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Life in the Age of Cheating and Manipulation by denmarkguy

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life · @denmarkguy ·
$259.84
Life in the Age of Cheating and Manipulation
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<p>I don't remember exactly when I started feeling "<em>out of step</em>" with-- <em>for lack of a better term</em>-- the morals and ethics of the greater world.</p>
<h2><em>I Need to Copy Your Homework, OK...?</em></h2>
<p>I <em>do</em> remember having a vague sense that there was something "<em>wrong</em>" about when I was in third grade, when a couple of the "<em>popular</em>" girls always wanted to copy my homework.</p>
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<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/cRCnVg6.jpg" alt="Sunset" /><br />
<em>Midsummer sunset, Washington state</em></p>
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<p>On about the 3rd or 4th time they asked, I remember saying something like "<em>Why don't you just DO the homework, it's not that hard!</em>" to which their response was a series eyerolls and a look that made me feel like I was some strange and gross organism from another planet.</p>
<p>In retrospect, there was an interesting dynamic there... the recipients (the girls) seeing my participation in the process as "<em>helpfulness,</em>" and "<em>cooperation,</em>" while the person giving (me) experienced it as "<em>being used.</em>"&nbsp;</p>
<p>Just how often does that type of dynamic play out, in our daily lives... in small and subtle ways?</p>
<h2><em>I Need To Find Some Cheat Codes!</em></h2>
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<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/aGbJ2wk.jpg" alt="CabbageWhite" /><br />
<em>Cabbage White butterfly resting on a leaf</em></p>
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<p>That said, I never really gave much thought to the cheating nature of so many people until it was more bluntly thrust in my face when I briefly got interested in computer gaming, during the earliest days of such things. I remember being with this friend of mine who was very excited about a new game... but one of the first things out of his mouth was something along the lines of "<em>needing to go find some cheat codes.</em>"&nbsp;</p>
<p>"<em>What's the point of playing the game if you're going to cheat, before you even get started?"</em> I asked.</p>
<p>The look he gave me was not unlike the one I got from those 3rd grade girls. It made me feel like something was seriously wrong with <em>ME</em>, for questioning cheating... like I was somehow missing an essential part of human "wiring."</p>
<h2><em>What Am I Missing, Here?</em></h2>
<p>As a student of psychology and the human condition, in general, I have found myself consistently baffled by the idea of cheating and "<em>ill gotten</em>" results pretty much all my life.</p>
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<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/oFpYOhn.jpg" alt="Azalea" /><br />
<em>Deep red azalea in bloom</em></p>
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<p>Don't misunderstand, I "<em>get</em>" all the psychological background reasoning, rationalizations and explanations that underlies a tendency to cheat and steal... I just don't understand-- <em>at my own core</em>-- what compels a person to arrive at "<em>taking the benefits, while others do the work</em>" in life's situations.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Maybe I was just born with some kind of "goody-two-shoes" gene that's evidently abnormal.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I had this discussion with a friend recently, and he theorized that my "problem" is that I just don't like a world that has <em>winners</em> and <em>losers</em>... then he went on to declare me a "<em>Libtard</em>" for wanting <em>everyone </em>to win and be happy, in that creepy overprivileged soccer mom way.</p>
<p>Sorry... but <em>WRONG!</em></p>
<p>I am all <em>for</em> honest competition, where whomever works hardest or does the best work "<em>wins</em>" and gets the reward. Call it a meritocracy, if you want. What I am not for, is playing and doing well at the game (or even <em>winning</em>) but the rewards for winning goes to whomever is best at <em>cheating</em> and <em>manipulating</em> the situation, without doing the work.</p>
