Essay on It Pays to Know: The Consequences of Neglecting Necessary Knowledge

There are some areas in life that require that everyone possesses the knowledge about them or be ready to dearly pay for their negligence. There are various things in life that one can fail to study but still not have dire consequences. Some people study courses like mechanical engineering but many of us are able to live without necessarily having the knowledge of such disciplines. There are, however, other areas which require that people know them or else face dire repercussions (Hinman, 2012). Areas like nutrition, for example, cannot be avoided since nobody can survive without eating. Therefore, people are forced to have knowledge about healthy diets to avoid nutritional conditions such as scurvy and rickets. People understand that for normal growth and development they need certain propositions of vitamins, proteins, minerals, and carbohydrates (Hinman, 2012). People get to know that there are some eating habits they like that are harmful to their health and that there are some foods they dislike that are important for their health. Ethics, morality, and nutrition compare in several ways, with the main comparison being they are all inevitable.

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Morality is like nutrition, and we cannot avoid learning ways that improve our well-being and that of others just the same way we cannot avoid a nutritious diet for the betterment of our physical health. We are naturally forced to alter morals that ruin our relationships with others and destroy our societal image. People may unavoidably encounter selections that hurt or help other people (Hinman, 2012). The selection might encroach on people's rights, infringe their worthiness, or use them as subjects. People might decide not to concentrate on moral concerns such as compassion and fairness the same way they assume nutrition. Nonetheless, that does not imply that we stop making decisions concerning morals any longer than we can dodge decisions of what foods to consume. People can avoid morality, but cannot dodge selections to which morals are important. Ethics are concerned with living, and as much as we continue existing, it is, therefore, unavoidable to dodge moral queries (Hinman, 2012). And even if we decide not to live, that is in itself a moral concern. Nutrition and morality are sometimes a matter of life or death.

Ethics and nutrition compare in yet another way, where just the same way we have general information about nutrition, we similarly have general information concerning morality (Hinman, 2012). For instance, many people understand that ice cream is not as healthy as a garden salad, and that does not need an expert to explain. Likewise, we all know that abusing a child is ethically wrong and we do not need an expert to explain that. But there are experts in the society trying to explain more about the beliefs that exist in the community. Occasionally, for instance, nutritional experts unearth new ideas such as the health boost offered by fish oil and the harmfulness of some food supplements (Hinman, 2012). Whereas at other times they just confirm what is already in the public domain but in a more convincing way. The association between our traditional beliefs and what the experts bring oftentimes follows a common pattern. Sometimes they provide more secure data about what we already know, while at other times they reveal disturbing information such as our lack of sufficient respect for the aged (Hinman, 2012). The reasons for consulting experts occasionally is because they offer profound information concerning what we already know and also gives insight into a number of ethical issues that challenge us in our daily lives.

The other comparison between morality and nutrition is that both have differing opinions as time goes. For instance, nutritionists sometimes differ regarding the nutritional value of particular meals, and the disagreement grows as they get more knowledge about nutrition (Hinman, 2012). Ethicist also disagrees concerning particular ethical issues and their opinions might change with time. People are required to sieve through all these opinions and decide which one is the best. The fact that there is differing information and that no agreement has been attained yet does not imply that we should ignore either nutrition or ethics.

The discussion revolving around ethics and nutrition has been ongoing for a long period of time and it seems that it is not going to end anytime soon. Ethics and nutrition is an ongoing task too, as reading information about ethics and nutrition feeds someone with more information that can barely be absorbed in a single sitting. Such an occurrence should help us learn to adapt to new things gradually (Hinman, 2012). Just the same way we cannot change our eating habits overnight, we cannot change our ethics that fast as well. Change is a gradual process that we should embrace.

Conclusion

There are several ways in which morals, ethics, and nutrition compare. The main comparison is that it is impossible to avoid any of the three principles as long as one is living. The other comparison is that different philosophers develop their own opinions that differ and this should not be a reason to avoid moral, ethical, and nutritional aspects. Additionally, people have general information about ethics, morals, and nutrition, and experts only emphasize on these or provide new insights about them. Acquiring knowledge about nutrition, ethics, and morality is an ongoing process and people should learn to absorb the information bit by bit and not overnight.

References

Hinman, L. M. (2012). Ethics: A pluralistic approach to moral theory. Nelson Education. https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=kcUJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=According+to+Lawrence+Hinman,+Ethics+or+morality+is+a+lot+like+nutrition.&source=bl&ots=nczy1Etwcc&sig=ACfU3U0H9J_Mgh0fmX1uAsu0QFQ9EGPYwQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjCkaK7yLrpAhXt8eAKHZh-DTcQ6AEwAnoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=According%20to%20Lawrence%20Hinman%2C%20Ethics%20or%20morality%20is%20a%20lot%20like%20nutrition.&f=false