As part of our ethics course in med-tech school, we learned about “sink testing”. In short, it’s when a technologist dumps the samples down the drain and makes up the results. At the time it was comical to everyone in the class. But the real question was not whether we would do such a thing, it’s what would we do if we saw a highly regarded scientist “sink test” a batch of samples?
“Sink Tests” can happen in any profession. The scientific community has not cornered the market on falsehood, greed, or lying. What will you do when you see it happen? Tell the authorities? Confront the person? Turn a blind eye?
Peer pressure, group think, and herd mentality help us to make all sorts of bad decisions. The key is to make the decision before you are faced with the choice. Train your mind and build your character; so in the heat of the moment, you already know what to do.
Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith?
2 Chronicles 18:20 KJV