<p>In other words, the "winners" are not those who are best at playing, but those who are best at "<em>gaming</em>" the playing field.</p>
<p>But sadly, that seems to be an extremely pervasive approach to life.</p>
<h2><em>Meanwhile, in the Land of Steemit</em></h2>
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<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/vYIIFL8.jpg" alt="Tree" /><br />
<em>A lone tree in the snow, at the tree line on Mt. Shasta</em></p>
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<p>I even find it amusing, here in the microcosm known as Steemit, how there are many so-called "<em>Anarcho-capitalists</em>" who condemn the "<em>thieving and manipulative ways</em>" of a centralized government or power structure, and then go about exploiting <em>individuals</em> <em>(who are not as clever as they)</em> through "<em>thieving and manipulative ways.</em>"&nbsp;</p>
<p>Now, I mention Steemit not to point fingers at anyone specific, but to bring to the surface this dichotomous reality that even though there is surely a golden core supporting the idealistic betterment of humanity underlying Steemit, there is also <em>much </em>activity on this site that basically revolves around putting effort <em>not</em> into adding to the community, but into finding ways to "<em>game the system</em>" for gain.</p>
<p>Which leaves me with the question "<em>Which path shall we choose?</em>"&nbsp;</p>
<p>Do we choose the path of resignation, offering platitudes like "<em>Oh, it's just human nature... whaddaya gonna do?</em>" and look the other way... or do we shine the light on on what we perceive to be bullshit and just <em>wrong</em>?&nbsp;</p>
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<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/wXtw4km.jpg" alt="Belfair" /><br />
<em>View near Belfair, WA</em></p>
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<p>And I don't mean that in an <em>accusatory</em>, <em>judgmental</em> or <em>whiny</em> way... simply in a <em>factual</em> way; simply stating "<em>this event happened, and this action was taken... what does everyone think of that?</em>" From which point we might see some scuttle away from the light into the shadows-- like so many rats and cockroaches-- while others remain and are open to authentic dialogue.</p>
<p>Of course, things are seldom nice and simple... nor cut and dry. Like the 3rd grade girls copying homework... for whom it was a (sort of forced) <em>kindness</em>, not <em>cheating</em>-- perception and ambiguity is everywhere.</p>
<p>That's not in question... what's in question is whether everyone is open to have the dialogue.</p>
<p><em><strong>How about YOU?</strong></em> Do you see things you consider to be cheating, or dishonest... and yet you feel like <em>YOU</em> are "<em>the problem,</em>" rather than the cheaters? Do you think dishonesty and manipulation is just an inherent part of human nature? Do you believe all "group ecosystems" (from classrooms to Steemit) will automatically include an element of dishonesty? Is honesty even possible? How to we best address and solve such issues... in our individual lives, as well as in the collective? <strong>Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- start the conversation!</strong></p>
<p><em>(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)</em></p>
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@bhightech ·
$0.96
Cheating,Dishonesty Lieing is all rooted from the will or need to survive..During the cavemans days cheating and dishonesty was just used for getting food or water or just to reproduce...And as ages passed cheating and dishonesty was used to obtain better house better clothing...And now we cheat to obtain better grades or just to get ahead in games..The act of cheating and lieing is hard coded in our genes that some times it is even hard to say that we can control it...Whenever we are given a option to cheat or not cheat...There is a sound in your head..the whispers of 1000 generation telling you to cheat so that u can survive..Back then it was just for survival...
   So after knowing that we are made this way,what can we do about it..We cannot take a binary approach towards cheating as just right and wrong...We need to ask questions..1)whom does it affect 2)how does it affect them 3)What implications of performing that act will have on you as a person..

