The first one is, the behavior that is rewarded is the behavior that is repeated. If the word went out that the government would be handing out $1,000,000 checks to anyone who would wear a red–and-white polka-dotted hat and bounce on their left leg three times, there would be a run on red-and-white polka-dotted hats tomorrow at Target.
The second one is, we want to believe that the end does not justify the means, but the only way we can justify the means are by their ends. Again, if bouncing on your left leg three times while wearing a red-and-white polka-dotted hat would yield a bumper crop of corn, we’d be doing it. But we’ve found it’s much more productive to till the ground, plant the seeds, fertilize the ground, water it, and wait for the cornstalks to grow.
If you put those two concepts together, you come up with a very dangerous conclusion -- if it’s rewarded, it must be the right behavior. Forget conscience. Forget morality. History is written by the winners. You can be as pious as you want and end up hungry, naked, and dead. Or you can see the game for what it is and play to win.
As the great Willie Sutton would say, he robbed banks because that’s where the money was.
TWH
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