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Are Moral Dilemmas Too Complicated to Consider?

A few weeks ago, I discussed groupthink, and how much easier it was to conform rather than do the research necessary to form your own decisions. It made me wonder whether moral dilemmas have become so complicated that most of us won’t try to figure them out. Immigration for instance raises social and ethical questions.

Ask yourself this-If a tree lands on your neighbor’s house are you apt to offer food, clothing, and temporary shelter? Do you take elderly neighbors to doctor’s appointments and help with groceries if they are incapacitated? Many of you will say yes for most of us are empathetic to those we know and will do what we can to alleviate their distress. 

But when nameless migrants are facing starvation brought on by drought, fires, floods, and wars beyond their control, empathy stops at the border, most especially if they aren’t white. Texas doesn’t want them. They’re now bussing border migrants to blue states like New York and D.C. Does this mean that Texans are callous and uncaring? 

My guess is that their morality is very much intact when it comes to family, friends, and church. But when their values are tested by unknown migrants with different beliefs, they are confused and shut down, finding it easier to say no.

Emerging technologies are also creating uncertainty that challenges past wisdom. Computing and medical ethics are forcing us to select among poorly understood choices. So rather than delve in to research that they half understand, people listen to advertisements and pundits who shout emotional jingles.

In Yuval Noah Harari’s bestselling book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, he writes that rather than do tedious research to understand the facts and consequences, of their decisions, people resort to myths. He mentions four. One way minimizes issues by assigning either good or bad to each conflicting side. ie; all Russians are bad, and all Ukrainians are good. Another grasps emotional stories that stand for the conflict as a whole. ie; Illegal migrant Juan robbed a 7-11, therefore all migrants are thieves.

A third way is to weave conspiracy theories into the framework of the issue. ie; The FBI is out to get Trump so evidence was planted when they swept his compound. By diverting the focus away from the pros and cons of absconding with national documents, the issue gets confused and people accept the conspiracy as being real. 

The last myth deals with moral issues through the thin veil of dogma so it becomes an all-knowing theory. ie; religious dogma is stretched to cover a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion or not. 

Moral issues are complex and often don’t lead to answers that will satisfy all. The democratic approach is to trust the voter. The Native American way is to reach a consensus. The Vatican’s way is through papal proclamations. All approaches leave vast numbers of followers unsatisfied.

What makes moral choices difficult is that they are not a matter of one party being right and the other wrong. Rushworth Kidder, the founder of the Institute for Global Ethics, considers choice a matter of “right” vs “right.” It’s right to protect our country from outside meddling by Russia in elections. It’s right to interact with Russia because their oil is needed by millions of people. It’s right to listen to Tchaikovsky’s symphonies. It’s right to fear Russian oligarchs. It’s right to share space exploration with Russia. Are Russians evil or good?

Kiddler writes of four dilemmas to consider when faced with a moral question, and suggests adopting an “and” approach to solve them. 

• Good for the individual (unit) and good for the whole
• Good for the long term and good for the short term
• It involves truth and loyalty
• It fosters justice and mercy

I like his approach as a framework to consider hard questions. When I ask myself whether a raped woman should be able to abort and put it through Kiddler’s structure I see it as a question of whether women are on earth to be incubators or have free will over their bodies.

When analyzing whether parents should monitor their teen’s social media activities, I concluded that social media is acceptable if ground rules are agreed upon that include how much time is spent on social media and that it will be monitored until the child is old enough to understand its risks and their obligations online.

My 11-year-old granddaughter was given a phone for her birthday. It buzzed one day when she wasn’t around and I noticed a newsflash about abortion across her screen. We’ve never discussed abortion, but flashes like this are commonplace. Parents have to pay attention to what their children see, so they can discuss its meaning together.

According to New Scientist, the greatest ethical issues of today are?

• Should we edit our children’s genomes? ( How far do we go to extend life, and insure that we produce “normal” children?)
• Should we make everyone ‘normal’? (Should we genetically engineer children? If everyone acted the same way, societies might be happier, but at what cost?)
• Should we give animals rights? ( Do we have a right to control animal populations or do research on animals for the benefit of human well-being?)
• Should we abandon privacy online? ( What is more important, individual privacy or national security)
• Should we give robots the right to kill? (Who should takes responsibility for their actions?)
• Should we let synthetic life forms loose? (Is it worth the risk if they tackle global warming and famine)
• Should we geo-engineer the planet? ( how far should we go to save the world from ourselves?)
• Should we impose population controls? (Listen to common sense or religion)
• Should we populate other planets? (Do we have the right to take over another planet?)
• Should we stop scientific research? (Do we quit while we’re ahead or continue to do research even if it is harmful to the planet’s existence?)

How do you make ethical decisions?

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Art is always for sale. Strength is a20″ x16″ acrylic painting on canvas/ Available for $ 299. contact me at Marilynne@eichingerfineart.com

References: 

Demmos & Harrison, T. ( 2021) Unique ethical challenges for the 2ast century; Technology and virtue education. Journal of Moral Education. retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057240.2020.1781071

McGoff, C. (2022 website). How to Solve ethical Dilemmas in a Way That Works for Everyone.Inc. retrieved from https://www.inc.com/chris-mcgoff/make-tough-decisions-more-easily-get-your-team-on-board-using-these-3-tips.html

Harari, Y.N. (2019) 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Random House Books. ISBN 976-0-5255-1219-6

New Scientist website. (2022) The ethics issue: The 10 biggest moral dilemmas in science .Retrieved from https://www.newscientist.com/round-up/ethics-issue/