when someone deliberately does not fulfill their duties or falls short of what they are supposed to do, at that time what role does shame play in reorienting people’s work ethics?
does it create an inner dialog in potentially realizing minds & in turn make them a better person?
share your thoughts on this if you like.
best,
Dushwari
p.s. work here does not mean only work done for a living.
Re: SHAME & Work Ethics
Guilt, keeping myself within the realm of your question, is the progeny of two factors.
1) A clear perception and appreciation of responsibilities.
2) Acceptance of the fact that one is falling short of them.
Acceptance is possible only when one can not find a plausible justification, within the environment, to evade it. It is hard for a person of an average conscience to develop a strong guilt, when most of the people around him are not fulfilling their responsibilities. A positive guilt can certainly dispute the bad social practices and rejuvenate the work ethics.
The inclusion of word “deliberately” makes the situation further complex ………we may discuss it further.
Re: SHAME & Work Ethics
i agree, inteiphant. delibration is the key.
shar eyour thoughts on work ethics ignored.
if you like.
best,
Dushwari
Re: SHAME & Work Ethics
Like I said before guilt is the offspring of a few preconditions, one of the most important among the precondition is the acceptance of the fact that one is failing to observe the responsibilities. A person who is deliberately evading the responsibility is well aware of the fact that;
<!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->1)His behavior does not bring any ramification because of the lack of accountability
<!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->2)He finds a justification powerful enough to asphyxiate any feeling of guilt
<!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->3)His stature with in his environment invests in him enough arrogance to overshadow call to moral values.
A true analysis of the situation will include many more and subdivision of each. But let’s not go there, let’s stick with the three reasons that I have mentioned.
It is in human nature to improvise, not to mention that improvisation is not always done with good intentions and for good results, historically an evil genius is more enterprising in its endeavors to achieve the desired results. What makes a person an evil genius is lack of responsibility on the part of someone else. Morality, conscience, should not the be the only force that would force to be on the right track
I don’t mean to say that one who is deliberately immoral has no feeling of shame or guilt, its only that the voice of conscience loses strength over time and at one point it is hardly distinguishable as an acoustic.
Now the question arises why it is so, why some people, only a few though, has strong moral values than other, why honesty is not a best policy for each of us, why prosperity is somewhat inversely proportional to strong moral values.
Answer is easy and difficult at the same time, we are all different, with different brought up, different nature and different ideologies. We are all human and majority of us like to have quick results and easy path to life, we need comfort both physical and mental.
Coming back to the question itself, role that shame, guilt, can play in remolding our personality can be huge; a person can turn into an angel from a devil. It all depends how strongly one is committed to analyze his behavior, how eager one is to dispute the intentions to justify wrong doings.
Dushwari, it’s a path, once a person puts his two feet on the right path, the pavement becomes red carpet for him. It is Sunnah of Allah (SWT), which ALLAH makes the path easy for any one who wants to go along any path.
Rewards of moving along an honest path may not be as conspicuous and glaring in worldly sense but much more gratifying in true sense.
Re: SHAME & Work Ethics
makes sense, intelliphant.
yet, personal responsibility is the first and foremost that should be put forth as the reason for staying on the right path. a companion will help in encouraging and keeping motivated. but relying on anyone is not a good thing, especially when unexpectedly somebody does not help out at the last second. disappointments take over at that time and then a person may go that route of self deception, & internalizing hopelessness. that is of course not good at all.
i wont comment on religion as an enforcer for being honest at one's work. religion can be a great guide, but to simply be identified as a religious someone, no one will feel that level of affinity with genuinely being honest in doing one's work, something that one should do.
i think that to be qualified fro being a religious person, one should be a good and honest worker, first.
any thoughts, please share.
best,
Dushwari
Re: SHAME & Work Ethics
I agree, Dushwari, personal responsibility is and should be the foremost source of inspiration to stay on the right track. But is it that simple?. Where do we get the consciousness about “personal responsibility”. Is there a golden fountain of morality, a drop of which can turn every body into a pious being?. We all need a code of ethics to adhere to, social ethics constituted by human beings are no different to the social ethics of any religion. We can either stick to norms of the society or the code of social conduct given by any religion. These ethics work as yardstick against which we measure our behavior, failing the litmus test results into the feeling of guilt.
We deduce the sense of personal responsibility from the prevalent social ethics, but it takes integrity of character to accept these norms as standards. We live in a society where each of us is knitted in the fabric of social bondage; we get inspired by the success of our neighbor, our class mate or our family member. At work we register, consciously or unconsciously, behavior of other people to either be a great worker or to evade responsibility; existing culture plays an important rule in shaping our behavior. And again it takes a lot of strength of a character to be an iconoclast; change for good when bad is a virtue for many is a dangerous endeavor.
Honesty is the philosophy of the behavior; a truly honest person is honest in every sense, and in every walk of life. Religion is a divine path to achieve this behavior; an honest person is most likely to be honest with his work. I don’t mean to say that no one but a very religious person would be honest; religion is a marquee under which philosophy of life is defined, appreciated and understood. But again we are all human beings, we understand things with in the boundaries of our intellect, our wisdom and our experiences.
A very religious and a very honest man can be wrong in his judgment, and a very cruel person can be right at times. We are honest, Dushwari, as long as we intend to stay honest, and do utmost to achieve this goal.
Re: SHAME & Work Ethics
intelliphant,
subjectively, the only grace saving entity is personal integrity.
i appreciate you sharing a different perspective of your own.
best,
Dushwari