Ethics, where art thou?

Shakespeare once said; "There is nothing that is good or bad, but thinking that makes it so." And there really is no better way to put it. Good and bad are merely perceptions, and our perceptions are influenced by our heritage, our religious beliefs, our experiences, our hopes, our doubts...

So, really, if you where to mold people differently, they could have completely opposing opinions on good and bad. It happens all the time. Politics is the epicenter of that debate over what is good and what is bad. So, people never do anything they believe to be the worst decision. They always pick the best option available to them. Now, I'm not saying that people always pick the right option, or the option that benefits the most people, but they do turn down the road that they believe will allow them to get to their personal goals. Tolkien knew this when he wrote his famous Lord of the Rings books. There is no character, besides Sauron, who is truly evil. They always have some conflict with the protagonists not because their sole purpose is to get in the way, but because their goals don't align with the goals of the "good" guys.

But it is hard, to understand people and their decisions. It takes a considerable amount of understanding to really grasp someone's motives. But understanding breeds empathy, and empathy breeds sympathy. And so, in order to really, truly, unquestionably understand someone, you have to first love them as they love themselves.