It's not easy, but these are common human values. Across cultural and ethnic lines, these are recognized and affirmed.
Equally common are selfishness, greed, envy, arrogance, and immorality. The noble exist alongside the baser ways, all in the mind of each individual.
A friend lamenting her way through psychology 101 gives us the following summary ...
Social Cognitive Theory - applied to the behavior of enjoying tomatoes
Perhaps we live with a continual cognitive dissonance like she describes, that internal conflict of good vs. not-so-good in our own thinking. It sure seems that way.
Walking along the good path is a choice, but more accurately, it's perhaps continual choices, a prolonged war, and no one wins every engagement.
The 'good news', however; there is indeed a path.
A sense of humor helps, I suspect, when it comes to things like tomatoes and whatever. Those of us who eat tomatoes are probably better people.
- Observational Learning - I see people enjoy tomatoes
- Reproduction - I can eat them and if I do I can eat something else
- Self-efficacy - I will try them more often
- Emotional coping - Chanting the mantra "positive thoughts" while eating tomatoes
- Self-regulatory capability - I can choose to eat the tomatoes or I can choose not to.
- Cognitive Dissonance -- Although I want to eat tomatoes because I know they are good for me, SCREW TOMATOES!
Walking along the good path is a choice, but more accurately, it's perhaps continual choices, a prolonged war, and no one wins every engagement.
The 'good news', however; there is indeed a path.
A sense of humor helps, I suspect, when it comes to things like tomatoes and whatever. Those of us who eat tomatoes are probably better people.