The purpose of this essary is to examine choices and their consequences, and which choices lead to a more fulfilling life. Physicist, Sir Isaac Newton wrote that all actions in the physical world have an equal and opposite reaction. American writer and poet, Stephen Robyns wrote, "Actions have consequences. Ignorance about the nature of those actions does not free a person from responsibility for the consequences". The Bible suggests that consequences are the outcomes of our actions, and that they can be either positive or negative, e.g., Galatians 6:7, Proverbs 28:13, Psalms 7:16. We can choose to act according to our will and desire, but we cannot avoid the consequences of our actions.
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CHOICES |
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Focus |
Popular ideas but
unproven. Their consequences are negative or unknown. |
Ideas that are
backed by science or the consequences are known to be positive. |
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Truth |
What is popular is the standard of truth. Truth is
relative. What I think is truth is truth. |
Truth is absolute, not relative. Science seeks to
understand and discover laws. Truths can also be evaluated by their
consequences over time. |
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Universe Construct |
Chaos, randomness, No meaning, or purpose to life. |
Laws exist whether known or yet to be discovered or
understood. |
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Self or
Relationship |
Focus on self. |
Focus on relationships. |
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Money |
Focus on Wealth. |
Focus on having sufficient for your needs and
important wants. |
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Leisure or Service |
Focus on fun. |
Focus on service, charity, and love. |
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Belief System |
“Nones,” atheists, and agnostics. |
Belief in God or a higher power. |
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Immediate or Delay
of Gratification |
“If it feels good, do it.” |
The capacity to delay gratification in the service of
obtaining long-term goals. |
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Individual rights and absolute freedom. |
A balance of community/societal needs and individual
needs. |
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Health |
Use of recreational drugs, alcohol, tobacco,
overeating, lack of exercise, insufficient sleep. |
Avoidance of recreational drugs, alcohol, and
tobacco. Healthy foods and moderation in amount. Regular exercise. Sufficient
sleep. |
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Information
Sources |
Acceptance of information with little attention to
the source. If I agree with the information, it must be true. |
Careful attention to the source. Who benefits from
the information? Does it meet scientific standards? What are the long-term
consequences of a thought, feeling, or behavior? |
Truth
Some people
argue that truth is relative. If many people hold an idea to be true, it must
be true. Some would argue that what I believe to be true is true because I
believe it. There may be a confusion between preference and truth.
The
philosophical theory that life has no objective meaning or purpose is
existential nihilism. The philosophical school of existentialism suggests
individuals can potentially create their own meaning. Some scientists suggest
the world is fundamentally random. One might say the world is in Chaos.
However, chaos theory seeks to explain how changes in a system’s initial
conditions can lead to large variations in the final outcomes. A more accurate
term for chaos theory is deterministic chaos.
Self or Relationships
Those
focusing on self, see self-actualization as the optimal state. Selfishness is characterized
as “looking out for number one.” Selfism is defined as “concentration on one's
own interests; self-centeredness or self-absorption.” The extreme of focus on
self is narcissism.
A well-known
comic said, “the purpose of life is to get stuff.” Labor class and middle-class
individuals say that they would be much happier if they earned $10,000 more per
year. Upper class individuals want even more. We are bombarded by
advertisements that suggest if you buy “this” product you will be happier, healthier,
sexier, or more beautiful. Studies of people who have won a jackpot greater
than $100,000 show greater life satisfaction after winning. Measures six months
later show a return to the pre win level of well-being. Some individuals who
quit their jobs and altered their lifestyle after winning may show even lower
levels of well-being after six months.
The average
American spends 35 hours a week in leisure activities. The lyrics of a song
says, “All I want to do is have some fun.” In 2023, the US spent a record $42.97
billion on digital entertainment. The professional sports market in the US was
estimated to be worth about $69 billion in 2022.
Atheists
argue that there is no God. Agnostics say they don’t know whether there is a
God or whether there is not a God. “Nones” are religiously unaffiliated.
Combined, these three groups represent 14.4% of the world population and 28% of
the population of the United States. Individuals in these groups may have other
important beliefs such as the importance of science, education, work, wealth,
political affiliation, nature, etc. Between 70 and 80% of nones believe in a
higher power. The latter say they are spiritual but eschew religious
affiliation.
