Ethics and Moral Principles
24 min
Why the Most "Righteous" Sometimes Turn Out to Be the Most Cruel: A Brain Trap That Is Kept Quiet
Scientists from Stanford have discovered a bug in the brain: one "good" deed literally buys the right to a "bad" one. A meta-analysis of 21,770 participants confirmed that a public display of virtue amplifies the effect fivefold. I received a religious education and have personally encountered this mechanism. I'm explaining how moral licensing works and why it concerns each of us.