I would like to share my experience...During our computer engineering final practical exam..We had a system where we were taught 10-15 programs in a subject and we had to perform one program(selected randomly through chits)...So normally teacher used to give us one we ask...So some students took advantage of this and only prepared one program for the exams..My friend is a smart guy and a hardworking guy...He studied nearly 10 -12 programs..But to his badluck during his program allotment the teacher was giving out chits randomly and he got a program that he was not prepared..So during that exam i helped him cheat and dictated him the program...(i dont cheat myself and am most of the time against it)..So while making this decision i had 2 options..Dont cheat and let him fail..Does that seem fair..Students who prepared for 1 program passed and my friend who prepared 10 programs fail..Where is meritocracy in this..He deserved to pass ...He was a victim of badluck and a rigged system..

So i am against cheating..But there is always a bigger picture..So for me rather than being pro cheating or anti cheating,my decisions varies situation to situation..And i believe we should all View this in a similar way

Thankyou..
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@denmarkguy ·
$0.12
Thanks for the thoughtful response!

"Survival," yes that it understood. But given a scenario in which I am perfectly able to survive withOUT "cheating" why cheat? I look at that and consider that if I cheat my neighbor rather than just work for my own, my neighbor might come over and club me over the head in retaliation... so I choose-- out of survival-- to be honest. Better chance of survival.

In your example, we get into the fuzzy area of "situational ethics," which tend to be very individual and case-by-case. As you said, we example "who is harmed?" and "what are the consequences?" From which we can also extrapolate the next step-- which is how activists come about-- which is a consideration of whether the entire system is "broken" and needs to be changed or revised.

Similarly, we can look at the ethics of a mother stealing a loaf of bread because she is broke and her children are hungry... compared to a privileged teenager stealing a video game *"because it's funny."* Very different situations.
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@bhightech ·
$0.21
Yeah we can survive without cheating..But because Thousands of generation have used it for survival it is hard coded in our genes..If we consiously think about it we can limit ourselves from cheating or lieing..But for many it is more of a reflex or an subconsious decision..
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@foodie.warrior · 
I completely feel you! I personally don't allow myself to cheat from others by copying (talking especially in a test-situation here, which is a common scenario). 

But, in more than one instance, I've had classmates try to sit beside me only on test day, just because they know I've done my studying and will do well on the test. Some are those who don't normally talk to me as well! That just gives me a bad taste, and of course, I try not to let them copy anyway. 

Yet, at the same time, for a couple of those super hardworking foreign Japanese classmates, who I happened to know better and knew put in lots of effort to study, but simply could struggled with tests possibly due to english not being their first language, I had no qualms helping them during tests. 

Seems two-faced, but I'm not such a pure moral person that I won't listen to some logic and empathize with those who I see are already putting in due effort but finding difficulty in reaping results. 

Also, this begs the questions of: is being the cheatee (the one allowing others to cheat from you) as opposed to the cheater (the one trying to copy) equally as immoral? Food for thought.
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@randowhale ·
$0.43
This post received a 7% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @denmarkguy!  For more information, [click here](https://steemit.com/steemit/@randowhale/introducing-randowhale-will-you-get-the-100-vote-give-it-a-shot)!
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@scaredycatguide ·
$1.03
Yeah, I have thought about this dynamic.   Every year I get older I feel like a sucker when I don't "game" a situation, which is kind of sad.
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@denmarkguy ·
$0.33
When something sort of riles me up, I have to start with myself. Why does this annoy me? Am I just not in keeping with the time-- "getting old?" Well... not necessarily. So that leads me to look at stealing and cheating as an expression of "entitlement." It's a thought process that says *"I want life to be easy... I DESERVE that."* OK, fine... how and where did you learn that?

In many cases, it was learned from parents and a society that insisted... for any number of reasons... that *"You can be ANYthing you want... and you DESERVE that!"* Perhaps superficially well-intentioned, but I call bullshit. Life is NOT easy, and it's often outright hard.
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@scaredycatguide ·
$0.29
Yeah agreed, there has been a fundamental shift in society in regard to integrity and pride.  I remember when it was embarrassing to collect unemployment and it was something you would not advertise.

Some years back I had friends (using that loosely) literally celebrate the fact they milked the system as long as they could and throw a party to celebrate their benefits ended after stretching it a year and a half.

