Think how simple our lives might be if we lived in a black and white world -- a place where people could be defined in absolute terms.

You, your friends and family, and everyone you know could be categorized in easy-to-understand way -- honest or deceitful, beautiful or ugly, friendly or hostile. Teachers could divide their classes into two distinct groups -- brilliant or dim. And workers might be evaluated as either hard working or shiftless.

What's wrong with this picture? It ignores the shades of gray that reflect a complex world filled with complicated people and problems. And if it seems absurd to reduce human beings to such terms, consider how difficult it can be to define "right" and "wrong" in that same complex world. That's the basis of the ethical challenges we face in everyday life.

Imagine, for example that a trusted friend is cheating on his wife. You discover the affair quite by accident but now feel that you have an obligation to do something, since the wife is also a friend. But what is the "right thing" in this situation?

Or imagine the ATM machine gave you $600 dollars in cash, but only debited $60 from your account. Do you call the bank and let them know what happened? Is it stealing if you keep the money and say nothing?

What if a person tells you something in confidence, but admits to some unspeakable act such as plotting to molest a child? Are you still bound by a promise of confidentiality?

As you see, ethics can be a tricky thing -- at the most basic level, we're talking about a set of values for deciding what's right and what isn't. But whose values are being applied? And who gets to decide? You may think it's right to tell a wife about her cheating husband -- but what if the couple's child blames you for destroying the marriage? Your sense of morality means nothing to the angry youngster whose home life is now shattered.

At best, we may regard the ethics of everyday life as an ongoing discussion -- one that's always changing and always filled with new and interesting questions. Who has the answers? That's up to you to decide -- but no matter what you do, someone will always be there to challenge your notion of "right" and "wrong."