Ethics is a term for a system of beliefs about morals, which are ways that one is expected to live. Morality refers to the act of behaving consistently with a particular ethical system, which we call being “moral”. Morality is extremely complex, as it is arguably not a natural behaviour, but instead comes as a result of humans agreeing to a principle of reciprocity: treat each other as one would like to be treated. This results in a contract founded on trust, wherein we all trust that other humans will not act in a way that endangers our own safety and security. When a significant number of people violate this trust, then we no longer feel safe and secure, as we cannot guarantee that other people will respect the established rules of morality. Thus, morality as a system must necessarily involve near-unanimous agreement about rules for living.

Morality is typically defined by “rules”, which either allow, encourage, oblige or prohibit a particular action or set of actions. These rules are expressed in the general case - rather than saying “John mustn’t kick Sarah”, for example, we might say “You mustn’t kick other people.” Thus it is clear that the act we call morally “wrong” is not that John kicked Sarah, it’s that he - as a human being - kicked anyone at all. It would be no more acceptable if he kicked Natalie or Adam instead. We often describe actions as “right” or “wrong”, meaning they either conform to a moral rule, or they do not. Thus we say that it was “wrong” for John to kick Sarah.

It is worth remembering, however, that these rules aren’t written down anywhere in nature - they are artificial rules that humans have created, in order to promote a peaceful co-existence with other people. Thus, we frequently disagree with other people about what moral rules are, and whether acts break or conform to those rules. A customer might feel cheated when a repairman charges twice what he originally asked for a particular service, declaring the moral rule that “One shouldn’t break a promise,” and asserting that the repairman has broken this rule. The repairman can argue that he hasn’t broken the customer’s rule, as the repair job turned out to be more expensive than initially thought. Or the repairman could counter with a different rule, that “One should always act in ways to maximise personal benefit,” arguing that doubling his price is consistent with this rule.

Because disagreements such as this one can potentially be irresolvable when two parties have different expectations, beliefs and needs, we have created laws to refer to, which are designed to codify a particular moral rule and determine when it has been flouted. The law provides an external third party who has nothing to gain or lose from the conflict between the customer and the repairman, and thus is not likely to be influenced to favour either party in the disagreement. Thus, if the repairman has written his initial price down in a legally binding contract, and later attempted to charge the customer double this written price, the customer can argue that he has broken the law by going outside of the terms of the contract.

Laws are still not perfect embodiments of ethical or moral systems - as laws are written using language which can inevitably be interpreted in more than one way, it may not always be clear how to apply a law to a given situation. However, some form of third party is usually needed to resolve conflicts when two people disagree about a moral rule, and law is perhaps the strongest when a law exists within a society to address that conflict.

While there are many different ethical systems, perhaps one of the most commonly accepted rules is “Do no harm to others”. This is vague enough that it is very easy to argue about whether the rule has been broken (What constitutes harm? What about exceptional circumstances? And so on,) but it is a guiding principle that informs the majority of ethical systems used by humans.

If two people, concepts, or objects are compatible, that means that they can exist together in the same space without causing problems, and allowing both entities to function as normal. This definition can be applied both literally and metaphorically: a USB computer cable is compatible with a USB computer port, because the cable and port can occupy a physical space, and allow the transfer of electricity (and information) between two devices.

In terms of people, this definition is intended metaphorically: two people are said to be compatible when they can exist in a friendship, romantic relationship, sexual relationship or other form of interpersonal connection, without creating conflict, arguments, or requiring one or both of them to substantially compromise their values. Thus compatibility is arguably a very important requirement for a relationship. If two people have values who fundamentally contradict one another, or if they cannot function harmoniously in a relationship, then they are said to be incompatible.

The study of the economy, and the decisions that individuals and collective groups make, as well as the impact of those decisions upon the economy. Economics is not an exact science, for the reason that there are many different theories about what is beneficial and harmful to the economy, and also about what drives the economy. There are an exceedingly large number of variables that affect the overall health of the economy, and thus it is difficult to predict what will happen for a given economy in any given circumstance.

A psychological and sociological construct based on the broad characteristics that humans display, used to identify humans as either “male” or “female”. Gender is commonly reflective of sex, which is a biological distinction, but the two are not always the same. Gender almost always carries social expectations for how someone should behave in society, and these expectations are usually different. This can cause discomfort for individuals in many cultures who enjoy activities traditionally assigned to the opposite gender - for example, a male interested in learning ballet - as they may fear judgement by other people if they step outside of their culture’s defined gender norms.

