Brain and “Virtue”, 2

Excellence has been defined as the quality of being outstanding or extremely good in doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. But who or what decides what is right and what is wrong? Which “brain” determines the criteria? Therein lies the conundrum. Children grow up consciously or subconsciously absorbing what the “big people” in their life “DO” in terms of behaviors and what their role-models “DO” has far more impact on a child’s perception than what the parents, grandparents, teachers, or care-providers say. This means that the definition of “excellence” along with “Virtue,” is very subjective and depends in large part on what a child was exposed to growing up. The good news is that a human brain can evaluate what it learned it childhood and decide whether or not it wants to continue down that road or take another road. You may recall the poem by Robert Frost that ends with these lines:  Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.