Ethics. A subject which, outside of a seminar class in college or a mandatory semi-decadal company meeting, few people give any serious thought. After all, right is right and wrong is wrong, right? Ignoring contrived examples — save the lives of 5 strangers at the cost of a loved one? — it seems that most people live their lives, day by day, according to an implicit set of ethics. An implicitly ethical individual is usually a good person. They will probably make the right decisions, most of the time; and, when facing a difficult situation, they can mostly be relied on to do a good thing. If all this equivocation and hand waving doesn’t bother you, feel free to skip the rest of this post. The truth is that unless person sits down and intentionally focuses on what their own personal ethics are, nobody — including the individual in question — really knows what kind of person they are. To truly discover yourself you must be explicitly ethical. You must, at some specific point, decide what it is you believe in, what rules govern your behavior, what your own personal Articles of Ethics are. Others are quick to notice and understand an explicitly ethical person. They know that you are a good person. That you will make the right decision, each and every time. And, when faced with a difficult situation, they know that you can always be relied upon to do the right thing. Life is too short to equivocate. Now, go do the Right Thing™
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