TB: The Wages of Sin (Huemer / Fake Nous)
Core Thesis
Most people lack genuine character — fixed, well-defined moral commitments they hold independently of social pressure. They follow the crowd, satisfy common desires, and stay out of trouble. This is not hypocrisy; it is the default human condition.
Key Takeaways
The character deficit
- "Most people lack character — they do not have firm and well-defined moral commitments."
- "They follow the crowd and let it tell them what to value."
- "They mainly just try to satisfy their common desires and 'stay out of trouble'."
What this implies
- Virtue is not the default — it requires deliberate cultivation against the pull of crowd-following.
- Social norms are the dominant force on behavior for most people, not internalized values.
- The interesting ethical question is not "why do bad people do bad things" but "why do ordinary people do bad things when norms permit it."
Mental Models
- Incentives Matter — social norms function as the de facto incentive structure shaping the behavior of norm-followers
See also
- Philosophy and Epistemology — virtue ethics and the structure of moral agency
- On Hating the Opposite Sex (Huemer / Fake Nous) — companion piece on how crowd-following intersects with gender antagonism
Source
Michael Huemer, Fake Nous (Substack), 2025 Original article