________ ________ ________
2022-02-10 / \/ \/ / \
/ __/ /_ _/
A friend once said something that really / _/ / /
sent me into a spiral, forcing me to \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
refactor a lot of what I believe and how I / \/ \/ / \
behave. / _/ /_ _/
/- / _/ /
"Morality is a spook." \________/\________/\___/____/
He was paraphrasing Max Stirner who I know nothing about and what he was
trying to say was that morality, our idea of good and bad, right and wrong,
are entirely fabricated. They're defined by our peers, our parents, our
employers and the media and completely subjective.
In most cases, people doing wrong or bad don't do so for the sake of being
wrong or bad, they do so because their understanding of right and wrong are
different. And that's true of everyone, there's no hard-coded operating
instructions for good and evil, it's all based on an accumulation of input,
our lived experience.
Stealing is ostensibly wrong but what if you steal because you can't afford
food? What about the movies or music you steal without a second thought?
Sexual abuse of a child is reprehensible but it's the abused themselves
that often perpetuate that abuse, their compass has been so damaged by others'
actions that they can't find magnetic north.
There's this fantastic clay animated short[1] based on Mark Twain's The
Mysterious Stranger wherein Satan says "I can do no wrong, for I do not know
what it is." - and they're right.
There is no elemental good, there is no elemental evil.
So what is there to do? I don't want to be bad, I don't want to be evil.
That's where I got stuck for some time but eventually I circled back on the
idea and asked myself, ok, if good and evil are not real, what is? What I
settled on is below, my tetrapod.
Duty.
Words are gilt and filigree, very shiny but without a solid
surface they're thin, fragile and ultimately worthless. Action is
that solid surface. Do things for others, do things for yourself.
Follow through on everything you say you will do.
Generosity.
Free things from the horde, not just stuff but share knowledge,
share energy and enthusiasm. Share time.
Humility.
Be humble in all aspects of life. Recognise that you're part of
something much larger than the here and now, recognise that you
can always learn more and be better. Recognise that feedback,
criticism and reprimand are not attacks but avenues for
improvement.
Patience.
Take time to understand what you're doing, what others are
doing. Take time to be still and reflect on what you've done and
take time to daydream and imagine what might come next. Be patient
with what you create and how you share it, be patient if it takes
time to get recognised. Be patient with the people in your life
and, most importantly be patient with yourself.
These are my immutable elemental truths, if I observe them then I will find
my magnetic north and "good" will follow along.
[1]
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BpaRouocBes
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