Being good because it’s good for business

I have my google reader sucking down blog posts from all over the place. It’s got to be one of the most eclectic collections of mathematical, programming, web design, spiritual, and other random blogs out there.

Anyway, I like the writing style of a guy named Paul Graham. Paul apparently used to actually write about programming, but now he mostly writes about his startup-consulting firm called Y-Combinator. He wrote this very fascinating article this week: See it here

Essentially, the article argues that “being good” “works”. That is, by trying to do what will help the most people, your business will profit. He gives a number of interesting arguments to back this up. Maybe the most interesting is that “being good” and “doing what’s right” act as a compass, guiding you through what would otherwise be murky decisions.

I’m not sure I even want to comment on this a whole lot, except maybe to ask some questions, that this has been raising in my brain:

• Does this principle match up with Scripture?
• If so, why is it still sometimes hard to determine what is right?
• Also if so, why aren’t Christians the most decisive and least confused people you ever meet? After all, don’t we have the ultimate Moral Compass?
• Is it wrong, as believers, to think like this?

I have some thoughts on this, but I’d love to hear some other viewpoints, or even other blog entries (hint, hint)!