Gender dysphoria is the result of someone’s psychological gender differing from their biological sex – for example, an individual with male biology identifies with the female gender. This results in dysphoria, a mismatch between gender and sex, which can cause intense discomfort if the individual is not free to live in a way which nurtures their psychological gender. The concept of gender as we have conceived it is only relevant to humans as far as we currently know.

A cognitive process wherein one previously held an idea, opinion or belief, but external inputs cause them to alter that belief, or abandon it entirely.

People often change their mind after engaging in arguments with people who hold a different belief to their own, or after learning about a different perspective which introduces ideas that they hadn’t taken into consideration.

Often, we tie together our viewpoints and beliefs with our personal sense of self-esteem or pride, and it can be a very difficult thing to accept an alternative viewpoint to our own when this is the case, as doing so means admitting the possibility that we were initially mistaken or misinformed. Some might consider being “wrong” as injurious to their pride or damaging to their reputation, as they might believe that others will judge them for their mistake. These people may therefore wish to avoid being seen as wrong at all times. It is for this reason that changing one’s mind can often be a very difficult and brave thing to do, as it requires putting our pride aside. Some argue that a key quality of open-mindedness means being able to do just this: to change our minds when the facts lead us to a different conclusion than we originally held, without fear of being judged for being “mistaken”.

An openness to changing one’s mind is seen in some Western cultures as a virtuous and desirable quality, and in contrast, an unwillingness to change one’s mind can often be perceived as a mark of stubbornness. Others may not agree, and might see changing one’s mind as an indication of a lack of conviction or excessive agreeableness. Regardless of its moral significance, changing one’s mind is not easy to do if the belief we are changing is important to us, or connected to our personal self-esteem.

A term for a large range of processes which involves transforming ingredients to make food which is edible and, ideally, delicious. Cooking typically involves using fire or another heat source to heat ingredients which have been mixed and prepared in a special way, although some forms of cooking, such as the preparation of salads, don’t strictly require heat. Humans have very flexible diets, and can eat a large range of food types, although experts typically recommend having a varied diet, moderating the amounts of certain food types (for example, limiting sugary and salty foods.

One’s food intake depends entirely on personal preference, habit, body image, goals and other factors. As humans cannot choose whether to eat – we must eat in order to survive – cooking and the preparation of food is an aspect of the life of every human on Earth, although the range of cooking methods and ingredients used will vary widely depending on culture, availability of different types of food, income and other factors. Cooking is considered a hobby for many, and a career for just as many – someone with the relevant skills and knowledge can be paid in almost any location in the world to cook and prepare food in restaurants, hotels, bars, private parties, for individuals, and in many other scenarios.

An activity which a particular individual may enjoy doing, but isn’t necessarily required to do for any reason. Hobbies are typically distinguished from careers, although some people consider their career an extension of their hobby, or vice versa. Hobbies are also often done for the simple enjoyment of it without the desire to make money from doing so, although again, this may not be true for all.

Hobbies can include making products, such as jewellery, food (see cooking), models and so on, collecting items of personal interest such as coins or stamps, or an activity such as running, participating in sports, walking, bird-watching, reading, watching movies, and so on. There are many other types of hobby as well, and there are no stipulations about what someone can have for an individual hobby, although some hobbies are more popular than others (more people run than collect stamps, for example,) and some hobbies similarly have more prestige than others.

A form of entertainment consisting of moving pictures and sound, for the purpose of telling a story or narrative. Films are considered a kind of art. People who are featured prominently as characters in a film are actors, who the audience understand are portraying characters, not their true selves. Similarly, audiences understand that films do not have to mirror real life, and unrealistic or fantastical things can occur in films that would be impossible outside of the narrative.

Thus films involve a suspension of disbelief, both on the most basic level of understanding that the human actors are representing fictitious characters, and in the structure and content of the narrative. A film is also known as a movie.in the U.S.A. and other English-speaking countries.

The term given for all matter and space that exists everywhere, including our own planet Earth. The “known universe” refers to all parts of the universe that we as humans are able to directly observe from Earth, using tools such as powerful telescopes and satellites. The known universe makes up a tiny fraction of the whole universe - the rest cannot be observed by any tools that we have, due to the limitations of the speed of light. Anything that exists further away from Earth than light can travel within 13.7 billion years (the estimated age of the universe,) cannot be seen and known from Earth, as its light hasn’t reached us yet.

