What is a conscience?
Some people say it is a little voice in your head that tells you what to do right. We act like it is part of us but separate at the same time. We give it a name. Act like it has its own options, opinions and thoughts. We compare it to devils and angels, one on each shoulder giving us options on the good and bad paths that we could take. But what really is a conscience and why do we talk about it as if it is its own person. Maybe because it is the undecided, it is the other choice, the one path we never took. So we speak of it as if it is a thing. Because to us it is a thing. The thing we did not do. But in reality your conscience is a moment. It is a thought. It is the moment and thought before you make a choice. Why we have named it in a way that gives it life is a whole other subject. In that moment we think to ourselves, should I do this, In that moment when we weigh in the consequences of are future choice, that moment is your conscience. It is not a person, it is not separate from us.
We all have these moments. Some people claim that others do not, that they are evil and could never have the thoughts that give them the option of good, but that is ridiculous. We all do. They just choose to take the path that gives them what they want regardless of the consequences. Other people do the same thing but take the path with the least amount of consequences. This is considered the right choice. Both people have the same moment. Both people have the same decision. Some people just do not care about the consequences of their actions because the reward outweighs the consequence. Other times they are unaware of them. So in the moment where they make there decision the consequences of their actions is not even in the equation because they do not know they may be an outcome.
An example of the reward outweighing the consequence could be something like making a huge mess to make a pie. Or being unaware of the consequences could be something as simple as choosing to give a friend a ride and end up being late for work. Conscience is options. Consequences come from choice. It is impossible to have no conscience and impossible to have a good or bad one. It is just an option when it is the conscience. Just a maybe. It is the moment of choice that can be labeled as good or bad. So never believe that some people do not have the options to be good humans. We all do. They choose not to be.
by Robin L.A. Shaw
