How Values Work, Essay Example

Introduction

Human beings possess highly individualistic personal values that drive their actions and behaviors throughout their lives. Humans value many different ideas, concepts, and other areas of importance, such as family, friends, careers, and self-worth, among others. When addressing the different types of values that exist, there is no right or wrong answer, as values are highly individualistic and representative of different people and their personal choices. As a result, it is difficult to evaluate or even criticize one’s values because of their originality and inherent meaning. It is necessary, therefore, to evaluate the concept of value and its various interpretations for human beings in order to demonstrate a higher level understanding of the meaning of values throughout the life span. It is imperative to recognize different values and how they influence human decision-making at all stages.

Analysis

There are many people who believe that all human beings should possess similar or exact values in order to make the world a better place in which to live. However, this is not necessarily the most realistic option for humanity to consider, given the stark and dramatic differences that humans experience that are vast and distinct from each other on many levels. Values represent vastly different approaches to humanity, decision-making, individuality, perception, action, and many other attributes. It is imperative to recognize, however, that humans must aim to support values that will have a lasting impact on improving humanity and in strengthening the level of commitment that exists within each person. Values are a challenging phenomenon because of their uniqueness; nonetheless, many human beings possess values that are similar or exact in nature and which translate into individual experiences and emotions. Values are distinct in that they support a variety of causes and different opportunities to engage human beings in many activities which are important to them and have significant meaning. As a result, it is important to recognize the significance of values and how they shape society in many ways and the human beings who are present.

Most importantly, values connect people from different walks of life and provide them with many different types of tools and resources to perform specific roles effectively. At the same time, these values shape not only individuals but different types of organizations and institutions that have an impact on change and on the development of new ideas to encourage individuals to improve their own lives and to improve society as a whole through their value-based actions. It is believed that the majority of human beings possess a strong sense of decency and self-awareness that propels their actions and promotes their personal growth. This is largely driven by personal values that have a lasting impact on decisions that are made and actions that are taken. Although there are a variety of values which humans find to be instrumental in their lives, there are some consistencies that must be considered as human beings and societies move forward in the future.

Values operate in the context of beliefs and perspectives that guide human beings throughout their lives, and there are a number of values that are consistent across human existence, such as the protection of all living things, respect for others, safety and security, individuality, success, and independence, among others (Common Cause). However, the nature of these values extends to other ideas that have a lasting impact on individuals and on societies throughout the world, thereby creating an environment in which human beings must embrace their chosen values to make positive decisions that will have a lasting impact on themselves and on others (Common Cause). However, the most important values are universal in nature and represent a large majority of societies and the general governance of their belief systems. These values represent the human condition in different ways, yet they aim to encourage human beings to exercise compassion and acceptance of all persons, whether similar or different from them. This enables human beings to better understand how their actions affect other people and how there might be opportunities to improve upon existing decisions to have a greater impact on others at all stages of life.

Personal values are often viewed as universal when they are shared among many different people; therefore, these values must be acted upon when decisions are made that influence individuals and other human beings. Human beings should exercise consistency in their beliefs in order to achieve the desired impact in exercising their values to their greatest possible potential (Daum). This is an important reminder that human beings must examine their inner strengths and weaknesses and adapt to support the values that will have a lasting influence throughout their lives (Daum). At the same time, one must examine his or her core values as different from the behaviors that are instinctive in nature and that are performed naturally without any real thought or consideration (Daum). Most importantly, there must be a balance achieved between these behaviors and the need to maximize core values effectively to impact other people (Daum).

In essence, human beings should value equality and the equitable treatment of all persons, patience, cooperation, communication, collaboration, and basic human decency at all times. These core values are representative of many people throughout the world and convey the importance of treating individuals with respect as much as possible. It is under these conditions that there are opportunities to achieve greater growth, satisfaction, and personal happiness that will endure throughout the life span. Human beings must be able to demonstrate their ability to exercise these values at all ages and to be cognizant of how their actions influence others in different ways so that they are able to contribute to society in a positive way. Their values must be consistent and in balance with the core values of other people in order to make a real difference throughout the life span. At the same time, these values must demonstrate a commitment to making the world a better place to promote happiness, greater contentment, and overall support for humanity on many levels.

Conclusion

All human beings possess important values and beliefs that guide their actions and decision-making. This process requires humans to support these values throughout their lives and to recognize that values represent their livelihood and their ability to improve their own lives and the lives of other people through the actions that they take. This process requires the support of specific values that govern humanity, such as equality, patience, and cooperation, all of which represent a means of encouraging humans to make positive decisions for themselves and for each other. In addition, humans must be able to recognize that their behaviors have a lasting impact on how their values are construed and how they represent themselves in the world. Therefore, human values drive behaviors and the general treatment of other human beings and must be addressed on a continuous basis so that they are able to be recognized and supported by others. This is a critical step in conveying the importance of values and how they impact behaviors and the basic decency of human beings as they experience life.

Works Cited

Common Cause. “2. How Values Work.” 4 January 2015: http://valuesandframes.org/handbook/2-how-values-work/

Daum, Kevin. “Define your personal core values: 5 steps.” Inc. 4 January 2015: http://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/define-your-personal-core-values-5-steps.html