This is a very common behaviour, I agree, but I am not really sure the simplified explanation is useful for understanding anything (I know you are specifically pointing out in the last paragraph that you are perfectly aware that your explanation is a simplification).
I think unfolding things a bit we get a much better idea of what’s really going on:
Alice is a human being, with a mind composed of a society of competing modules
Some of her modules do care about being moral. Some others care about having fun. Some others care about people. Some modules agree with each other, some others contradict each other.
The society of modules carries some sort of internal voting, that results in Alice taking an action (e.g. going to the party). Not all modules have always the same strength. They are heavily influenced not only by external factors but also internal factors, like hormonal levels
One specific module makes a narrative about why it is justified going to the party and that’s the correct thing to do
Reducing Alice to a single entity is a convenient and yet wrong way of thinking of people and motivations
This is a very common behaviour, I agree, but I am not really sure the simplified explanation is useful for understanding anything (I know you are specifically pointing out in the last paragraph that you are perfectly aware that your explanation is a simplification).
I think unfolding things a bit we get a much better idea of what’s really going on:
Alice is a human being, with a mind composed of a society of competing modules
Some of her modules do care about being moral. Some others care about having fun. Some others care about people. Some modules agree with each other, some others contradict each other.
The society of modules carries some sort of internal voting, that results in Alice taking an action (e.g. going to the party). Not all modules have always the same strength. They are heavily influenced not only by external factors but also internal factors, like hormonal levels
One specific module makes a narrative about why it is justified going to the party and that’s the correct thing to do
Reducing Alice to a single entity is a convenient and yet wrong way of thinking of people and motivations