Why be good?

[dyresand]

Good question.  Why not just be authentic and trust that your essential nature will allow you to find your way?  "Being good" has the feel of evaluating experience according to preset, external criteria and then doing your best to act accordingly. 

Hmmm.

Are you suggesting that your "essential nature" has been hardwired with a set of criteria for knowing right from wrong? Is this an internal thing at work in you? Would you call it "conscience"?

And if it feels good to behave according to preset, external criteria, how does that relate with the internal thing or conscience just mentioned?

Everyone and everything that is conscious is hardwired with empathy and a social empathy. We have empathy for our own good people who lack it well tend
not to be part of the social construct. But we are at some level empathetic to those around us enough or well since this is the internet we plainly do not give a fuck
about the person in general on the other end unless we have a social bonding with said person.