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S1E3 What is Humanism Anyway?
Episode 3 • 24th September 2025 • Live Good. Walk Good. • Bianca Welds (from The B Factor)
00:00:00 00:29:18

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What Is Humanism Anyway?

Definition (one line)

Humanism is a life stance that centers human dignity, flourishing, and freedom—guided by reason and compassion—without appealing to the supernatural. (Adapted from Humanists International’s Amsterdam Declaration and the American Humanist Association.) 

Key takeaways

  • Critique claims, not people. We can love people of faith and still ask hard questions.
  • Morality grows from empathy, consequences, and shared agreements we refine together.
  • It’s not “foreign”. Caribbean life already runs on mutual aid, dignity, and practical care.
  • Reason checks the facts; compassion decides what reduces harm.
  • Freedom is tied to responsibility: my choices land on other people.
  • Pluralism: many ways to be good; disagreement without dehumanization.

Practice recap — One-week “Humanist Try-On”

Daily 3-step:

  1. Notice: Catch one moment you’d default to judgment—pause.
  2. Question: What are the facts? What’s the human cost? What outcome reduces harm?
  3. Choose: Take the smallest compassionate action that’s still honest.

Pick one micro-habit:

  • Truth check: “What evidence would change my mind?”
  • Consent check-in: Ask before assuming (home/work/fêtes).
  • Circle-widen: One tangible care act outside your usual bubble.

Further exploration (reads & pods)



Transcripts

Speaker:

Humanism isn't anti-God.

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It's pro-human.

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It's grownup ethics in daylight:

care for each other, change your

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mind with new facts, do less harm.

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From the church bench to the corner

shop, from Nine Night kindness to a

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Saturday Beach cleanup, we already

live this: putting people first.

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Let's talk about a worldview a

lot of us are already living,

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whether we've named it or not.

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Welcome back to Live Good.

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Walk Good.

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I'm Bianca, fellow traveler on this

humanist path, journeying with you from

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Kingston to wherever you're listening.

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If you're new here, in episode one,

we asked what if being good is enough,

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and started looking at how to find

meaning without divine approval.

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In episode two, we sifted and sorted

through what we kept and what we

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left from the faiths we grew up in.

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Today we're naming something that

might be familiar, a worldview many

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of us already live even before we

knew what it was called humanism.

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By the end of this episode, you'll

know what humanism is, what it isn't,

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and you'll have a simple way to try

it on this week, if it's new to you.

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I'm not here as a guru.

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I'm learning out loud with you,

asking and exploring honest questions,

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testing small practices, seeing what

actually helps us live well together.

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Hopefully, some of you are

willing to compare notes.

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Let's get into it.

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Starting with what is humanism anyway?

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Humanism is a life stance that centers

human dignity, flourishing and freedom,

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guided by reason and compassion,

without appealing to the supernatural.

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Where does that come from?

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Modern humanists broadly anchor to

Humanists International Amsterdam

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Declaration, a consensus statement

updated in:

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definitions from the American Humanist

Association's Humanist Manifesto III.

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In plain terms, people first,

evidence and empathy as our tools.

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No need to invoke the

supernatural to live ethically.

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Dignity: Every person

matters, no exceptions.

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The starting point is equal

worth and equal rights.

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So any ethic that degrades or

excludes people on identity

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lines fails the humanist test.

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Flourishing: When we say flourishing,

we mean a life that goes well for

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people in practice: health, safety,

learning, meaningful work, creativity,

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relationships, and a livable environment.

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Think of it as building conditions

where more of us can actually thrive.

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Freedom: Not a "do anything I want"

kind of freedom, but the greatest

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possible freedom and fullest

possible development, compatible with

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others' rights, including freedom of

thought, conscience, and expression.

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In humanism, liberty is

braided with responsibility.

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My choices land on other people, so

freedom and fairness ride together.

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Reason: Use the best evidence you

have, stay curious, and be willing to

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change your mind when new facts land.

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We trade certainty for honesty.

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Compassion: Care isn't a

loophole, it's the point.

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We try to reduce harm and widen the circle

of concern from family to neighborhood

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or community to island, country, planet.