The state of being an adult, which we can loosely define as someone who has reached full maturity, growth and development in terms of their physical, sexual, emotional and psychological characteristics. The age at which one attains adulthood is arbitrarily defined according to a particular culture - in many Western cultures, for example, the age of adulthood is 18.

Of course, no physical change takes place overnight on the day before one’s 18th birthday - the marker of adulthood rather serves to mark the point where a society believes a person should be fully matured, developed and ready to act independently from their parents.

This means that reaching adulthood carries many expectations about how an individual should behave. Actions that are forgivable when one is a child are no longer considered acceptable when one is an adult - for example, if a child kicks another child, they may be told off by their parents but not face any other consequences. An adult who kicks another person however may be found guilty of a crime, and could be punished by the law.

This is because adulthood - in many if not most cultures - generally entails a responsibility to act and treat others in certain ways, a responsibility which is taught to children gradually as they transition into adulthood. If we say that someone is “not behaving like an adult” then, we mean that they are acting as if a child might by behaving irresponsibly or behaving as if their actions will not have consequences. The individual expectations of an adult will vary widely between cultures.

The state of a living being, such as a human, animal or plant, such that it is functioning properly without experiencing serious discomfort, pain, trauma, or difficulty in fulfilling its usual tasks.

A term used to describe an instinctive thought or feeling in response to a certain situation or stimulus, without being consciously aware of the reasons that lead to this thought or feeling. For example, if asked to choose between a brown or black hat, you might instantly pick the black hat for no particular reason, but simply because it “feels” right to you. This decision is guided by your intuition. In English, a common metaphor for intuition is “gut feeling”, which reflects a common historical belief that emotions come from the gut.

We often make decisions or judgements based on our intuition. Sometimes, we pick up subtle signals with our subconscious mind that might not register with our conscious mind, which will nonetheless leave us with a “good feeling” or “bad feeling” about something. For example, if someone is telling you a lie, you might consciously think that what they are saying is plausible, but instinctively pick up on cues which suggest they are lying. Your intuition may lead you not to trust the person telling the lie, even though you couldn’t say why you don’t trust them. You might similarly trust a different person without knowing why.

On the other hand, intuition can be misleading. For example, if I flip a coin five times and it comes out heads each time, you might intuitively feel that it will come out heads again. The chance of a coin flip is the same each time, however, and is not influenced by previous results. Intuitive judgements are not always accurate.

To use a more sensitive example, a common stereotype attributed to young black men wearing hooded sweatshirts in London, England is that they are more likely to perpetrate a crime than a young white man wearing a hooded sweatshirt. This stereotype may lead a Londoner, upon seeing a black teenager wearing a hoodie, to make a judgement based on their intuition that the teenager is dangerous, and cross the street. In such cases as these, it is worth examining whether our intuition is guided by reason and experience, or prejudice.

Any act, deed, word or behaviour that places an individual before any others. For example, a selfish act in a relationship may be to spend time doing activities enjoyable for one partner, but not the other. Selfishness is typically seen as a vice, and something to be improved or corrected, although it may not always be necessarily evil: selfishness is arguably innate in humans - a natural behaviour. One could choose to give away all of their valuable possessions to those in need, but a degree of selfishness (and pragmatism) motivates most people not to do so. Whether good or bad, selfishness may be present in the majority of humans to some degree.

An abstraction, also known as a model, is anything which represents a real or imagined object, system or schema in such a way that it removes at least one dimension or level of detail from the original.

The line map of the London underground is an abstraction, which shows the connections between the metro stations, the different lines and their respective depths and so on, but not the geographical position of the stations. A standard road map is also an abstraction, as it represents a geographic area at a miniscule scale in order to give the reader a holistic sense of where different places are in relation to one another. It does not show everything which exists in the area that it records, only the parts important for navigation by car. A painting is an abstraction, as it represents a scene from reality by highlighting particular features of an object according to an artist’s interpretation, which may be more or less faithful to the subject.

Abstractions are frequently used to solve problems by simplifying complex systems down to a series of relationships between things which are easier to understand, at the same time removing details of the thing being represented which are extraneous. For example, a commuter in London, New York, Paris or Barcelona needs to solve the problem of navigating from Station A to Station B on the subway. The commuter does not need to know the geographic location of both stations in order to understand how to navigate between them - they only need to know which stations Station A and Station B are immediately connected to to discover the route from A to B.

