Embody Wisdom #15. My Principles of Morality and Goodness Part 1
Sunday, April 9th 2023 (Every Sunday @6pm, UK Time)
Introduction
I try to be a principled man and morality is on my mind a lot. My conscience bothers my consciousness. I have tried my best to follow the following principles. They have juggled about in my mind over the past few years as I’ve developed them and as I’ve tried to become more faithfully aligned with them, so it has been satisfying to write them out more orderly and thoughtfully. I hope it helps you and gets you thinking about how to pursue goodness in your life.
1. Do good.
Why? 1. Doing good is good for your conscience (you then consider yourself to be a good person) and consciousness (you think more clearly and effectively). 2. Because it matters to everyone. The world, society, and individuals want to receive and experience goodness while minimizing bad experiences. And we seem to be willing to do good for others if it means we will receive good back directly, later, or even several degrees removed. Of course, we may disagree on what is good and the answer to that is…
2. Think about what is good and discuss it with others.
Throughout history humanity has tended towards goodness, yes, there have been bumps along the way, and steps back and there isn’t a certainty that the trend will continue, but there is a trend. Advancement of technology and shift in culture and ideas have aided us greatly for a more good world.
That has been brought about by people wanting to create a better world by creating new technologies for better living and discussing thoroughly what should be morally good. Conflict and suffering have been present realities in this process, but it has been minimized along the way.
To discover what is good, discuss and argue with yourself and with others about what is good. Be challenged and challenge. Do not easily discard conventions but challenge them. Serve your function, in your career and in your interactions with others. Help continue the goodness trend.
3. The answer to trolley problems is preparation (knowledge and character qualities)
There are many alternatives to the trolley problem and they are used to explore morality, moral actions, and the rationality behind our decisions. The trolley problem is a thought experiment that involves a train headed towards 5 people tied to the tracks. Their deaths can be prevented by pulling a lever that will divert the train to another track, however, this other track leads to 1 person tied to the diverted tracks. You don’t know anything about these people, all you have is the choice to pull the lever or not.
I am of the perspective that many trolley problem equivalents with such little certainty exist in our lives because we lack valuable knowledge (context and wisdom) and the character qualities to act rightly (for example, courage, conviction, selflessness, and justice).
What if you knew who all 6 people were and their moral character, because they were people in your life and you could have chosen to talk to them? What if you knew the good and bad they did? What if you knew the answer, or the lesser bad answer? Would you actually do your hypothetical action based on a hypothetical example? What if you had the necessary courage to pull the lever or the necessary conviction not to pull it? Why is the only option the single lever?
You could know and be so much more in life. Life could be a series of trolley problems or it could be a well-conducted functional train network with no one tied to rail tracks. Getting to know others deeply, seeking out wisdom, and being a virtuous person will make you more prepared to do the right thing when the time comes.
4. Do the good and right thing even when it is hard.
This scenario will happen. Sometimes there will be consequences for you doing the good and right thing. With the trolley problem where the only actionable is to pull the lever or not, at least 1 person dies. People decided on this sort of thing during the holocaust, whether to help Jewish people or not. It came as a great risk to the individuals who would help hide them and send them rations.
Sure, modern life isn’t like that, for now. Look at Ukraine. Look at what people do when they are desperate or have been hurt plenty. What if you witnessed someone being harmed on the streets or a co-worker confided in you about something the boss did to them? Would you put your life on the line for a stranger or your livelihood for a friend?
5. Do what you won't later regret, even if you are reluctant to ache now. Regret will ache more.
I have mentioned regret before regarding my brother’s passing. On death, someday that time will come and you may have the time to reflect on your life and the thought of regrets will likely come up. I think if you want to lead a quality life on your terms (not just a morally good one) you should be trying to minimize your regrets as much as possible.