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There's no cosmic referee making the

call for us, so we're accountable

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to each other for the world we

build, policies, workplaces,

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homes, and how we treat strangers.

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If you want a pocket version, the

AHA puts it this way: Humanism is a

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progressive philosophy of life that,

without theism or other supernatural

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beliefs, affirms our ability and

responsibility to lead ethical,

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fulfilling lives for the greater good.

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And zooming out from that, what's

interesting is that Humanists

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International's declaration stresses that

humanism is both head and heart, applying

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science and critical inquiry and centering

human values to decide ends and needs.

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In other words, evidence

guides, empathy decides.

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So that's the core: reason, compassion,

responsibility, a people first

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ethic without supernatural claims.

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But if that's humanism,

what do people think it is?

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Let's start by clearing

up a few foggy spots.

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Here are a few myths that I

have seen or heard and what

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the lived reality looks like.

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One: Humanists hate religion.

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I don't hate religion.

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Most of us don't.

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Our families pray.

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Our friends sing in church.

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We go to weddings.

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Here in Jamaica, we'll go to the

nine night and we bring a dish.

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I think what humanism does is

separate people from propositions.

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We can still love people and ask

good questions about their claims.

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If a belief brings comfort

and causes no harm, beautiful.

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But if a belief is used to excuse

harm or deny someone's dignity, we

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will name that and set a boundary.

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That's not contempt, that's care for

the human being on the receiving end.

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So, no, this is not an

anti anyone posture.

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It's pro-human.

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It says: we can live well together even

if we don't agree about the invisible.

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The goal is to critique

the claims, not people.

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Number two: No God equals no morals.

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I started exploring this

back in episode one.

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But most of our daily ethics

don't come from the sky.

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They come from empathy and outcomes.

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You slow at the crosswalk because

somebody's child is crossing.

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You drive on the left, here

in Jamaica at least, because

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we agreed that's safer here.

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You pay your bus fare, return a lost

phone, help a neighbor with groceries, not

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because you fear lightning, but because

it's right and it keeps the world running.

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Humanism says, start

with the human stakes.

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Who's affected?

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What reduces harm?

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What's fair given the facts?

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That's not moral chaos,

that's moral adulthood.

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We make and refine our shared rules

because we're accountable to each other.

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Empathy plus consequences plus agreement.

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There's plenty of moral background here.

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Number three: it's a

foreign western thing.

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Now, this is one I've

definitely seen echoed here.

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But look around the Caribbean.

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We've been practicing people

first for a long time.

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When we do partner or susu, we

lift each other one hand at a time.

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"Tek care a yuh own."

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Community cook ups after a storm.

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The village auntie who checks

every child on the lane.

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Even the phrase "Tun han' mek

fashion", which means solve

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the problem with what we have.

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Humanism gives language

to that everyday ethic.

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It says the good we already do, mutual

aid, fairness, hospitality, that's a

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valid foundation for a life stance.

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No passport required.

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It's not imported goodness.

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It's named goodness.

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We already live it.

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Now we can call it what it is.

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Number four: Humanism is

cold and hyper-rational.

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This one is interesting to

me because the rationality of

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humanism is definitely appealing.

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But real humanism, we said

before, it's head and heart.

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Reason helps us see what's true, tests

our assumptions, updates with new

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evidence, but it's the compassion that

then helps us choose what matters.

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Who needs care?

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Where is that harm happening?

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Evidence guides, empathy decides.

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We can love data and love people.

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We can change our minds and

still hold someone's hand.

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We can be precise about facts

and tender about the impact.

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Clarity without cruelty.

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That's the vibe.

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Last one, number five is that

humanism is just "anti-God".

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If your whole identity is a

protest sign, you will always

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need an opponent to feel whole.

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And to be fair, there are lots of people

like this, but that's not what this is.

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Humanism is a positive ethic, curiosity,

consent, honesty, accountability, care.

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It shows up in habits: things like asking

before you assume and admitting when

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you're wrong, fixing the harm that you

cause, widening the circle of who counts.

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So, yes, some of us left religion, but

the center of humanism isn't what we left.

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It's what we're building now.