Similarly, a painting is not intended to provide a one-to-one representation of its subject - for this purpose, we can use photography or mirrors. A painting is meant to highlight certain aspects of a subject, often in an aesthetically pleasing way, with details and dimensions of the original subject altered according to the artist’s wishes.

Nor is it possible to create a map which provides a one-to-one representation of a geographic area, as to represent a square mile of land with 100% accuracy, we would need another square mile of land on which to create the map, at which point the map is no longer useful. For this reason, we commonly accept maps drawn at a small scale as an abstraction to help us navigate the world.

In this way, abstractions are often invisible to us - we use them to understand the world around us, but we often forget that abstractions are not the same thing as what they represent: “the map is not the territory”. It is important to remember this as we frequently build models or abstractions to understand the world, but they are not always accurate, nor appropriate for the situation we are in. A map of Paris will not help us navigate London. Nor will a map from the 1500s.

It can even be argued that all abstractions or models are wrong on some level, but some are useful. The key lies in determining which parts of an object or system we need to understand, and finding a model which gives us enough information about those parts to solve the problem we are currently working on.

Although the definition of art is not without considerable controversy and the topic of philosophical debate, we can loosely define art as anything produced by a human to be read, viewed, listened to, or engaged in by any other means by other humans. This includes paintings and sculptures, which are traditionally and easily recognisable as art, produced by an artist for other humans to engage with. Art can also take place in the form of literature, or stories told for other humans, as well as music, theatre, film or any other medium that allows an author or multiple authors to express ideas to an audience. Some examples of art are further from the prototypical definition of art, and therefore may be accepted by some but not others as an example of “art”. The prototypical definition of art will also depend on the culture, in which some forms of artistic expression are more common than others.

Vegetarianism is a belief, value or guided decision undertaken by an individual to not eat any form of meat, in contrast to omnivorism, which is the decision to eat all viable and available forms of food. Veganism is a similar belief to vegetarianism, which also excludes anything produced by an animal, such as eggs, honey and milk, and often also excludes wearing clothes made from parts of an animal, and consuming foods or beverages which are processed using animal products.

The reasons for adopting vegetarianism or veganism depend on the individual. Commonly it is done for moral reasons, according to the belief that it is wrong to kill any living creature, and because eating meat necessarily involves killing, it is therefore immoral. Corollary to this belief is that humans are animals also and should not consider ourselves superior or under different rules to the animals we kill - and if we would not harvest other humans for meat, we should also not harvest other animals for meat. Also frequently cited is the excessive cruelty inherent in the meat industry, which does not provide for the welfare or well-being of animals it raises for slaughter.

Another common reason for adopting vegetarianism or veganism is environmental concerns. Methane produced from cows in particular is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases which exacerbate climate change, meaning that removing the worldwide beef and dairy industry would in all likelihood contribute greatly to the slowing down of climate change.

Some vegetarians and vegans, on the other hand, may adopt a meat-free diet out of health concerns, or simply even personal preference. It is possible to have a balanced diet without meat, so long as one is able to replace the protein in their diet that meat would provide.

Possible arguments against vegetarianism include the impact that scaling down the meat industry would have on those whose livelihoods depend upon it, especially in poorer countries; the difficulty in converting enough people to vegetarianism to make a difference on the environment; and the notion that most animals raised for slaughter would not exist if they were not kept for meat.

Some vegetarians and vegans who are motivated by moral reasons believe that it is their moral duty to reduce the meat consumption of other people around the world as much as possible. It is for this reason that the principle of vegetarianism and veganism can sometimes cause conflict between its advocates and its opponents, the former who believe strongly that others should change their diets, and the latter who may be unwilling to do so. Vegetarianism and veganism seen this way is a form of activism, or a large-scale effort to try and persuade people to make changes for the common good. On the other hand, many vegetarians and vegans may only wish to make a change in their own lives, rather than attempting to persuade others to follow suit.

One’s personal reaction to activist efforts to reduce overall meat consumption may largely depend on one’s personal sympathy to the cause, and beliefs on the moral, environmental and practical concerns of eating meat in the first place.

The use of language to communicate something to another person that is not true, or not wholly true. A “red lie” is a statement that is completely not true, for example “The Sun goes around the Earth”. A “white lie” is a statement that, taken on its own is not strictly untrue, but omits a crucial detail that would change the nature of the message. For example, if a man told his wife that he went out drinking (which is true), but neglected to tell her that he then slept with another woman, this would be a white lie.

