Why be moral?

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the total entropy of any isolated system tends to increase over time. If human beings weren’t able to make exceptions to that law, we probably wouldn’t be alive right now. Without the structure of society and laws, violence would proliferate, schools would not exist to provide education, and scientists would not invent medicines to improve the quality of people’s lives. In a world that typically tends to move toward randomness, people reach for stability through morality.

Morality has a value of its own, independent of reward and punishment. Looking at Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, we see that a life without morals is a life without restraint. Man needs a logical and stable system of morals to guide his actions, or else he loses his sanity. Even if a man is afflicted as Job is while acting morally, it’s better to be afflicted and have some stability in life from retaining one’s morals than to be afflicted and to have no meaning in life.

In the Old Testament, there is no cosmic system of karma to punish evil and reward good. I like to think that, in general, a man’s reward for being moral is ultimately a life of meaning, whereas a man’s reward for being evil is a shallow and meaningless life. But these are not incentives or rebukes determined by some higher power; rather, they are general consequences of our actions. Good and evil behaviors are not uniformly punished, but people remain moral because of the stability that they gain from applying a uniform code of judgment to all of their actions.

A common misconception in the Book of Job is that God punishes Job. God does Job no physical wrong; the Adversary is the entity that causes harm to fall on Job. However, God does nothing to stop the Adversary from afflicting Job, and at times even encourages the Adversary’s actions. Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Who knows. Maybe, as Job’s friends suggest, Job really has sinned. Or maybe God is testing Job’s loyalty. Or perhaps God just likes to play as small of a role as possible in the affairs of people so that he can watch how they sort out their problems for themselves. When it comes to the Old Testament view of God, however, I’m a firm believer in knowing what I don’t know.

The God of the Old Testament is limitless and indefinable. “I am that I am,” God tells Moses at the burning bush. If the Old Testament portrays God as so beyond human comprehension, how can we speculate as to God’s motives for allowing Job to be punished? I would agree that allowing Job to suffer is immoral by human standards, but can God, appearing before Job as a whirlwind of power, really be held to the same moral code that humans hold themselves to?

Man's Search for Meaning

Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on. He was soon lost. The typical reply with which such a man rejected all encouraging arguments was, “I have nothing to expect from life any more.” What sort of answer can one give to that?

Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Man’s purpose in life is to find meaning for himself. What specifically that meaning is differs for each person, and even the same person will seek a different meaning at different times in his life. The meaning that one seeks in life is of little significance to any “higher purpose in life” that some might argue people have; all that matters is that he finds something in life that gives him a meaning to exist, in hopes that he will finally achieve his goals.

The most interesting and insightful human-interest profiles of people focus on how the subjects have brought meaning into their lives. When somebody writes about how he has brought meaning to his own life, we call that an autobiography. So, at age 17, I guess I’m going to begin brainstorming for my autobiography? Cool, Ms. Kimball. Here are a few ways I’ve brought meaning into my life (to all of you non-logotherapists: we’ll examine shortly through these examples what I mean by “meaning”).

The single aspect of my life that is currently bringing me the most meaning—at 4:15 pm on this fine Sunday afternoon—is my work on The Trident. I love reading what my friends write and sharing my feedback. As scary as this sounds, it brightens my day. And, when an issue comes out okay after weeks of toil, arguments, and missed deadlines, that’s rewarding for me personally—that’s one way that I bring meaning to my life.

Reluctantly, I must admit that the second most meaningful aspect of my life during mid-October is my college application. Like The Trident, this task gives me a high goal to work towards. But let’s talk about happier, more relaxing things. Seriously.

Photography! Of course, it’s just a hobby, but it’s rewarding. My ever-expanding experience in photography helps identify me as an individual. And, I’ll be honest, when I get a few good shots here and there, it feels good to get a bit of praise thrown my way.

Love brings meaning to my life: love for family, and love for friends. Building and maintaining relationships can at times be hard, but it is an instinctive goal in life for all human beings.

The desire to succeed in school academically brings meaning to my life. Studying for a test in hopes of doing well on it gives me something to live for, a goal to work towards with my life.

I’m the type of person who (tries to) go to sleep late and wake up early. But when that alarm is going off, sometimes it’s like my Reticular Activating System just cynically says to itself, “What’s the point? Why should one bother being awake when one could just sleep?”

On those late nights when I have to wake up extra-early the next morning, I find it helpful to put a post-it note on my alarm clock. On the note I write the reason that I have to get up early, usually something along the lines of “Finish the Trident,” “Talk to some teacher about college recommendation/essay,” “Photograph the sunrise,” “Bring sick parent hot tea and saltines before I leave for school,” or “Go in early for extra help with Coach Jacobs.”

This strategy really does work much of the time, and I find myself sleeping through my alarm less often when I use the post-it method for waking myself.

For some reason, it’s a lot easier to wake up when one has a reason to wake up. And, it’s a lot easier to live when one has a meaning to live. Frankl describes a “fatal condition” of what American POW’s referred to as “give-up-itis”—when a man sees no hope of ever accomplishing a worthwhile goal, he will either die of this disease, or the symptoms of the disease will drive the man to kill himself.

In the post-it note example, motivators like the several I mentioned are the thoughts that give me strength to get out of bed each morning. From a wider perspective, these motivators are my meaning in life; they cause me to want to live each day.

Schedule some chill time

Upon graduating from Amity, Emily Chadbourne wrote in my yearbook:

I guess all that I have left to say are my words of wisdom to you. Don’t forget to have fun your senior year. It only happens once and you should enjoy it. Yes, I agree that school is important, but so is keeping your sanity. So, make sure you schedule some “chill time.”

Emily was a second-semester senior already accepted to multiple colleges, and I was at the end of my junior year, visiting schools and keeping my grades up as much as I could. While Emily was fussing over her dresses for our senior and junior proms, I was hard at work studying for four AP tests. It’s hard for me to think of a bigger contrast in CalAmity High School than a second-semester junior and a second-semester senior. But, for better or for worse, that contrast illuminated parts of my life that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
I wouldn’t say that the attitude of a second-semester senior is one that I’m looking to adopt right now. As Emily suggested, there should be some concept of moderation in life, balancing fun and school. The fun-loving senior’s attitude and the work-addicted junior’s attitude are the two components that represent what my friend Ceili Brennan calls the method of “compartmentalization.” Ceili’s life-diet allows for both fun and work in one’s life, but mixing them together isn’t kosher.

When I compartmentalize my schedule into time to work and time to relax, I find myself being more productive. I sometimes find that I can get more work done if I go over a friend’s house one night and work the rest of the weekend than if I try to work the whole weekend straight. The human mind is more functional after it has been temporarily de-stressed. Gradually, one’s increased productivity will reduce the constant amount of stress on the mind.

The strategy of compartmentalization requires one to separate his or her time into work time and play time. Most overly stressed people have no problem slating their work time, yet many seem as though they feel guilty taking time to relax, and don’t consider the personal benefits that one reaps from the occasional Saturday-night movie, or from just plopping down in front of the TV after a long week. So, as you plan out your work schedule for the next few days, make sure you remember to schedule some chill time.