I used to believe there was something called “common sense” or “basic decency” an invisible moral code most people followed.
We live in a paradox of experience where people have different truths to be self evident.
I’m starting to think that shared morality was either an illusion or a privilege I have had growing up.
From what I see now, the world doesn’t agree on what’s good or evil, right or wrong and maybe never did.
I thought it was obvious that kids shouldn’t starve and those who feed them shouldn’t be arrested.
That people shouldn’t root for others’ deaths openly online because they disagreed with us.
That cheating shouldn’t be glamorized even in Hallmark movies and popular culture.
That empathy should be praised, not mocked. Yet we treat kindness and weakness (anyone who has mod privileges can see my post history).
But then I scroll through comment sections, hear what’s normalized in the media, or look at global policy decisions I realize: nothing is universally agreed upon.
Not even what I consider to be the basics.
If “don’t envy thy neighbor” or “don’t lie, cheat, steal” were truly universal morals, we wouldn’t need laws, commandments, or algorithms to constantly remind or punish people.
And when I bring this up, I get told that those rules are “religious,” “cultural,” or “subjective.”
But if we can’t agree on even the most basic ethics, what hope do we have for tackling collective issues like climate change, poverty, or war?
It feels like the internet has fragmented any semblance of shared values.
One person’s “freedom” is another’s “oppression.”
One country’s hero is another’s war criminal.
One side praises transparency while another calls it betrayal.
And people don’t just disagree they celebrate it and you can see it by following the different social channels.
I’m not saying everyone is evil. I’m saying we no longer or never had a shared language to define good and evil and that terrifies me more. Because when morality is fully subjective, then power, popularity, or profit becomes the default compass.
So please, tell me we all have an unwritten code as humans we adhere to, please I’m begging you to tell me as teachers you see we can be good humans
Submitted September 23, 2025 at 08:17AM by Mathemodel https://ift.tt/unVZ6Od