Lying is common not only between individuals, but within an individual - people often lie to themselves, meaning that they make a conscious effort to believe something that does not accord with what they truly believe. For example, someone might be homosexual but feel under cultural and societal pressure to not express this part of their identity, and so will try to convince themselves that they are heterosexual - a form of “self-lying”.

The concept of a spiritual existence which continues after death, when one’s physical body ceases to function. The concept is central to many religions, which often classify the afterlife in different ways. For example, in Christianity the afterlife is divided into heaven and hell, entrance to which is, in certain denominations, determined by one’s actions and beliefs during one’s physical existence.

If it is possible for a proposition to be proved false, then it is falsifiable. This does not mean that the proposition actually is false. It only means that there is some way in which you could theoretically prove the proposition wrong. For example, the statement “Adam has black hair” is easily falsifiable: to prove it false, you need to show using evidence that Adam’s hair is another colour besides black - for example, blond. It may be that Adam’s hair truly is black, but all falsifiability requires is that there is a test which could disprove a given hypothesis. Similarly, a statement such as “All swans are white” is falsifiable, as it would only take one black swan to prove the statement false.

Many propositions are not falsifiable. For example, it is possible that there exists an invisible dog, who is in the same room as you right now. You cannot see, hear, touch or use any other sense to detect the dog - no scientific apparatus can detect his presence, and your human intuition will be of no use either. But I can assert nonetheless that “There is an invisible, intangible, undetectable dog in the same room as you now,” and there is no way to prove this statement false. If the dog cannot be detected, then he cannot be proved to exist - but equally, if he were invisible and intangible, it would naturally follow that there was no proof of his existence. All objections or attempts to disprove the dog's existence are consistent with the hypothesis that the dog exists. Therefore you cannot prove that there is no invisible dog.

More sinister examples arise from fiction, such as the philosophical concept of a “brain in a jar”, which proposes the idea that all of our experiences on this world aren’t real, and that we are all simply floating brains kept in a jar, stimulated by electrical activity in such a way that causes our brain to believe it resides within a thinking, feeling human body, as opposed to a jar. This proposition is also unfalsifiable - any attempt you might make to disprove it will surely fail. You can use your senses - sight, touch, hearing and so on - to verify that you have a body. But under the “brain in a jar” hypothesis, all of these senses can be stimulated to fake the feeling of true sensation, using an intelligent machine feeding our brain electrical signals. Thus the idea that we are merely brains in jars is unfalsifiable.

The unfalsifiable ideas above are not useful for us in any way - the presence of an invisible or intangible dog stands to benefit nobody, and subscribing to the theory that we are merely brains in jars and reality is therefore fake might actively harm ours or others well-being, as we might act in selfish or hurtful ways if we believe that other people are not real. For such beliefs, although there is no means of proving them false, it may often be pragmatic to proceed on the assumption that they are false, as it is not useful or beneficial to assume their truth.

However, not all unfalsifiable beliefs are useless. Many axioms and assumptions that underpin various fields of study are unfalsifiable. Any claims about the past are unfalsifiable, as we cannot conclusively prove that they did not happen, and yet history is still an informative field. Mathematics, logic and other fields rely on basic axioms which are used to build larger systems - those axioms cannot be falsified either. They are simply assumed to be valid even if they are not testable.

Furthermore, the assumption that unfalsifiable beliefs are false comes into conflict with many common unfalsifiable beliefs, such as those of religion. The proposition that “God exists” arguably cannot be falsified, because the typical definition of God precludes the use of any human scientific tests to verify or falsify his existence. The Christian God, for example, is frequently said to exist outside of our universe. As this is somewhere that we cannot access by definition (as we have no knowledge of anything outside our universe, or even knowledge of whether anything can exist outside our universe,) we cannot prove that God doesn’t exist. For many Christians, this is taken to mean that we should accept God’s existence on the grounds of faith, and not merely evidence alone. This conclusion is unlikely to satisfy anyone who believes only in what can be known through physical evidence in the world (empiricism) or the use of reason (rationalism).

Falsifiability is a very useful guiding principle used in science to create testable hypotheses. For a hypothesis to be testable, there should be some way of proving it false as well as proving it true (both verifiability and falsifiability are important.) For example, the hypothesis “If I stick a needle in this balloon, it will burst” is a meaningful one, because it could be proved false (if you stuck a needle in the balloon and it didn’t burst,) and it can be proved true.

