# What is the incentive to be good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275 "2005-05-17T18:17:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275/41 "2005-05-20T15:24:34Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > Have you read Plato’s _Republic_, **WRS**? That’s the OP, if you will, of the dialogue? I’m not sure if you’ll get the answer you’re looking for from it, though. I read the _Republic_. Thought it was quite naive and impractical. I prefer Thomas Hobbes (God’s peace and blessings be upon Him). I wonder because I have seen much evil and corruption - by people who get away with it and who don’t feel an ounce of guilt - that it makes me wonder what incentive people have to be good in a dog-eat-dog world. Or to be good in a world where the line between good and evil is so indistinguishable. WRS ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275/42 "2005-05-20T19:00:01Z")
There are a myriad of possible reasons to be “good” as opposed to “bad”. I can only speak to my personal feelings on the matter. I do what I believe to be “good” (as opposed to doing what I believe to be “bad”) because I enjoy being able to look myself in the face in the mirror. If I behave in a way I believe to be “bad”, I feel lessened. Therefore, I actively seek opportunities to be “good” and actively avoid opportunities to be “bad”. That is all. The question of where and how my concept of what is “good” arose is a whole 'nother debate. ---
**Author:** ![I\_don\_t\_care\_about\_your\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f08c70/32.png) [@I\_don\_t\_care\_about\_your\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_don_t_care_about_your_cat)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275/43 "2005-05-20T19:41:56Z")
> [@WeRSauron](#): > > Well, being bad or evil does not necessarily mean being psycopathic. Just want to point out that the term I used earlier, _sociopath_, is quite different from _psychopath_. A sociopath is merely one who doesn’t follow the norms of society, whereas a psychopath is one with a mental disorder. > [@](#): > > After all, if one can get away with it, won’t it only help one; and if one does not take what advantages one has before one, is it not being foolish? > WRS No, I don’t think it’s foolish. It really depends what you consider important. Most people place a high priority on feeling good about themselves and trying to be a good person, and consider _that_ to be more important than material gain, should the two come into conflict. I don’t find that intrinsically more “foolish” than getting whatever you can at whatever cost to others. ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275/44 "2005-05-20T19:55:55Z")
> [@I don't care about your cat](#): > > Just want to point out that the term I used earlier, _sociopath_, is quite different from _psychopath_. A sociopath is merely one who doesn’t follow the norms of society, whereas a psychopath is one with a mental disorder. Thanks for the clarification. 🙂 My bad: I stand corrected. > [@I don't care about your cat](#): > > No, I don’t think it’s foolish. It really depends what you consider important. Most people place a high priority on feeling good about themselves and trying to be a good person, and consider _that_ to be more important than material gain, should the two come into conflict. I don’t find that intrinsically more “foolish” than getting whatever you can at whatever cost to others. Is it possible to be bad, know one’s bad, and yet feel good about oneself? WRS ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275/45 "2005-05-21T11:15:10Z")
> [@WeRSauron](#): > > Thanks for the clarification. 🙂 My bad: I stand corrected. > > Is it possible to be bad, know one’s bad, and yet feel good about oneself? > > WRS I do not think a person that does bad things feel good about themselves. They try to get even for some thing that happened to them. They may think for the moment that if feels good, but if they are trying to get even for something, that in it self shows they feel others are superior to them. They are harming them selves more than they realize. Monavis ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275/46 "2005-05-21T11:43:11Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > I do not think a person that does bad things feel good about themselves. They try to get even for some thing that happened to them. They may think for the moment that if feels good, but if they are trying to get even for something, that in it self shows they feel others are superior to them. They are harming them selves more than they realize. > > Monavis How are they harming themselves? And how can good people know how bad people feel? WRS ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275/47 "2005-06-01T20:25:13Z")
By my own personal experience, I have found that the golden rule isn’t advice, it’s the truth. My ex was a user, a liar, and abusive. And as I was with him I saw that the people who were willing to be friendly were users, liars and abusers. He was comfortable with that - his parents were also users, etc. Why was I with him? Because he was in therapy for years, and he managed to never step too far over the line with me. It wasn’t until I moved the line that I realized what an ass he was. Since I left him, I will not tolerate those who try to use me, lie, or are abusive. I’ve surrounded myself with good people and as such I have a good life. I’m not blazingly rich, OTOH money is not necessary to me. I make enough to live the way I want to live, and I’d rather get kudos for doing a job well than for taking credit from someone elses work. And I’ve never been run over by someone else. I spot the users and I avoid them when possible, and pity them when they try to bother me. However, the real reason I am an essentially good person is because I was raised that way and because I like good people. Because my mother approved of me being good (helping people, being honest, etc), I now find that those same things make me feel good even without Mom to reward me. And who wants to be like someone you hold in disdain or disgust? Final word on the “Nice guys never get laid” group - I cry BS. What I see is that they would rather whine about how hard life is than figure out why they keep seeking out victims. I refer them to the terms “drama triangle” and “rescuer” and point out that they are doing a perfect drama triangle. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275/48 "2005-06-01T20:33:21Z")
> [@WeRSauron](#): > > How are they harming themselves? > > And how can good people know how bad people feel? > > WRS See my entry right after yours. I know how “bad” people think and feel because I was intimately involved with one for 12 years. And I never saw my ex be happy when he was using someone. He may have felt vindicated or satisfied, but there was **always** an undertone of anger and defiance. One more thing (because I can never think of everything in one post) he could never trust another person, he always assumed they were lying or trying to get something from him. For the entirety of our relation, he was sure that I was going to leave him. At the end of our marriage, he thought I was only going to stay long enough to get a kid. That is a sucky way to live, and to me incentive enough to be a good person. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-incentive-to-be-good/304275.md?page=2)