The problem is, that’s how Vick was raised, it’s what he was taught from an age when he was too young to know he was learning it. And even as we express our hopes that this will serve as a lesson to others, kids just like the one he once was are growing up learning similar rules of dysfunctional lives.

Don’t ask how Vick, who seems to be an intelligent man, couldn’t see what he was doing. Other people in this country are growing up in the belief that science is bad and ancient superstition and mythology, for which there is no more evidence than there is for the tooth fairy, is truth. In Afghanistan, the Taliban still exert a mighty hold on people who believe that the salvation of the world lies in establishing a Muslim version of the Spanish Inquisition.

We accept what we’re taught to accept. We have large and agile brains, but we don’t use them for thinking about what we believe and how we act on those beliefs.

So to the ancient Romans, gladiatorial combat and the mass slaughter of exotic animals — and humans — in the Coliseum were perfectly acceptable, just as bear-baiting and, yes, dog fighting, were in 18th and 19th century America. Heck, we had to fight the bloodiest war in the history of the nation just to convince a large percentage of the nation’s population that slavery wasn’t a good idea.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Vick could be convinced that dog fighting was great good fun, especially as he gained status in his posse — what the sociologists would call a peer group — by being the top dog, so to speak, in the operation.

And that’s another problem with us humans. If we don’t bother to engage our brains, we’ll do pretty much anything if it will impress our friends.

Slideshow   The Week in Sports Pictures A kayaker flips out, a racehorse eyes the Triple Crown and more. more photos

There’s a reason your mother kept asking you if you’d jump off the roof, too, if your buddies did. It’s because a number of kids will do it. That’s how "Jackass" got started.

It’s not as simple as telling kids to “Just say no.” There have to be consequences. There has to be somebody who says, “This is unacceptable.”

For too long, nobody would say that to the spoiled superstars minted by our athletic industry. Those days are ending. The NBA has laid down the law, and now Roger Goodell and the NFL is, too. Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones and now Michael Vick were all products of a culture that’s finally been declared bankrupt.

Take heed, kids. You’re next.

Don't miss this on MSNBC.com Pass it on: Sons of infertile men may be next The eight biggest Olympic marketing debacles Reality show judges range from wise to wacko Cosmic Log: Is this your jetpack? Forget your inhibitions: World's sexiest islands