Those who seek immediate gratification tend to be impulsive and have trouble regulating their emotions. Sigmund Freud’s pleasure principle may be another way of looking at this area. Some scientists believe that in the past those who seek immediate gratification had an evolutionary advantage. It appears the opposite is true today. Some of those who seek immediate gratification are also high-risk takers.
The famous Stanford University marshmallow study was one of the most convincing studies of the advantages of being able to delay gratification. In this study young children were given the option of having one marshmallow now or two marshmallows a little later. They followed these children and found that children who were able to wait longer for the greater reward tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), and other life measures. For most people in a modern society the capacity to delay gratification is essential. For example, education requires one to work hard and the grade doesn’t come until the end of the term or semester and graduation even later. In sports and music, thousands of hours of practice are necessary for most great achievement.
Individualism or Community
The United States is the star example of a nation which emphasizes individualism. An example of that is the legal move from divorce with cause to no-fault divorce. The legal wants of the individual take priority over the needs of the community. The Oxford Languages defines individualism as 1. “The habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant, a culture that celebrates individualism and wealth" 2. a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state interests "Encouragement has been given to individualism, free enterprise, and the pursuit of profit." Related words include independence, self-direction, self-reliance, freethinking, free thought, originality, unconventionality, eccentricity, libertarianism.
Those who seek the good of the whole community have greater happiness and more orderly communities. Emphasis on community is seen in countries with governments described as social democracies such as Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. Individuals give up some freedoms for the good of the whole. It is these same countries in which citizens report the highest level of well-being (happiness). Early followers of Jesus Christ reported that they “had all things in common” (see Acts 4:32). Studies of business’ decision-making processes report that businesses which make decisions with input from a variety of people take longer to make decisions but make better decisions based on outcome measures compared with more autocratic decision-making. Is this another area where balance is important?
Health
In the United States 100 million people are obese. Overeating and lack of exercise are major contributors. 28.9 million Americans in 2022 had alcohol use disorder that year. Google Search Labs find that “The cost of alcohol abuse in the United States is estimated to be around $249 billion annually. This cost includes healthcare costs, lost earnings and productivity, criminal justice implications, vehicle crashes, and property damage.” The National Institute of Health (NIH) reported that in 2021 35.4% of young adults ages 18 to 25 report using marijuana in the past year. Several states in the US have made recreational use of marijuana legal. NIH reports the following short-term effects of marijuana use: altered senses (for example, seeing brighter colors), altered sense of time. Changes in mood. Impaired body movement. Difficulty with thinking and problem-solving. Impaired memory. Hallucinations, delusions(when taken in high doses), psychosis (risk is highest with regular use of high potency marijuana). Effects of the long-term use of marijuana were found as follows, “Marijuana also affects brain development. When people begin using marijuana as teenagers, the drug may impair thinking, memory, and learning functions and affect how the brain builds connections between the areas necessary for these functions. Researchers are still studying how long marijuana's effects last, and whether some changes may be permanent.” Abuse of heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, amphetamines, and barbiturates result in much greater human dysfunction. Regarding nicotine use, a 2001 study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, “Despite evidence that nicotine dependence is the leading preventable cause of death and morbidity, it remains a common psychiatric disorder.” NIH reports, “Sleep deficiency can interfere with work, school, driving, and social functioning. You might have trouble learning, focusing, and reacting. Also, you might find it hard to judge other people's emotions and reactions. Sleep deficiency also can make you feel frustrated, cranky, or worried in social situations.”
Most of the health problems reported in the previous paragraph are preventable. For addictive substances it is much easier to never start their use, than it is to stop once the addiction is full-blown. Youth need to be especially aware of the use of these substances to be in, to be popular, to look more like an adult. Developing friendships with those who avoid addictive substances can be a significant help. For those of any age, moderation in the amount of food ingested and consuming a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, protein, grains, beans, nuts, dairy products, and water are keys to good dietary health. A regular program of moderate exercise including aerobic exercise, muscle strength exercises, and stretches is important. A total of 40 minutes a day for five of seven days a week can help a person become fit and stay fit.