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Are there any other

myths that you've heard?

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'Cause I'd really be curious to hear them.

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But if humanism is not a

take down, what's the build?

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Let's step into some practices and what

humanism can look like in real life.

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To be clear, these pillars that I'm going

to share didn't drop from a mountain.

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They're some patterns I keep seeing

at home, at work, in life that

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actually help us live well together.

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I've borrowed plain words for them,

but they're really just habits: check

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your facts, care for people, include

who gets left out, own your impact and

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argue without "un-humaning" each other.

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If you've read humanist statements,

you'll recognize a family resemblance.

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But today I just want to share

some examples, part of my working

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kit, from real life, not a creed.

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So these aren't commandments, they're

habits I'm trying to practice.

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On good days, I nail it.

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On tired days, I miss and reset.

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Just think of them as five ways to walk

humanism, one small choice at a time.

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Let's step through them.

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One: reason and reality checks and

just being willing to be wrong.

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Simply put, we reality test our beliefs,

so we check our facts and stay open to

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updating them, and stay glad to be less

wrong tomorrow than loudly wrong today.

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We trade certainty for honesty.

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Simple things like a forwarded WhatsApp

message tells you our policy is changing

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"because the government says so".

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Old me might react and just forward it.

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Now I pause.

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Two taps to check an official page, or I

call someone I know who might know more.

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If I'm wrong, I'm not

ashamed or embarrassed.

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I update and share the correction.

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That's not weakness, that's respect

for the people my choices affect.

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Think about what would change my mind?

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How do I know this, and who

am I relying on to know it?

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Number two, compassion and care.

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It's about reducing suffering,

widening the circle of concern.

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If it hurts people, we rethink it.

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As an example, if a coworker keeps

missing their deadlines, the easy story

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is to tell yourself that they're lazy.

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The humanist story says, ask

first: hey, are you good?

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What's, blocking you?

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What's getting in your way?

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Maybe it's caregiving.

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Maybe they're drowning quietly.

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I'm choosing the smallest,

helpful move before I escalate.

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The self-check is, where's the hurt here?

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What's one action that reduces

harm today without lying to

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anybody or causing more harm?

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Number three focuses on

human dignity and rights.

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The plain line for this one is that

every life is equal in value and

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equity is the route to fairness.

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This example comes up a lot.

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You're planning an event and the venue

is upstairs, there's no elevator.

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Is it cheaper?

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Yes, absolutely.

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Is it fair?

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No.

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Somebody who's in a wheelchair or

on crutches this month can't come.

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So consider changing the venue.

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As a recent example from here in Jamaica,

we had a mini uproar when the first of a

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series of televised political debates in

the lead up to our national elections was

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held with no sign language interpreter,

leaving out the entire Deaf community.

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But it's also the same with pay.

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Don't try to pay people in exposure.

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Consider that they can't

pay their bills that way.

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When you pay in exposure, only those

that already have the means and have

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the privilege to accept that kind of

job, actually have that opportunity.

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The self-check practice here is

who gets left out by default?

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What's the smallest change

that widens the doorway?

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Number four looks at

freedom and responsibility.

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It's thinking about

agency with consequences.

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Do as you would knowing that

it lands on someone else.

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Simple thing like your

party goes late on a Sunday.

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Personal freedom says, turn up the music.

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Responsibility says my neighbor

might have work early in the morning.

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So you set a time cap, you shift

the speaker to another location,

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invite them or move it indoors

so you don't disturb them.

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Freedom without responsibility is noise.

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Responsibility without freedom is fear.

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And what we're really aiming

for is grownup freedom.

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Self-check is, what's the cost?

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It may be free to you, but

who is actually paying for it?

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And the last one taps into pluralism.

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Simply put, there are many

ways to be good, and you can

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disagree without dehumanizing.

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For example, you're liming with

your friends: one is devout,

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one is queer, maybe I'm in

the room and I'm the humanist.

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We may disagree on really big things.

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But the rule for me is no

slurs, no erasing each other's

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dignity, no forcing conversion.

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We can hold firm beliefs and

still share food or play games.

