The gut as accomplice

A review of core behavioral ethics concepts (“Rule-breaking without Crime: Insights from Behavioral Ethics for the Study of  Everyday Deviancy” by Yuval Feldman, Benjamin van Rooij and  Melissa Rorie) noted: “Behavioral Ethics has shown that … people relying on System 1 cognition (characterized by intuitive and emotional decision making, more so than System 2’s deliberation and planning) are more likely to be unethical.”

For the past three years we have seen countless examples of President Trump relying on his gut in making decisions for the country – most recently in saying he would trust his instinct in deciding when to reopen the economy. More generally, as described in an article in The Atlantic ,“Trump’s Most Trusted Adviser Is His Own Gut. The president’s glandular instinct has become a substitute for all expertise and all nuance.”

Even if he loses the election in November, Trump’s triumph of instinct over reason will have caused lasting damage to the moral fabric of our country. To counteract that, we need to strengthen the moral imperative not just to be honest but also to be careful and deliberative, particularly when making decisions that will significantly impact others.  We should heed these words of  Samuel Johnson: “It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentionally lying that there is so much falsehood in the world.” And carelessness is obviously at the root of many other types of wrongdoing too.

One specific  example is suggested by a presentation – “Beyond Agency Theory: The Hidden and Heretofore Inaccessible Power of Integrity,” by Michael Jensen and Werner Erhard – discussed in this earlier post. The authors argue that honesty requires more than sincerity: “When giving their word, most people do not consider fully what it will take to keep that word.  That is, people do not do a cost/benefit analysis on giving their word.  In effect, when giving their word, most people are merely sincere (well-meaning) or placating someone, and don’t even think about what it will take to keep their word. This failure to do a cost/benefit analysis on giving one’s word is irresponsible.”

There are many other examples of how more deliberative thinking can lead to less gut-led actions.   Big picture: ultimately we need to get to a place where being  uncareful is broadly seen as unethical in the same way that being dishonest is.