When we think of good, it usually means something like “pleasant” or “acceptable,” but the word’s meaning can be quite a bit wider than that. Good is not just an adjective; it can also be a metaethical category, a way of evaluating actions and their consequences that is central to both ethics and morality. A good could mean the benefit to others that charity brings, for example, and it might be judged by an ethical framework such as utilitarianism or moral realism.

The first few sentences of an article are crucial in drawing in readers and establishing the reader’s interest in your subject. To do this, the writer needs to show that the piece is well worth their time by making it clear why reading it will be beneficial to them.

A good way to do this is to begin with a surprising fact or statistic, a startling insight, or a humorous anecdote that will capture the reader’s attention. Another great tactic is to ask a question that is open to interpretation, such as a question about an interesting phenomenon that has been observed in your field of study or in general life. This will give the reader a reason to keep reading to find out the answer.

In a business context, a company’s good-to-great transition is often heralded by brutally honest discussions with hard facts. A good-to-great CEO might begin by asking, “Why have we sucked for 100 years?” Such an approach may sound cruel, but it’s the kind of intense debate that helps a company to sharpen its focus and lock onto a Hedgehog Concept.

When it comes to a person’s own behavior, we’re all governed by different ideas about what is good or bad. These ideas come from our cultural and familial upbringing, our values and beliefs, as well as our societal context.

It is easy to fall into the trap of seeing good and evil as implicit characteristics of people, which then bleeds over into our impressions of other people. For example, religious people are more likely to see other people as being evil, which inevitably influences how they view the world. This can have practical consequences, such as when someone is labeled as an ‘evil’ group by the government; this gives policymakers a blank cheque to respond with force, which has a very high cost to society in terms of human rights.

The good and the bad are all actions, and the best ones are those that benefit as many people as possible. By redefining what is good, we can better understand our own behaviors and the behaviors of those around us. This will help us make better decisions and create a more just world.