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At work, it means designing policies

that don't require my private,

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personally held worldview to match

yours for us to be able to collaborate.

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So try asking yourself, can I state their

view so they'd say, yes, that's fair?

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Consider what's your non-negotiable

and where can you flex?

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Here is a mini recap of the

pillars that I just covered.

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Reason says check.

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Compassion says care.

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Dignity says include.

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Freedom, says own it.

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And pluralism says, argue well,

don't dehumanize each other.

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None of those really need

a supernatural referee.

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What they need is practice.

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These examples require action.

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You won't get them perfect, neither do I.

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But if we keep choosing them, one message,

one meeting, one lane at a time, we build

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a culture we actually want to live in.

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Something to consider is how does

this show up on the corner shop level?

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Let's bring this down

to the everyday level.

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No big theory, just how

people first ethics shows up

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in everyday Caribbean life.

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Here are some things we already

do that are humanist at heart.

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I mentioned before, Nine Night

kindness, which is really about grief

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as community care, not a doctrine.

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If you're new to the Caribbean, a nine

night is basically a community wake

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that runs over several evenings and ends

on the ninth night after someone dies.

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It's usually at the family yard:

people bring food, sing, tell stories,

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play dominoes, share memories.

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It's practical care: somebody

cooks, somebody keeps company,

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somebody might cover a bill.

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A neighbor loses a parent, and

before sunrise, a tent goes up.

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Chairs are borrowed, pots are on a fire.

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Somebody might bring ice.

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Somebody brings programs.

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Somebody sits quietly with

the family so they can rest.

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Nobody stops to check theology.

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We check what's needed: tea,

tissue, a lift, a bill covered.

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That's humanism in the wild.

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It's care first.

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So think about when loss hits:

what's one practical thing I can do

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in the next hour?

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I mentioned earlier, partner

and susu, which is really mutual

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uplift as a practical ethic.

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When we talk about partner and

susu, it's a rotating savings group.

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Everybody puts in the same amount on

a set schedule, and then each turn,

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one person gets the full hand or draw.

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There's usually a trusted

banker who organizes it.

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It's used for school fees, appliances,

small business startup costs.

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It's not charity, it's people

helping to lift each other up.

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Every month the hand draws,

we rotate, we trust, we track.

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If somebody falls behind,

usually it's not about shame.

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You just problem solve: you adjust the

amount, you might extend a week, you

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might swap the draw with somebody else.

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It's dignity plus accountability.

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Solidarity instead of charity, so we

rise in turns so more of us can stand.

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I mentioned beach cleanups and river care.

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It may be a Saturday morning, you

put your gloves on: you're picking

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up plastic, logging what you collect,

securing the bags before the rain comes.

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It doesn't require a promise

of stars in our next life.

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Just love for place and people.

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We know what happens when we don't

do it: blocked gullies, flooded

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roads, sick fish, fewer vendors

selling fried fish next month.

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We act because this world is home.

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It just means looking around at

what area can I leave better today?

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Whether it's my yard, my office,

the sidewalk, the shoreline.

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The idea of consent culture

is changing in the Caribbean.

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The idea of dignity in the

fete or at work or at home.

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In a fete, you ask before you hold

somebody, and if the answer is no

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or the vibe changes, you let go.

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You move on, you dance with somebody else.

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At work, it's not making jokes

about people's body or beliefs.

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No late night texts ignoring boundaries.

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Unfortunately, we often have

to put in place policies to

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try and enforce this, but

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we see the same things happening at home.

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Consent means asking before you

post somebody's picture, somebody

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telling you, yes, last week about

anything is not a lifetime contract.

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Consent is dignity in action.

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It's respecting what was said and what's

unsaid and what may have changed since

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. Consider, did you ask?

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Did you listen?

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Did you honor their answer?

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We're not perfect.

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We live with colorism and classism and

homophobia, intimate partner violence,

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corruption, and everyday disrespect.

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Humanism doesn't give

holy exemptions for harm.

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It gives tools, facts over rumors,

consent over coercion, inclusion over

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convenience, accountability over image

management, repair over defensiveness.

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But at the heart of it,

there is no cosmic referee.

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So we build better rules together.

