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Acting with honor. That was a primary motivation for the Star Trek character named Worf. He appeared in more episodes of the Star Trek television series than any other character. If you know Star Trek lore then you know Worf lived by a code of honor. He evaluated his actions based on this code. In one episode, he is uncomfortable being promoted due to the death of a comrade because he felt it was not honorable.
This reminds me of an honor system or trust system. An honor system trusts people to act with honor and integrity. For example, in some rural areas, people will place fresh produce by the road with a sign advertising a small price for a portion the produce. A box or jar is present where people place the money as they choose their fruit or vegetables. The owner of the stand is not present. They do not watch the box of money. They trust others to act honestly, and, often in these communities, they do. Because, like the fictional Worf, people in these communities have a strong internal motivation to act honorably.
If we are going to think about “whatever is honorable” then we must do two things. First, trust those who are honorable. That’s actually pretty easy to do. What is harder is the second thing: let’s make decisions and take actions that are highly honest and ethical. We must be honorable.
Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.