________  ________  ________   
   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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