“Voluntary acts are praised or blamed because they originate in the agent.”
— Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book III, Chapter 1
(Translated by W.D. Ross)
Big Idea
Life’s a multiplayer game 🎮:
- Your choices = Your controller inputs → Earn “Moral XP” or “Guilt Glitches”.
- Blaming others = Hacking the system → Gets you banned from the leaderboard.
Real-Life Scenarios
🏀 Sports Team Drama
→ Voluntary: Skip practice to play Fortnite → Benched by coach → Your fault.
→ Ownership: Apologize + show up early → Team MVP status.
📱 Group Chat Mess
→ Voluntary: Start rumor for clout → Friends block you → Reputation reset.
→ Owned Choice: Admit gossip was fake → Trust slowly reloads.
🍎 Classroom Choices
→ Blame Dodge: “The dog ate my essay!” → Teacher eye-roll emoji.
→ Ownership: “I partied too hard” → Extra credit chance.
What You Can Do
- The “Controller Check”
Track 3 decisions daily:
→ Voluntary: Shared test answers → -10 XP
→ Involuntary: Tripped classmate → Reset with apology ✅ - Moral Leaderboard
Rank friends (privately!) on:- Who owns mistakes vs. blames WiFi/luck/parents.
- Glitch Repair Kit
Fix 1 past blame-shift this week:
→ Text: “My bad for saying YOU lost the fundraiser flyer – I forgot it.”