When everyone else is doing something, it's easy to…

When everyone else is doing something, it's easy to rationalize doing it too. No need to stand out, take responsibility for outcomes, or think for yourself

— from True North (Ethics, Integrity, Truth, Values) · Clear Thinking: The Art and Science of Making Better Decisions by Shane Parrish

In the book

Fear and greed are the two strongest magnets, and they will pull your needle hard; nearly every ethical collapse I've watched up close began as ordinary people simply afraid of losing something. The crowd is the next magnet: when everyone around you is cutting the corner, the rationalization writes itself — there is no need to stand out, take responsibility, or think for yourself, so you don't. Beware, too, of the slow corrosion in which nothing is done for its own sake — where every act becomes a calculated transaction made out of fear of the consequences, every kindness a means to some end. — True North (Ethics, Integrity, Truth, Values)

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