Meanwhile when I was unemployed 5 years ago I lived off my savings.  Clearly I'm the sucker here!
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@wwamd ·
$0.04
Dont feel bad for not being manipulative.  In the end it is better to have a clear conscience.  I wont bring myself to sell-out for any amount.  Well maybe like a million hahaha
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@wakeupsheeps ·
$0.73
Growing up in a big family, we constantly played games and sports with neighborhood kids.  We would set out the rules before any activity because different kids played by different sets of rules.   I've carried this on throughout my life that the rules had to be set before the competition could start.

I have had many people say "what is with you and your rules?"  I respond "what's the point in playing if we can't determine a winner?"
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@denmarkguy · 
You touch on an interesting sidetrack there, which is that quite a few people seem to *prefer* ambiguity, rather than a more fixed paradigm of rules. When there are rules, you can't jut act purely on your own self-interest in the moment... absent such a frame of reference, we tend towards chaos.
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@wordsword ·
$0.73
In this I'm like you. 
Once some girls wanted me to steel something at a bakery, at that moment I didn't even know what they meant. And of course I didn't do it.
I don't get the stealing and cheating.
Of course I'm no saint. But throughout my life, I rather loose by playing by the rules, than win cheating. (Is the saying I believe)
Oh and if I had to pick a label It would be ancap/voluntaryist ;)

Great post again and your photos are always excellent.
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@denmarkguy ·
$0.05
By no figment of anyone's imagination do I claim to be a saint, either!

I guess my convoluted personal ethics lead me to consider that if a system is reasonably equitable, and I mess with the system, I'm hardly in a place to complain about the system "not working;" that would just make me an outright hypocrite.
👍  
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@wwamd ·
$0.77
GREAT POST!!!  I think of it this way, when there is money mixed with lack of personal accountability (along with all other gains) there will be those who seek to game the system.  Because it is a system, a social media platform and a marketplace, where people can basically sell themselves, well than that is what they will do, sometimes (most times) off the sweat of other people.  I have thought many times how people get wayyy more money when they tell the community they have had some family trauma or even introduction posts where people make more money in that one post than I have ever made, period.  How unfair!  Morally I feel like I am supposed to do the right thing and as a Christian trust people at their word.  But ethically no one is accountable because we are all anonymous so they could easily be playing the community of "enough good people" that they can pull hundreds of dollars as others try to add content.  I honestly don't think I could ever bring myself to come to Steemit to ask for money but if I really needed it and it was family who wouldn't do everything they could, right?  So I think morally do what you think is right but don't let yourself be fooled.  If it doesnt smell right than it probably isn't.  No update on the family situation?  Probably not real.  Otherwise people will just swing their weight and early adopters will use the lure of gaining whales and dolphin approval that minnows will upvote and sometimes donate to try to get a Golden Upvote from these Dolphins and Whales.  There will always be more powerful people here on Steemit so if you want to create content either bring it or you wont make it and further your reputation is everything.  Once people realize you are only here for the money they wont upvote you and all you are is an investor, and thats fine, just try to support the people making your STEEM valuable because there is nothing worse than a whale who isnt active on STEEMIT.com.  To me THAT is the ethically wrong thing to do.  FOLLOWER already, Upvoted and Resteemed.  Great post!!  We have to stick together and keep our smart hats on.  Good luck and talk to you soon my fellow STEEMIAN!
👍  ,
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@denmarkguy · 
One of the common threads I have had in discussions with a number of fellow Steemians is the conundrum of the way great ideologies that could change the world for the better tend to be contingent on the world being largely populated by "responsible adults" who thing such things as personal accountability, being informed and acting from a place of good morals and ethics constitutes appropriate conduct. 

Except, of course, that is only true of maybe the top 5%, 10%, 20% or whatever of the general population. The remainder-- to various degrees-- don't give a flying flip about anything but their own impulses, in the moment. 

As for Steemit, and Steemit "politics," there are people of dubious values EVERYwhere... including here. And some will be "money for nothing seekers." Sadly, such characters are evrywhere. 

