I recently heard a tidbit on morals and ethics that intrigued me...that, as a society, as parents, we have the choice to raise our children so that different aspects are emphasized and focused on. Intelligence is highly important for many parents...they focus on giving their children every opportunity to learn, to excel, pushing them to become skilled at thinking.
But in the long run, high intelligence isn't going to take your child all that far when it relates to happiness. Happiness equates to moral values, principles, and honorable mention.
It's more important to raise children who can find their footing in principles and morals. Rather than raising a child to be a person who goes 30km in the school zone because they don't want to get a ticket for speeding, we should be raising children to become people who go 30km in the school zone because there might be children around.
Baby Einstein probably won't be as happy as Baby Morality when adulthood hits if he doesnt't strong morals to match. There is pure personal satisfaction that results when the decisions we make aren't self-serving...when our thoughts flow first to the care and consideration of others rather than into the realm of "what's in it for me" or "what is my punishment if i don't...".
I'm in no way saying that smart people aren't happy...only that it's time we learned the distinction between what's important and what's not.
You make a very valid point about the speed limit. It's not to avoid a ticket, it's the safety of those that are in the area.
ReplyDeleteOf course, this means that if there's no one around on the highway. going over the speed limit - as long as you are erratically driving all over the road - isn't a bad thing... ;-)