re: Getting paid "under-the-table"

quote:

---

This is an incredibly narrow-minded conception of human behavior.

---

Perhaps, but I believe an objective observation of the real world shows it to be more the case than perhaps any of us is willing to admit.

quote:

---

The reason I don't go 120 is because it significantly increases the risk of death,

---

Sure. But the reason you go 65 instead of 79 is because you don't want a speeding ticket.

quote:

---

The reason I don't steal is because it's been ingrained in me since age 2 that stealing is morally wrong and, now that I'm an adult and capable of making my own judgment, I agree that yes, stealing is morally wrong. This would apply even if there was a 100% chance I would not get caught. I suspect the same is true of yourself, to a greater or lesser extent, even if (for some reason) you don't want to admit it.

---

Sure, we've all been taught varying degrees of what you are talking about. But let's not deny how relevant pragmatic concerns are. Humans respond to incentives. I go back to the story from last month of the Chinese toddler that was run over in the street and then ignored. It's very easy for us to sit here on our high horse in the 1st world where we've long since moved past the point they are at. But that's because the costs of helping a toddler in that situation are almost zero here. In China, the cost of getting involved is very high. You might want to tell yourself that you are so great morally compared to the Chinese, but you are not faced with the same real-life set of circumstances that they are.