Ultimately, I-- and you, and everyone else-- have to decide what code of conduct allows ME to sleep well at night.
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@wwamd ·
$1.19
Absolutely right.  I think sadly the numbers you stated may be overly generous too.  I think people that think they are good and morally righteous do things that are not all the time.  I feel like a very moral person but if I found a duffle bag with $100,000 in rolled up $20 bills I would bring it home first and not to the Police.  I would talk it over with my wife.  We would likely discuss how we could and should donate the money so it doesnt sit in an evidence room.  We would probably say we could take a small finders fee and donate the rest or bring the rest to the Police.  Or we could decide to keep it or more likely after considering everything we would bring it to the Police after thinking for a short time about how much that money would change some things for us.  But in the end it is just dirty green paper and most likely the product of pain and destruction through drugs or something else illegal and in general "ill begotten gains"...   But I did pick it up and I brought it home didn't I?  And I think I am a morally good person and for the most part I am.  But everyone has something that makes them a sinner.  Everyone on earth is fallable and imperfect but can be saved through redemption, if you are religious, and people who aren't can be just as moral and more so than religious people.  Morals come from character in my opinion.  Character comes from life experience.  Life experience is not always something you choose.  Its a very complicated dynamic and certainly a conundrum.  It is even harder though to instill your moral values and especially ethics on others especially when accountability is lack.  Most problems can be solved with more money and so money often becomes the answer to many problems and people will do anything to resolve their problems however trivial they may be.  I have probably gotten off topic but I guess my general point is morals are subjective.  Everyone has their own code.  We draw lines in the sand and when we need to we wipe it away and redraw the lines.  There are things I would never do.  There are things I would never want to do.  But add in my family and there are things I would never think of that I would do without a second thought.  To put food in my kids mouths, if I lost my job, I would steal.  To find my missing child I would assault and kill.  For STEEM I wouldn't do anything that I wouldnt do if I wasn't standing in front of a Police Officer.  But some people use that lack of accountability and play those with more empathy for fools and in the end it is them who gain short term and lose long term.  There is no amount of money that can buy peace of mind and no amount of guilt that can be quelched with apologies.  But it is those who wish to be moral in every decision that are often the ones who think more about their decisions than anyone and so people that act without accountability and who are cheating others appear to be amoral and bad people but in the end, without accountability, how can we know?  We don't know their circumstance and so it is our morals that give us a clear mind when we donate or do the right thing when no one is looking.  To me that is the important thing.  To know right from wrong and to do right even in the face of a small wrong having a huge benefit for me and my family if only I bend my morals.  As a Marine and as a Nurse and father I choose not to question if I am good or not because I know and to me God knows and I want to be able to walk around and know my parents can say they are proud of who I am.  That my kids can run to me after school and hug and kiss me in front of their friends (which at their age is rare).  The world is a big place with big problems and big people pulling long and tendonpus strings.  But as it says in Matthew 10:16 "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves".  The world CAN be a better place and I have voiced concerns with STEEMIT before too.  I think the NSFW content should be flagged and not a part of this community.  It is for somewhere else not here.  There has to be a place for good people where bad actions ARE held accountable.  Even in anonymity our names are who we are to everyone here.  Jeez I really went on a rant.  Too many Biomedical Ethics and Philosophy courses in College me thinks.  This is probably a better talk over a beer (even though I don't drink very often).  But I think tour post was stellar and your reply even better.  People need to know who they are dealing with and certain people just don't deserve Upvotes and Resteems among other things.  Some posts need to be flagged and otherwise this is the game we play.  We can only try as we may to be who we are in every area of our lives.  Take care and thanks for the discussion.  I hope I didn't waste too much of your time.  Keep fighting the good fight.  I will be right here behind you swimming in my pool of minnows 🐟 trying to create content and not manipulate anyone to make a post worth more than $0.07 haha.  Lets see what direction STEEMIT heads as more users enter the fray.  I am sure we will have a lively mix of the entire moral spectrum to wade through, but as a sinner myself, who am I to judge?
👍  ,
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