Putting People to the Test: The Morality Game

8/24/2009.

This is a slight continuation of the previous blog. I'll start by listing the examples. Let's play, the morality game!

1.

On May 25, 2009, I was hanging out with a 9 year-old boy which I met in September 2007, with a bigger 8 year-old boy which I had met for the 1st time that day. But the newer kid was more annoying - he'd try to wrestle me and grab my leg and not let go and attempt to bite me when I tried to go free.

But before that, I had offered to buy the 9 year-old stuff at Walgreen's, and when we decided to go to Walgreen's where I'll buy them stuff, I refused the offer of buying the 8 year-old stuff, stating the reasons of what he did to me, and maybe next time if he were nicer to me.

This could also make the 9 year-old feel rewarded for being a nice guy since he was against doing that.

2.

The 2nd story is that on October 6, 2007, at night in a park, I bought a pack of Red Bull, 4 cans, for 4 people: a 14 year-old girl, a 13 year-old girl, and 2 younger boys, 9 and 7. The 7 year-old boy was actually the 9 year-old in the previous story. They were sitting on a bench. Well when the 14 year-old girl finished the Red Bull can, she threw it on the grass. And I go "Whaat? I bought drinks for these people to litter?" So I kept my eye. However, the hidden variable in this story is that in previous nights, I've routinely walked around the playground with my flashlight at night looking for and picking up garbage, so they should know I'm sensitive to that. When the 2 younger boys were finished, they left the bench got up and walked to the garbage can and threw it away and came back. And the 13 year-old girl probably just held on to it since she wasn't going to get up and leave during a conversation.

So what do I do? I go up to them and go "Thank you for not throwing the trash on the grass," and handed them a dollar, to the ones that didn't throw it on the grass. This might make the 14 year-old feel bad for throwing it on the grass, or not really.

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I obviously realize such morality games are useless in the sense that you can't change people, you can only influence them.

And that the older and older they get, the less and less useful it becomes, in some cases. (In the adult world, throwing around $1 bills are useless, I'd have to throw around $100 bills instead.).

So yes, let's, play, the morality game!

I have a failed story, but would be good in principle and as an example.

On December 8, 2006, I was sitting in a bus where I saw a little Black girl litter on the bus, like throwing a candy wrapper purposely on the floor. I felt like getting up and going to the mom and saying "Excuse me ma'am, if your daughter pics up after her trash, I'll give her a dollar," but I didn't do it, since she looked like a criminal too, and the bus was on the West side and full of Black people, and at that time I only lived in Chicago for a couple months, so I cowarded out.