A Formula to Tell Good from Bad

You think you know when something is good or bad. You probably don’t.

Three variables

Here’s a formula. Three variables.

Intention. Action. Consequences.

Rate each one. Positive — plus one. Negative — minus one. Neutral — zero.

Add them up.

Positive total — good action. Negative total — bad action. Zero — neutral.

Let’s test it

A father yells at his son. Because the kid is interrupting his TV show.

Intention — selfish. Minus one. Yelling — never a great tool. Minus one. Consequences — the son grows up thinking yelling is normal. Minus one.

Total: minus three. Bad action.

Same father. Same yell. But this time — his son just ran a red light.

Intention — protect him. Keep him alive. Plus one. Yelling — still not ideal. Minus one. Consequences — the kid thinks twice before crossing the street. Plus one.

Total: plus one. Good action.

Same father. Same yell. Completely different action.

Run the formula

This is why judging people by what they do — without knowing why — is almost always wrong.

Your boss’s harsh words. Your friend’s uncomfortable truth. Your parent’s strictness.

Run the formula.

Take the last thing you did today. Run it through. You might surprise yourself.

Merit — a community where we make kindness cool.

Merit is an app where kind people help each other — and earn real-life rewards for doing good deeds.