Fallacy of a just world
We often like to believe that bad things happen to bad people. Or when something good happens to someone we try to rationalize it by attributing it to their good deeds. This is how we like to see the world — just and fair. We like to believe things happen for a reason because it is simple to imagine a world which restores its balance by rewarding the good and punishing the evil. Our innate ability to justify the existence of a Utopian world is how we try to make ourselves invulnerable to unexpected disasters. We want to believe we are in control of things and will not be harmed as long as we avoid bad behaviors.
“Whatever goes around comes around.”
“You reap what you sow.”
“Karma will come after you.”
These are some of the manifestations of our belief in the idea of a ‘Just World’. But more often than not, lots of things that we see today do not conform to this hypothesis. Innocent people die of terrible diseases, children get physically abused, hard working people slog throughout their lives without signs of success and people who are allegiant in a relationship get heart-broken. It is exasperating when sometimes cheaters and hypocrites flourish while honest and sincere spend their lives in ramshackles. Deep down we want to believe that life is fair and just and all those idealistic virtues will lead to success while being evil will lead to ruin. Yet in reality, evil sometimes prospers and gets away without paying the price.
Life is not fair. So what?
We cannot deal with the unfairness of the world but simply realize it . This will helps us contemplate the motivations behind our actions. Do we donate to a charity in hope of accumulating good karma which we can later exchange for good fortune or we do it just because it makes us feel good? Do we keep waiting for good things to happen to us in reward to our presumptively just and fair actions? Will we stop doing good things if we know there is no payback?
The idea of an unjust world shall not dissuade us from doing good things. Rather, its realization should help us to be prepared for the unforeseen. We are humans and we cannot always make things go the way we want them to but once we are comfortable with the idea of an unjust world, things that we can’t control wont be able to take control of us.
