What are your definitions of the concepts of "fairness" and of "decency"?

[msc545]

This is what ChatGPT thinks - what do you think?

"Fairness
Fairness refers to the impartial and just treatment of individuals according to consistent principles, free from bias, favoritism, or discrimination. It includes:

Equity: Recognizing and addressing differences in circumstance to ensure everyone has a genuine opportunity to succeed.
Impartiality: Applying rules and standards without favoritism or prejudice.
Consistency: Making decisions in similar situations using the same standards.
Justice: Aligning actions with moral and legal principles that promote equal rights and opportunities.
Fairness is context-sensitive: what’s fair in one situation (e. g., equal shares) might be unfair in another (e. g., where needs differ).

Decency
Decency is the quality of being respectful, considerate, and morally appropriate in one's behavior toward others. It includes:

Courtesy: Treating people with politeness and regard.
Compassion: Showing empathy and care, especially to those who are vulnerable.
Integrity: Acting according to moral principles even when it's inconvenient.
Respect for dignity: Acknowledging the worth of every individual, regardless of status or behavior.
Decency often reflects cultural norms, but at its core it’s about maintaining a baseline of humane conduct and avoiding cruelty, rudeness, or exploitation."

[purplepoppy]

Decency goes beyond any legal requirement. If I'm trying to get out of a junction in heavy traffic I know the drivers on the main road have no legal obligation to let me out but I know common decency dictates one soon will. I have a perfect legal right to walk around naked but out of respect for other people's feelings i do the decent thing and keep covered. Decency is about not being a twat just because you can.

Fairness is an interesting one, If you read a fairlytale to a young child they're not bothered about monsters eating people or people being killed. What really upsets them is when someone isn't treated fairly. We're born with a sense that things should be fair.

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

Born with a sense that things should be fair... But how can you remove upbringing's consequences from a kid's life to come to this conclusion?

[purplepoppy]

It's been shown experimentally

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

I'm all ears

[katiesmuff]

I think ChatGPT whatever it is has it defined exactly right and shame it pretty much doesn't exist any longer in the US and many other countries.

[exitseven]

Equity is a made up term. How does the system determine who is "disadvantaged" and what criteria is used to determine how much extra help somebody gets. ? It is arbitrary depending on the agenda of the people that are in charge.
It is interesting that ChatGPT left Equality off the list altogether. It makes me suspicious of the whole AI concept.

[msc545]

I didn't ask about equality. Here:

"Equality is the state or condition of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. It means that individuals or groups are treated fairly and impartially, without discrimination, and have the same legal, social, and political rights.

Depending on context, "equality" can have more specific meanings:

Legal Equality: Everyone is subject to the same laws and has the same legal protections.

Social Equality: All individuals have equal standing in society, free from discrimination based on race, gender, class, etc.

Economic Equality: Fair distribution of wealth, income, and access to resources and opportunities."

[exitseven]

@msc545 You asked about fairness. Treating everyone the same using the same criteria for everyone is a lot more "fair" than making up a set of rules to favor one group over another because they have been somehow slighted by society.
The rules are always made up of the people in charge and it is almost always to serve their own needs and not some way to make society better.

[msc545]

@exitseven No, because the same criteria cannot be fairly applied to everyone because of individual differences. A contemporary example of this is the controversy over allowing transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. Transgender women are really just males in terms of physiology, and it is grossly unfair to allow them to compete with women in athletics because of individual differences that give them a marked advantage, regardless of their actual athletic ability.

[exitseven]

@msc545 If we would use equity to fix the problem we would tie a ten pound weight to a male swimmer and make him drag it so the female swimmer could have a chance to win.. The problem is who decides how much weight to use?

Same with college entrance. They give extra points to certain demographics. Who decides what makes up a special, group. How many extra points do they get. The police exam is the same way.
Isn't the goal to get the best candidate so we can have the best police officers possible? What about getting into med school? Do we give one group special treatment and push them through the program while a more qualified candidate not get a shot at becoming a doctor. What could go wrong with that model?

Everybody takes the same test and the person with the best score gets the job.

[msc545]

I think fairness is equal opportunities, NOT equal outcomes. We need to do things to ensure equal opportunities to the extent that is possible. I concede that it is not always possible.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO

[NathanDavis]

Decency is the ability to adjust or align your perception on what acts of good conscience are... with the perceptions of others...

while Fairness is our ability to adjust or align our sense of favoritism and preference in contrast to that of others.. a balance of sorts, if you will

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

I have nothing to add to dictionaries, which means this collective effort in thinking deep, used by chatGPT lol. It all looks safe & sound to me.

[beefcakebradybatson]

Treating folk as you'd wish to be treated.

[DrPepper12]

Sound good to me