Working through step 4 of the Open Mind app, here is what I was exposed to:
- We all live within a moral matrix: a consensual hallucination that we believe represents objective reality. Many different moral communities exist, each with its own set of shared values, and each convinced that its group alone sees truth as it really is.
- The moral mind is like a tongue with six different taste receptors. We all share these same foundations, but we build upon them in different ways to create our own moral matrices. The six moral foundationsare: Care, Fairness, Loyalty, Authority, Sanctity, and Liberty.
- Many disagreements can be attributed to the application of different moral foundations. There are also cases when different people apply the same moral foundation in different ways. When someone disagrees with you, it’s probably not because they’re evil. It might be because they have constructed a different moral matrix and they rely on the moral foundations differently than you do.
In order to break out of your moral matrix, you can practice these life hacks:
- In the next 24 hours, whenever you hear or read something about politics or morality, pay attention to your own reactions. Did you feel a flash of anger? Did you think someone did something wrong? Try to identify which foundation—which set of moral concerns—was activated in you.
- In the next 24 hours, whenever you encounter an opinion with which you disagree, assume for a moment that the person is neither stupid nor evil. Instead, try to identify what moral foundations the person is relying on to make that statement.
Until next time, peace.