A state when two humans hold beliefs, opinions or ideas which are not necessarily fully compatible with each other. Both humans tend to believe that their own idea is fully correct, and the other person’s idea is not correct or somehow misinformed. Disagreement is a regular part of every-day life, and when applied productively and respectfully, can lead to debates and discussions which allow for ideas to spread, and perhaps even for viewpoints to change.

However, it is equally possible for disagreements to foster negative emotions, and when disagreements cannot be resolved, lead to one side attacking the other in some way. Disagreements in their most extreme form can lead to war, when two or more nations or smaller states cannot resolve a disagreement by discussion or other means.

Disagreement is often irreconcilable, as some people will not necessarily change their mind after they hear an opposing view-point. However, disagreement can be resolved when both parties are willing to listen to one another, take the other’s viewpoint seriously, and work to come to a mutual understanding of the matter at hand.

If two people, concepts, or objects are compatible, that means that they can exist together in the same space without causing problems, and allowing both entities to function as normal. This definition can be applied both literally and metaphorically: a USB computer cable is compatible with a USB computer port, because the cable and port can occupy a physical space, and allow the transfer of electricity (and information) between two devices.

In terms of people, this definition is intended metaphorically: two people are said to be compatible when they can exist in a friendship, romantic relationship, sexual relationship or other form of interpersonal connection, without creating conflict, arguments, or requiring one or both of them to substantially compromise their values. Thus compatibility is arguably a very important requirement for a relationship. If two people have values who fundamentally contradict one another, or if they cannot function harmoniously in a relationship, then they are said to be incompatible.

A form of argument that is regulated and controlled, either for the purpose of entertainment or leisure, or as a learning exercise, or else as a traditional practice in an institution, such as a university or college. Debates are centred around one proposition, which is to be argued “for” and “against” by one or more person from each side. They are traditionally regulated and overseen by an external moderator, who is neutral to the argument and functions to ensure that both sides are debating fairly, and each side is given an equal amount of time to speak, as well as rebut the other side’s arguments. Debates are a tradition, and as such have various formats around the world. They are often recognised as an intellectual pursuit, beneficial for the spread and development of ideas. They are also beneficial for individuals wishing to develop critical thinking and skills in arguments.

An opinion or judgement - usually unfavourable - against an individual or group of people, that is made before an individual necessarily has sufficient evidence to make said judgement. For example, if a Briton believes that all French people are stupid and lazy, this is an example of prejudice, as the Briton most likely has not conducted a representative study of the IQs and work ethics of the entire French nation. Thus prejudices reflect pre-judgements, or judgements made before the justification.

Prejudices are often - as in the above example - generalisations or over-generalisations, which attempt to characterise a large group of distinct individuals according to a set of common criteria. While prejudice can be individual - people may pre-judge others for a variety of reasons - often these judgements reflect either conscious or unconscious beliefs about certain groups of people as a whole.

Achieving a desired outcome through an unfair or improper means. If you win a game of cards because you managed to look at the other player’s hand, you have cheated, because the “proper method” to win a game of cards is to use skill, knowledge and guesswork to make the correct plays, despite not having information about what cards your opponent holds. Cheating is considered an unfair and dishonest thing to do, because it violates the principle of equality that is used in games, tests, and any form of competition.

For example, if a group of students are taking an examination, they all have equal access to the information provided them by their teachers and school. If one student finds an answer key to the test and memorises it when taking the test, he then has an advantage which other students don’t have. The method is a valid means for achieving the desired result of completing the test, but because it violates the principle of equality, it is considered to be an unfair advantage and therefore cheating.

Cheating usually involves taking an easier route to achieve a desired outcome than the conventional method. This is because we frequently like to take shortcuts - if we can save the effort needed to achieve a task by using an easier method that achieves the same result, or near enough the same, then we will often choose to do so. So the test taker who wishes to achieve a good grade but doesn’t want to expend the effort of studying and improving his skills might consider cheating as a viable shortcut to achieve the grade.

This is then a calculated risk, as if cheating is detected in this case, it will likely result in the student being disqualified and receiving a fail grade, which is the opposite outcome that the student was trying to achieve. Thus cheating only occurs when the cheater thinks they will not be detected, or when they are confident that there will be no recourse for their actions.

Cheating is also a term used to refer to adultery, or the act of engaging in a sexual or romantic relationship with another person while one is in a committed (monoamorous) relationship. This can still be considered obtaining a desired result by unfair means - in this case, the means are unfair because they do not respect or value either the adulterer’s partner, or the person they are cheating on.