Yeah alignment isn’t something that should be able to be finagled because of in-universe perspective, that’s been my stance on it for a while now, there are things you do that will make you a Good person, and things that make you Evil, and Lawful, or Chaotic, these things are not measured or changed by any internal standards.
As simply put while still meaningful i think the four alignments can be described as such:
Good: all life is important, i may go out of my way to help others simply because i can.
Evil: i care only about my own wants, i may go out of my way to harm others simply because it would amuse me.
Lawful: i think the structure and stability rules provide is important, even if they sometimes go against what I actually want i will follow them.
Chaotic: personal freedom is the most important, to not be held back from doing what you want to by anything, even your own previous choices.
Some people are saying lawful and chaotic are group vs individual but I personally disagree with that interpretation, it’s just as possible to have a complete individual loner have a very strict set of rules for themselves or a large group of people gathered for the common cause of doing what they want.
Also
-Lawful people do not subscribe to any one single set of rules, they generally will follow the law on principle but not necessarily, two entirely lawful people may have two entirely different sets of rules that directly conflict each other but they’re still both just as lawful.
-Chaotic people are not inherently allergic to rules and can follow them perfectly if they so choose to at any given moment.
-Nor are they ‘lol so random XD’ ‘I’ll walk through the river because the bridge is too normal’, that behaviour is from players misinterpreting the principals of chaos either genuinely, or maliciously as an excuse to justify getting away with dumb crap
EDIT
G/E-Neutral: i take care of myself first so long it’s not causing undue harm to others, I might help others if the mood takes me, it doesn’t take me too far off my own path or if I benefit from doing so
L/C-Neutral: I generally follow the laws in most circumstances unless I have a reason not to but typically will not go out of my way to enforce them, I might break the laws in small ways sometimes or in extenuating circumstances