B.W., thank you so much for tagging perhaps the most important aspect of my “social nature” argument, which I somehow managed to leave implicit in my words. Absolutely, the possible consequences of a choice quite frequently keeps behavior in check—and exactly for the reasons you stated. We want to think well of ourselves; we want (at least a few) others to think well of us; and knowing that “what comes around, goes around”, we prefer the loop to be positive in tone.

I do maintain that we are free to do whatever we want. (I’m pretty sure at least one other Family member has stated the same thing, but I was unable to find the quote yesterday.) However, the possible consequences of some of the choices open to us are so repellant that they are almost never even considered, much less acted upon. And I think that is partly why we regard them as so heinous when they do occur.