In the fine tradition of CBS Journalism (motto: fake but accurate), I present the following fictional e-mail request.

Dear Knilram,

Could you please help me out with a question I’ve had on my mind? I think the friends I hang around with are influencing how I behave. Could that be? And, if possible, could you please try to illustrate your answer with a sign from an ice cream store?

Thanks,

Easily Influenced

Thank you for your fictional e-mail, Easily. I’ll do my best to help you. And coincidentally, I just so happen to have a picture for an ice cream store sign that I can use to illustrate my answer. It is strange how these things work out almost as if they were planned.

Yes, Easily, it is very possible for us to be influenced by our friends. If you spend time with friends who consistently behave badly, you will begin to pick up some (though possibly not all) of their bad behaviors. For example, if you hang out with people who do drugs, it is very likely (although not inevitable) that you eventually will try drugs with them. There is a very real danger of being corrupted by friends who are wild and misbehaved.

Conversely, if you are spending time with people who are well behaved, you will most likely conform to their standards and behave well yourself. It certainly is more likely that you will be corrupted by bad friends than it is for you to be reformed by good friends, but well behaved friends can influence your moral behavior in a good way.

As an illustration, personally I love my ice cream in a sugar cone. That is favorite type of cone. But I would never want to have pumpkin ice cream in a sugar cone. Never. Something is obviously wrong with that combination, and I refuse to even touch it. I would even prefer to not even think of that combination. Putting pumpkin ice cream in a sugar cone is trouble.

But look what we learn about the moral properties of pumpkin ice cream in a waffle cone from this local ice cream store sign.

Pair them up in the right combinations, and their moral character is improved. While I would refuse to even touch pumpkin ice cream in a sugar cone, we see from this sign that once placed in a waffle cone, pumpkin is declared to be morally upright and even good.

Easily, learn the importance of choosing your friends carefully from the waffle cone’s reforming moral influence on the pumpkin ice cream. Pick your friends carefully.