at Vanderbilt university,
One
day before he gave an exam
he reminded the students of the
university's honor code,
and told them no faculty member
would be present during the test.
He
said, "Today I am giving two exams
one in trigonometry and the other
in honesty.
Hopefully
you'll be able to pass both of them.
If you must fail, be sure to fail
trigonometry.
There
are many good men who cannot pass a test in trigonometry.
There are no
good men who cannot pass a test in honesty."
In
that unit, I gave a test to 5 classes of science students.
and graded them that night, but
did not put any mark on them.
The
next day, I passed them out, and had the students grade their own papers
and call out the grade to me, as
I called their names.
The
2nd day, I announced in the first class what I had done.
I did not penalize anyone for
lying or cheating.
It was all just an experiment in
honesty
Believe
me, I did not have to announce it after the second class.
Everyone knew about it when they
came to class.
Several
popped into the science lab
and confessed cheating even
before it was time for science class.
Others
confessed to me as they entered the room
before they say down.
And
the cheating was very broad,
although there were a number of
students
who were very honest in grading
their papers.
integrity appears to be in short
supply
and it has been getting worse and
worse for decades,
probably longer.
said shoplifting arrests in
several ... stores
jumped more than 100 percent over
last year.
50% of shoplifters were under 18.
Another 25% were housewives
in the 19 to 27
category.
"more than 80% of the people
we arrest
have the money in their pockets
to buy what they are
stealing."
that it is almost a given
that people generally lie when it
is to their advantage.
"The Repairman will Gyp you
if you dont watch
out."
David
Wise wrote his book The Politics of Lying,
in which he said,
"This
erosion of confidence between people and government
is perhaps the single most
significant
political development in America
in the last decade.
He
went on, "The american President today operates
within a new political
framework.
He can no longer assume that
the majority of the people will
believe him."
in
a 6-year period beginning in 1964
the American people had steadily
lost confidence in the
government,
and
that was 10 years before Nixon resigned
at the end of the Watergate
scandal in 1974.
Before
1964, public confidence in government
was consistently high.
already
19% of people did not believe
the most widely publicized event
the government had
ever undertaken:
Namely that US astronauts
had been to the
moon and back.
about
the growth of businesses
that
specialize in producing term papers
and
even college graduate program theses
and
selling them to thousands of students to cheat with them.
told
about a soapbox derby winner who was disqualified
for
cheating in the construction of his racer
and his cheating did result in
him winning the race.
He
not only lost his first place trophy
but a $7,500 scholarship.
It
was the first time in the history of the Soap Box Derby
that had ever happened.
"No
man is really honest,
none of us is above the influence
of gain."
who lived about the same time
It's
said he went about holding a lit lantern in broad daylight
saying he was looking for an
honest man.
to
prove that Aristophanes and Diogenes were wrong.
is
that which is honorable
characterized
by integrity and straightforwardness in conduct,
in
thought and in speech
Soundness
of moral principle and character
complete
honesty and uprightness
with
not masking of intentions.
Integrity
demands that a person put on no false front,
that
he wear no artificial mask,
that
he play no deceptive role.
and
every form of deception.
It
is a term that describes one of the deepest
and most important qualities
of the worthy life.
who deceived Jacob's nearly blind
father Isaac,
and stole his father's blessing
that he was reserving
for Jacob's brother Esau.
Jacob
lied to his father in both words and actions
pretending to be Esau
His
older sons took and sold
his youngest son Joseph as a
slave.
They
fooled their father into thinking
Joseph had been killed by a wild
beast.
They
found themselves in the awkward postion
of trying to comfort their
grieving father
at the same time they were trying
to cover up their lie to their father.
Jacob
morned for Joseph for about 20 years
before he ever came to realize
the deception he suffered.
Jacob
had earlier deceived his father Isaac
by wearing his brothers clothes
to make his father think he was
actually his brother.
Jacob
was later fooled by his older sons
who dipped Joseph's coat in
goat's blood.
7
Do not be deceived,
God
is not mocked;
for
whatever a man sows,
this
he will also reap.
the measure you give will be
the measure you get.
1 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity
Than he who is perverse in
speech and is a fool.
7 A righteous man who walks
in his integrity—
How blessed are his sons
after him.