We grow up in three ways: physically, mentally and EmoMorally. This last stage is a combination of emotions and morals that we have traditionally processed as two different aspects of our makeup. Keeping them separated has led us to behave as though emotional maturity is a form of self discipline needed to handle life’s vicissitudes while moral maturity is a largely judgmental view of both ourselves and other people.
The separation creates regionally rigid emotional codes and inflexible moral standards. Both of these are more attested by lip service than in practice. So we find that grand statements of intention often herald shabby behaviour. This was handleable as long as we were different people living apart in not very communicative countries. That is no longer the case. A world as socially connected as ours can never live in harmony unless these divides find some form of practical acceptance that beats fighting wars to establish who is the mightiest.
Emotions and morals are not two different elements of our lives. Combined, they are what make humans different from other creatures. Individually they present us with a forked road which obliges us to choose one route or the other. Together they can define the basis of our future existence and therefore of what our education must achieve.
EmoMorality is somewhat an earthly god without the attendant divinity. It is a personal human model, aspirational but realistic. The perfections humans have sought for their models are both unattainable and undesirable. Our cleverness is inescapably part cunning. Our craving for a liveable world is pictured as a perfection that some history has demonstrated is unrealistic. An EmoMoral world reaches for the best within what it accepts is practical.
So we must now learn “EmoMoral Maturity”. This combines the elements of both morality and emotional maturity. It includes: Self-awareness, Honesty, Kindness, Empathy, Resilience, Integrity, Respect and Patience. None of these are new. A combination of them pitched at a realistic, not a perfectionist, level is a code we have not yet tried.
A compromise of both morality and emotional maturity has not proved unattainable for the world. On the contrary, when combined they have clearly assisted our development. So much so that we now teach compromise as a skill called Mediation. To make it workable it must be policeable. At present our policing of both emotions and morals is poor. That is because the definitions of each are very different from one society to another. We need them to be more universally agreed and we shall only achieve this when we teach them.
A worldwide universal definition may seem a pipedream in the present melee of vexed ideologies. If the need for it can be seen as urgent, as it undoubtedly is, the will to achieve it is perfectly possible.
Humanity can develop Artificial Intelligence.
We can certainly develop a culture of EmoMorality.
But we must first accept it as our strategy.
Good morning
John Bittleston
Delighted to hear your views at [email protected].
This is a suggested strategy. I acknowledge that the tactics will require more than a single page.
11 September 2025
