What's morality?

Class discussion on Friday was pretty great. The article that my group and I focused on the most was the Layman article "Why be Moral?" There was a specific idea that stuck with me really well. Throughout the article the question seemed more to ask, Why be a superhero? Someone mentioned in class that doing the moral thing seems to be a burden, and i agree. Why would someone go out of their way to do the right thing even if it is sometimes dangerous? From that I would further ask why someone who doesn't have superpowers would ever go out of their way to do something that is moral. Some say that doing good things is just the "right thing to do." I would agree with that if there was a more concrete definition of what is right and what is wrong, and that delves deeper into what my group and I started to talk about in class. Where do we get our definition of morality? Does it differ from others depending on geographic location? culture? or is it something else entirely? The only one of the reasons that Layman gives for being moral that makes sense to me is "It pays off in the long run (with long run meaning afterlife)." The only reason it makes sense to me, is because it is something that I have heard time and time again in church services as a kid and all of the bible study classes I had to take.

Secret identity is of great significance to most superheroes because it is how they protect themselves and their loved ones. This is seen most clearly through the Superman character. Superman is a humanoid with super strength, great intelligence, and other super awesome powers. To protect himself and family he becomes the clumsy Clark Kent, and later of course he keeps his secret identity to protect Lois from any harm. The same can be said for Spider man and other superheroes. I think we all have different identities in a sense. Everyone has a presenting self and an actual self at the very least. I tend to be somewhat professional in my conversations with certain professors and staff at the college and some members of the Monmouth community. Of course with people I am more familiar with (friends, family, etc.) I'm a little less professional. My different identities are not complete opposites or anything by any means, but they do have some differences. I usually bite my tongue on a lot of issues that bug me or cut down on my sarcastic humor with people I work with or have a professional relationship with, but with my friends and family I'm usually pretty blunt with whatever I have to say. I'm only human so of course I slip up every now and again, so to try to prevent it from happening I let each of my identities mix together in certain relationships I have. This has been a beneficial plan of action because it allows me to build stronger relationships with the people I interact with on a daily basis.