Conscience

I chose the word "conscience" because it is an abstract term which varies according to respective society and an individuals culture. The question of where conscience derives is one that I have been interested in for a very long time. In other words, why would an individual act in a way that would or may not directly yield him or her an advantage? This plays into the bigger wuestion of what kind of society we as humans live in. Are the interactions of man and decision making of an individual governed by realism? are we only to do what shall yield us a more favorable outcome? or is there a deeply rooted moral compass embedded in each of us which tells us to work as a cooperative society? Is reality as we know it Idealistic?