How Do Santa’s Reindeers Fly?

Just like most of the American public, I believe it is wrong to tell a lie. Seems like a pretty easy thing to agree to, right? Like when I hear a politician running for office say he/she is pro-education and pro-jobs. That’s how I feel about lying. I’m anti-lying.

Except, once I became a parent, I found the world to be a little more complicated. For example, what do you say when your young child asks you in his/her most earnest, world-is-beautiful voice:

IT’S OKAY TO LIE IF YOUR CHILD* ASKS YOU…

I was stumped a million times over, and I wonder if I will be as stumped when I have grandchildren.

Somehow my kids always seemed to catch me off- guard (in the back of the car while we’re driving to soccer practice or on line while we are waiting for a movie to start, to ask me their toughest questions… And, I’m not sure I was always successful or prepared, but mostly I tried to tell the truth in the simplest and most age-appropriate way possible (or evade the question with my best “well what do you think?”).

But now, what if your 5 or 15 year old asks you these exact same questions? Then, what do you say? When do you feel like it’s time to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, if ever? What’s the most challenging question your son/daughter has ever asked you?

Objectively Speaking, There’s No Right Answer

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a Harvard education to know that distinguishing between right and wrong can be complex and murky and hard to pull off successfully.

Or is it?

An overwhelming majority of Americans (91%) actually say it’s fairly easy for them personally to know how to behave when faced with a moral fork in the road.

• Do I hire my qualified friend for a job – or an even more qualified stranger?
• Do I let my 12 year old daughter buy an iphone if she earns the money herself?
• Do I attack a mugger if I fear he may be armed?
• Do I go out of my way to return a bag of money that I find lying in the road?

We face (little and big) moral dilemmas every day in our own lives and if not, through pop culture, politics and current events (Google: Sophie’s Choice; Joe Paterno; Tim Tebow; Newt Gingrich; John Edwards; John F. Kennedy, and on and on). And, almost all Americans say others may struggle with how to handle these kinds of situations, but I don’t.

And here’s what most interesting… even though we personally feel we have clarity in distinguishing between right and wrong, America as a nation is divided on whether morality is objective (45%) – or relative (55%), i.e., dependent on the situation, the person, the traditions, the practices, the culture, and many other variables.

So today in this post, let’s talk about moral objectivity. A majority of Americans do not feel it is ever okay to:

• Steal (92%),
• Cheat (91%),
• Break the law (79%), or
• Lie (61%).

We re-asked some comparable questions, but this time with a little situational context. As the context changed, so did our respondents’ answers. In other words, those who say it’s not okay to lie feel there are occasions in which lying is okay.

And some of those who say it’s not okay to steal still can envision occasions in which it is:

And many of those who say you should not break the law still say it may be okay to:

So, perhaps it all depends on how we think about lying, stealing and law breaking in the abstract ,  but how it changes when we visualize specific situations.

Now for fun, in your free (what’s that?) time, check out these mostly famous moral dilemmas and these ones too… is it clear how you would act in these situations?

Moral Objectivity

Explain That!

There is a whole lot we can’t explain like: why are yawns contagious? Or, why do placebos work? Or, why would anyone ever want to keep up with the Kardashians?

But that’s OK to a large minority of Americans who say they don’t need a scientific explanation for everything. Many in fact believe in:

• God (78%)
• Miracles (62%)
• Life on other planets (48%)
• Destiny or fate (44%)
• Ghosts (36%)
• UFOs or aliens (35%)
• Good luck charms (20%)
• Omens (18%)
• Magic (17%)
• Jinxes (12%)
• Fortune telling (10%)

3 out of 4 Americans believe in God and almost 2 in 3 Americans believe in miracles. However, for many other scientifically un-proven things, the jury is still out. A majority of Americans appear skeptical of the other nine items on the list above.

Younger adults under age 40 seem more willing to suspend their disbelief than older adults are, who perhaps have become more sophisticated (some might say cynical) in their advanced years.

And note the gender differences: women are more open to ghosts, miracles and destiny, while men are more willing to accept UFOs and life outside of our own planet. So…more on this later, my space ship is calling.

Respondents Who Believe

Tech It or Leave It

What’s your relationship with technology? Are you the first to embrace anything new that comes around and swear by its worth? Or, are you (like me) slow to acquire the latest technology but then somehow wind up falling in love?

According to our latest study, on either end of the continuum, there are:

• The Addicts– About one-quarter of Americans (slightly more for the ipod and slightly less for the tablet) who insist they can’t live without any of the following 21st century inventions. This group has an awful lot of the younger generations under age 40 (natch!).
  • Ipod (39%)
  • DVR (29%)
  • Smart phone (29%)
  • Video game console (23%)
  • Tablet (9%)
• The Critics– Also about one-quarter of our population (somewhat less for the smart phone and the DVR) who refuse to buy, god forbid use, any of the following 21st century inventions. This group has more than its share of seniors ages 65+.
  • Video game console (25%)
  • Tablet (22%)
  • Ipod (21%)
  • Smart phone (16%)
  • DVR (15%)

And then there’s the folks in the middle… Everything from “I have it but I don’t love it” to “I don’t want it but I’ll probably have to get it”.

Within this range, the most interesting group of all to me is those who admit to piqued curiosity (let’s call them the Dreamers). This group seems like a goldmine for marketers. And, I must admit this is where I fall. Figure out what will push us over the edge to buy and you’ve won a whole new share of the audience. The Dreamers represent about one-third of the population, more so for the tablet and less so for the video game console:

• Tablet (52%)
• Ipod (33%)
• Smart phone (30%)
• DVR (29%)
• Video game console (16%)

The Dreamers are disproportionately comprised of adults ages 50-64… I wonder why… too old to be impulsive, too young to be set in our ways, I guess.

Relationship with Technology

The Terminator 2011

I was always taught that what separates us humans from animals and birds and bugs and machines is our ability to think. Consider the fly who keeps jettisoning itself headfirst into a plate glass window because she doesn’t learn from the first 6000 takes. We don’t do that (except in the case of reality TV, which feels somewhat the same as banging your head against a wall repeatedly).

But at least in the case of machines, this distinction may not exist for much longer.

As covered in The Week and Time magazines last February, robots will be able to think like humans; merge with humans; and conquer the universe – by the year 2045. Whoa!

But according to our latest research, we Americans aren’t quite ready for that – yet.

• Only 39% of us feel that scientists should be proactively trying to build robots and machines that can think for themselves, and
• Only 28% of us believe that scientists should practice the cloning of animals and humans.

What do you think? Are you ready for a cyborg who acts just like you? I’m not sure I am, but maybe I would be if it could figure out how clean the kitchen after one of our late night poker games.

And in your free time, check out this article from The Week for dog-walking robots, soccer-playing robots, robots that can reverse baldness, and my personal favorite, the robot masquerading as a beer can.