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Let's make it practical.

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If you're new to this, let's actively try

humanism on, like a jacket, for one week.

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Not a life contract, just a fit check.

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Three steps, once a day.

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If you forget, just start

in the very next moment.

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No guilt, just practice.

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Step one is notice.

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Catch one moment you'd normally

default to judgment, then pause.

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A taxi cut you off, a coworker

missed a deadline, cousin

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posted something wild online.

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Say out loud or in your head, "Pause,

there's a story that I'm telling."

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You're not excusing harm.

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You're buying a breath

before you choose what to do.

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Think about what's your story

versus what you actually know.

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Step two is question it.

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Ask three quick questions.

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One, what are the facts?

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Not rumors, not vibes.

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Two, what's the human cost?

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Who is affected and how?

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And three, what outcome reduces harm?

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Something near term, something realistic.

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So for example, a person

missed a deadline.

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The fact is it's late.

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The human cost, maybe the team is blocked.

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Harm reduction: remove a task, set a

micro deadline, or ask what's in the way.

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Step three is choose.

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Take the smallest compassionate

action that's still honest.

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It might be sending a clarifying message,

offer some concrete help, set a boundary,

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share a correction without shame dumping.

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Something that's small, kind and true.

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That's it.

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Notice, question and choose.

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One rep a day.

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As a bonus, if you want,

you can try a micro habit.

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You can pick one that you want

to do throughout the week.

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You could do a truth check.

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So once a day, ask what

evidence would change my mind.

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And if you find it, then update.

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Say so.

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Say "I got new information,

here's the correction."

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Do a consent check-in.

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Ask before assuming, even

with friends and partners.

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Ask them, is it cool if I share this?

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Is now a good time?

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Can I hold you?

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Do you want advice or

for me to just listen?

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Widen your circle.

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Do one tangible care act

outside your usual bubble.

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Check on the security guard, tip

the vendor who's slow today, invite

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the quiet teammate to speak first,

bring an extra bag for beach trash.

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If you want to track this week's

practice, stick a note on your phone.

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NQC: Notice question.

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Choose.

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At the end of each day, just one sentence.

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What was today's moment?

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What was my choice?

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What was the outcome?

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And if you're journaling with

me, here are three prompts.

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Take a minute each.

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Fast, honest, no polishing.

385

:

Prompt one: Where did I practice

compassion and boundaries this week?

386

:

Name the moment.

387

:

What care did you offer?

388

:

What line did you hold?

389

:

What changed because you chose both.

390

:

Prompt two: When did I update

a belief and what nudged me?

391

:

Write the before and after.

392

:

Was it a fact, a

conversation, a consequence?

393

:

What made the update possible?

394

:

And prompt three: Who benefits

if I'm wrong and what does

395

:

integrity ask me to do next?

396

:

List the people affected.

397

:

Then one action: apologize,

correct or repair.

398

:

Pick one and schedule it.

399

:

If any of these sparked something,

I'd love to hear your stories.

400

:

Send a 30 to 60 second voice

note to me on any of our socials

401

:

@livegoodwalkgood or a quick text

about your strongest or messiest moment

402

:

when you chose care this week, how you

handled it, or how you wish you had.

403

:

Maybe you paused before forwarding

a rumor or you asked a consent

404

:

question at home or work.

405

:

Tell me what happened

and what you learned.

406

:

I'll share a few in upcoming

episodes' community segment.

407

:

Next week in episode 4, "Can

Morals Exist Without Religion?

408

:

The Evidence and the Everyday"

we'll dig deeper into this.

409

:

If not scripture or divine command,

where do our morals come from?

410

:

We look at the science, the philosophy,

and the lived reality of building

411

:

ethical frameworks grounded in

empathy, justice, and our shared

412

:

humanity lane by lane, home by home.

413

:

Humanism isn't anti-God, it's pro-human.

414

:

Thanks for walking with me today.

415

:

If this helped, share it with a friend

who's been asking these questions

416

:

too and send your voice note.

417

:

I'd love to feature you

in an upcoming episode.

418

:

No gods, no guilt, just

the work of being human.

419

:

Until next time, live good, walk good.

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