain brain areas, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, are activated when individuals perceive abuses. This provides a neurological basis for our emotional and cognitive responses to abusive situations.

Experiments with non-human animals have reached similar conclusions. For example, in one experiment, several capuchin monkeys were rewarded for performing the same task differently with pieces of grape, carrot, or rock, and those who were poorly compensated angrily threw the piece at the researcher.

WATCH VIDEO

Likewise, it has been observed that if a member of the pack is unfairly attacked by another, the remaining members intervene to defend them.

Our sense of justice matures over time, largely formed by the age of 20-22. The level varies greatly among individuals, which poses a significant challenge. Most people develop an average or low sense of justice, leading them to primarily concern themselves with abuses that affect them, their loved ones, or the groups with which they identify.

We often apply double standards: we become victims when we suffer abuse, but we remain indifferent, minimize, or even justify injustices when they affect people with whom we do not feel connected. This attitude can range from silent complicity to active support of such actions.

Read LIVING WITHOUT HARM: Let us be impartial and not apply double standards

HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING? Let us not be accomplices or contributors to injustice

This happens because, by nature, humans tend to focus on satisfying their own needs, those of their children, and, to a lesser extent, those of their loved ones or the interests of the groups with which they identify. Beyond this “microworld,” there is usually little concern for what happens to others or for the suffering of others, even if solidarity is feigned through contributions to NGOs or humanitarian gestures that are well-regarded in society.

FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Charity does not cleanse the damage caused

THE ART OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let’s shed our masks of sanctimony

This collective behavior generates mediocre societies: healthy in certain aspects, but deeply harmful in others. We have oscillated between unhinged (and unhinging) extremes, such as when tens of millions of African slaves were sent to the Americas in terrible conditions, and moderately toxic systems. The good news is that this panorama can change. With individual efforts and social reforms, it is possible to heal our communities and build a more just world.

THE REVOLUTION OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let’s be just

LET’S LIVE WITHOUT HARMING! Let’s be good people

LIVE WITHOUT HARMING: Let’s reform society

HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING? Let’s continue the civilizing process

The basis for this is to raise the bar for the sense of justice at both individual and societal levels. The first 4 steps are as follows:

1. Become aware that harming innocent people is wrong.

Read “LET’S HARM NO ONE”

2. Help others to do so, convincing them not to do to others what they do not want done to themselves

LET US PREVENT HARM!: Let us share and persuade so that they do not cause harm

3. Educate children and adolescents in the ethics of kindness.

FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Let’s educate children in the ethics of kindness

4. Un-educate, undoing the harmful indoctrinations that have corrupted our innate sense of ethics and led us to amorality—that is, believing that harming innocent people in certain cases is not wrong, thus normalizing abuse and indifference to evil.

THE ART OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let’s not normalize certain abuses

Change does not require grand heroic gestures, but small daily actions that, together, can transform the world. Let us be the example that inspires others and make justice a universal value.

Each of us has the power to make a difference. A more just world begins with you.

Thank you for acting and sharing,