Your Brain: The Missing Manual

Moral Calculus

Common sense really takes a counter intuitive turn when we attempt to make practical decisions about moral issues. The psychologist Jonathan Haidt has a great deal of fun testing people with brain-bending moral problems like the ones shown here.

Before continuing, answer the question "is this morally right?" for each scenario, and then think of a quick one or two sentence explanation that backs up your reasoning.

A woman is cleaning out her closet, and she finds her old American flag. She doesn't want the flag anymore, so she cuts it up into pieces and uses the rags to clean her bathroom.

Julie is traveling in France on summer vacation from college with her brother Mark. One night they decide that it would be interesting and fun if they tried making love. Julie was already taking birth-control pills, but Mark uses a condom, too, just to be safe. They both enjoy the experience but decide not to do it again. They keep the night as a special secret, which makes them feel closer to each other.

A man goes to the supermarket once a week and buys a dead chicken. But before cooking the chicken, he has sexual intercourse with it. Then he thoroughly cooks it and eats it.

Most people feel that these scenarios are morally wrong. When asked to explain why, they trot out some reasons that sound good—for example, incest can cause birth defects and eating a post-coital chicken is unsanitary. Of course, a more detailed look at the scenarios shows that they've been specifically constructed ...