ABSTRACT
The human brain cannot process all the sensory input that constantly comes its way. Naturally, vivid factors will have more impact on the brain than bland factors, tangible factors more than abstract factors, physically close factors more than distant factors, and contemporaneous factors more than factors far off in the future. Often, this leads us to inappropriately weigh the impact of our moral decisions on those we cannot see and to discount future consequences. Sometimes we will cut ethical corners to stave off immediate negative consequences (for example, to save the jobs of coworkers whom we see every day) at the expense of future unidentified (and possibly unidentifiable) bystanders who may be injured or wronged by the corner-cutting.