That might seem like a big ask to dedicate your life to avoiding actions and thoughts you may regret later in your life, but regret isn’t reserved for the dying, regret is for the living. You could regret something next month or right after and regret it for 50 years. There is more of you ahead and more yet others will remember you for and your effects on others will be of rippling permanence to others that you will never know.
6. Speak and act with the idea in mind that you or others could die soon after.
It will unlikely happen in your day-to-day life but it inevitably will happen at some point. Appreciate other people’s humanity and appreciate the preciousness of life you have with others, the finite of it all. People will appreciate this approach and will likely treat you well in return. This too will likely minimize your regrets in the future. If you however make this mistake…
7. Guilt is often an experience of feeling bad, but it could also be a calling to do good actions.
The reality is we will make mistakes, people will die, and we will regret, and feel guilt. People often experience guilt as a bad feeling, that they are bad, and that they could have done right but didn’t. I learnt a while ago that this can be flipped and used for good. You can’t change the past but you can learn from it, you can treat others better and take better actions. You can help and care for others that are still alive, there is no shortage of people who need that.
Part 2 info
I have more principles to write about but I will leave it there. Honesty/lying is still a big topic to cover and I have a few other morality principles on my mind and will likely come up with more. Please do comment if you feel I haven’t covered certain areas of morality or if you have your own insights. I may amend or cover them in part 2. I will perhaps release part 2 next week but it might be later, depending on if something relevant happens in my life or something is on my mind then I will defer and write about that.
Apologies ahead of time for the drawn-out comment,
Have you ever been somewhere really special and beautiful? I remember once I visited the grand canyon and when I got there I remember experiencing something utterly beyond words as I stared into the distance overlooking the incredible vastness of it all. So I took a photograph to remember the experience by. Later when I got back home I showed my friends the photo, and of course they remarked that it was beautiful. Each friend would notice a different element of the picture and speak to it. But what I noticed is that none of them really understood the significance of the photo.
It's like a tree or a leaf, if I show you a picture, you'll recognize a tree or a leaf because you've been taught to recognize the so-called category of 'tree' or 'leaf'. But when I encounter a unique tree or a unique leaf, and I have an intimate personal experience with it (with that particular leaf, or with that particular tree) and take a photo to remember the experience by, that photo is something that no one will really understand properly except me. Because when I show that photo to others they'll categorize it as a tree or a leaf, but they'll never experience it the same way as I did when I was there in that particular moment in which the photo was taken.
I feel like one of the most misunderstood things about literature and philosophy is that we try to assimilate categories of knowledge in the same way that people recognize the categories of trees or leaves. But the most important thing, which we often forget when reading the works of others, is that their inspired writings are like a photograph of an intimate experience. If I were to simply objectify my photo of the grand canyon into categorical objects like 'tree' or 'leaf' or 'canyon', then I would lose out on that incredibly unique & meaningful personal experience I had when I was actually there staring into an unspeakable vastness which transcends words.
It's like sometimes I think I can comment on the precepts that one expresses in regards to their orientation to life, but then I realize that the very journey of discovery is hidden underneath the surface of their appearance. Like you share with us the photograph of the grand canyon, and we notice this 'tree' and that 'leaf' and remark that it is beautiful or ugly or whatever. But the thing that we don't see is the experience that you personally and intimately had with each individual precept in the photo. And I've noticed in your writings an intuitive recognition of this when you reference your intimate experience with death, or when you mention the uncertainty one experiences when confronted with the trolley problem. It's for this reason that I've mentioned before that perhaps the greatest philosophy book is the one we encounter when we put down the literal philosophy book and instead go to help our partner (or whomever else).
When I read the things you write, the truly great experience I have is not the so-called 'objective knowledge' your precepts impart to me (which, like all 'objective knowledge', can be endlessly debated). But rather, I have the pleasure of witnessing someone else encounter the unspeakable vastness and mystery of the grand canyon. And this brings me a sense of warmth and solidarity, far beyond the beauty or ugliness of any individual precept or tree or leaf I see in your photos.