A key to the avoidance of addictive substances is to find ways to deal with stress that have few negative side effects. Meditation, deep muscle relaxation, mindfulness, yoga, tai chi, and the avoidance of distortions in cognitive thinking all help to cope with the stresses of life. Dr. David Burns lists ten common cognitive distortions in his book, Feeling Great (2020): All-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, mental filtering, discounting the positive, jumping to conclusions (fortune telling and mind reading), magnification of the negative and minimization of the positive, emotional reasoning, self-criticism in the form of should statements, labeling, and self-blame and other blame. For a video or pdf clarification of each of these cognitive distortions type in a browser search “Burns definitions of ten cognitive distortions.” The formation of deep, lasting relationships and positive family relationships are immensely helpful. Spiritual support such as regular prayer, reading or listening to uplifting materials, and association with a community with similar beliefs have been found to be immensely helpful. Personal or group counseling and support can be helpful.
Information Sources
Where we go to get information is essential in a world with so many voices crying come here or go there or listen to me. There really are lies promoted as truths or half-truths. Think of so called “spin doctors.” Such confusion is not the product of one political party or another. It is rampant. For example, what comes up for you on TikTok is based on what you (the consumer) find interesting. It has nothing to do with what is true or accurate or helpful. Much of social media is distorted. People tend to put on social media the best of themselves, even exaggeration of themselves and their activities. There is unambiguous evidence of the overuse of social media linked to depression and suicidal ideation. The idea that what is popular is good or true is a fallacy.
So where do we go for truth? One source is science. Science and social science journals have strict criteria which follow the experimental method. When a finding has been verified in more than one laboratory or more than one research team, and several studies come to the same conclusion, that finding has greater reliability and can be trusted. When many scientists, all over the world, advocate a behavior or suggest a problem, it’s worth paying attention. For example, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, more that 94% of the members of the American Medical Association as well as the World Health Organization encouraged us to be vaccinated. The data is overwhelming that many more people died from Covid-19 who were not vaccinated that those that were vaccinated. Of course, there are individuals allergic to various vaccinations, and they should avoid vaccination. They represent a very tiny minority.
A second source is the test of time and the long-term consequences of a behavior. The Ten Commandments is a good example. Most western law began with the basis of the Ten Commandments. As a psychologist, I have personally witnessed the personal devastation that results from breaking a commandment such as Thou shalt not commit adultery. Cecil B. DeMille wisely said, “You cannot break the Ten Commandments. You can only break yourself against them.” Some things have passed the test of time, and we see the long-term consequences clearly. A second example is the climate crisis. Scientists all over the world cite evidence after evidence of our need to make changes to save life as we know it. Yet there are still voices which call it all a hoax. Scientists who work in universities and in free standing research laboratories (not those financed by someone who wants a specific outcome) are not paid more or paid less based on their findings.
It is interesting to see the great commonalities among major world religions. Many years ago, I attended a meeting composed of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Bahis, Buddhists, and Jews focused on the family. The unanimity of the group regarding the importance of family and parenting was overwhelming. For more than thirty years I asked my university class members if they could endorse the following values from a book by Linda and Richard Eyre, Teaching Your Children Values: Honesty, Courage, Peaceability, Self-Reliance and Potential, Self-Discipline and Moderation, Fidelity in Relationships, Loyalty, Dependability, Respect, Love, Unselfishness and Sensitivity, Kindness and Friendliness, Justice and Mercy. In 120 classes and thousands of students, no student advocated against these values.
Third, there are fact checking
groups who evaluate the truth or falsity of statements made by public figures.
Examples of such fact checking sources include PolitiFact, FactCheck.org,
Washington Post Fact Checker, Snopes, Fact Check from Duke Reporters' Lab,
SciCheck, FlackCheck, Media Bias/ Fact Check, and NPR FactCheck. None of the
resources are perfect or without some bias, but taken as a whole, they can help
us differentiate fact from fiction in the public sector.
Conclusions
One limitation of this kind of organization is that it looks like either/or. In some cases, there may be truth and benefit in aspects of both alternatives. It is also possible that in some cases the two “sides” represent overlapping distributions. In still other cases balance is important.
