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> Human behavior is remarkably different depending on whether or not I'm the sole person on stage responsible for an action or whether I'm a single anonymous vo
by tharne 5y ago
> Human behavior is remarkably different depending on whether or not I'm the sole person on stage responsible for an action or whether I'm a single anonymous vote.
This is exactly it. In a large organization, everyone can mentally offload any responsibility to someone else.
The rank and file can say "It's not my decision, the execs told me to do this".
The executives can say, "It's the board pushing me to do xyz and if I don't do it then someone else will, so I might as well just keep my job".
And the board can say, "Well, we just told the execs to maximize shareholder value, we didn't tell them to do anything unethical."
So you end up with a situation where no one feels like they bear any responsibility for the actions of an enterprise and you have a group of individuals who, as individuals, are moral but are contributing to an organization that is acting immorally in the aggregate.
- deltaonefour 5y ago>are moral but are contributing to an organization that is acting immorally in the aggregate. I would argue that the individuals are immoral and the corporations foster conditions that reveal this fundamental immorality that is usually hidden. We only act moral if there's a consequence detrimental to ourselves.
- ILMostro7 5y agoThat's not the definition of morality. That's self-interest or self-preservation. Adhering to a set of guidelines or rules with empathy, regardless if it doesn't immediately register as detrimental to ourselves is more like it.
- deltaonefour 5y agoIt's not the definition but it's interrelated. When survival directly contradicts morality. Survival takes priority and morality is overridden. Hence people act immorally in the name of survival.
- ILMostro7 5y agoGranted. Nevertheless, "survival" might be subjective as well then. Anyway, I'll either have to come back to this at another point or leave it alone :D lest I go too far down the rabbit hole. Thanks