I suggest that every person either with forethought and planning or without much awareness makes choices in these ten areas. I am advocating for forethought and planning. I hope the reader will weigh their own position based on factual or tried and true evidence, and then implement it in their own thinking and behavior.
My Personal Beliefs and Choices
I believe that truth can be discovered in a variety of ways, including reason, sensory experience (scientific method), pragmatic trial and error, authority/witness, and intuition/inspiration. Each of these approaches can lead to truth or falsehood. There is a greater probability of identifying truth when more than one method reach the same conclusion or understanding.
I believe in God. God the Father is the Father of my spirit and the spirits of all humans. Jesus Christ is God the Father’s only Begotten Son in the flesh and the Savior of all mortals. The third member of the Godhead is the Holy Ghost. He is a Spirit who testifies of truth and is a comforter. God is the author of all that is good. There is also an adversary who entices us to do evil. There is opposition in all things.
My faith in God is based on 1) study and answers to prayer (inspiration), 2) seeing the “fruits” of my faith in daily life over a lifetime (reason and sensory experience), 3) the teachings of prophets throughout the ages (witness).
I believe that matter has always existed. God organized the world, the universe, all of which we are aware. I believe the bible’s story of the creation is a very simple general account and not intended to be a scientific account. I believe in God directed evolution. As the second law of thermodynamics suggests, things left unattended fall apart.
I believe that truth is absolute in the sphere in which it operates. All actions have consequences. Such consequences can be positive or negative or both. They can be impactful or trivial. All individuals have agency, the ability to choose, but the consequences of any behavior are fixed. I cannot “have my cake and eat it too.” I want to understand as much truth as I can. I’m more interested in moral truths, but all truths are important.
I believe that this life has at least two major purposes. One purpose is to gain a body. The second purpose is for us to learn to make choices that will help us become more like God. All the commandments have the intent to help us to be happy now and forever and to grow and change to become more like God. The two greatest commandments are 1) love God with all our heart, mind, might and strength; and 2) to love our neighbor as ourselves. I believe that if we sin or make mistakes, we can change and be forgiven because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. The atonement of Jesus Christ has forgiving, strengthening, and perfecting aspect. I believe that all mortals will be physically resurrected, however the quality of our existence after this life will depend upon the choices we make and the grace of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I believe we take with us after this life our own growth and development and our relationships with others. Family can be eternal. We are all members of God’s family. I believe in equal opportunity for all, in the equality of the sexes, and in the equality of races. I believe in a balance of individualism and community. In the United States, we have swung too far toward individualism. This has resulted in too much poverty and too much selfishness. The disappearance of the middle class is of significant concern. Countries that have a better balance of individualism and community have a happier population.
I believe in life-long learning. Formal education is important for children, youth, and young adults. Education beyond high school is essential. That education may be college or university. It may be technical school. It may be apprenticeship to journeymen or skilled labor. The ability to delay gratification is helpful in achieving goals in many aspects of life. I believe that money should be a means not an end. It is important that we earn enough money to have sufficient for our needs and some of our wants. What we do with our money is what is important. Do we give to charities and other worthy causes? In my way of thinking, no one needs a billion dollars when there are so many in the world who have little, and some are starving. Those who have great wealth have earned with the help of many others who have received much less economic benefit. I believe in a balance of leisure and service to others. There are many worthy causes that can help solve some of the problems we face on this planet. I believe war is only justified in defense of self, country, and freedom. Aggression is never justified.
There have been amazing developments in medicine over my lifetime. Many of the greatest challenges to our health are things that we can do something about. Moderation in the amount we eat, choices of healthy foods, exercise, and sufficient sleep. So called recreational drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine can lead to devastating addictions and health problems. There are many effective ways to deal with stress which have few, if any, harmful side effects. These effective approaches are listed under Health above.
I am not anywhere near perfect in my ability to live my values and ideals, but I am trying. I urge you to make decisions in the ten areas of focus listed above based on forethought and examination of the truths discussed in this essay. Please share your conclusions with me.
Dennis Karpowitz
dkarpowitz@ku.edu
1 (785) 218-6592