Values
My own core virtues I take from Ayn Rand -- minus her last one, the truth of which is not so clear to me.
Rationality -- the use of reason to achieve a purpose
Independence -- having one's own purposes, validating them by one's own reason, and maintaining them via one's own self-esteem
Integrity -- for me, this means being the same outwardly as inwardly... being the embodiment (outside) of the person you are (inside)
Honesty -- so basic that I'm at a loss, and I have to quote here -- "... the refusal to fake reality, i.e., to pretend that facts are other than they are." (Leonard Peikoff)
Justice -- is practically an obsession for me -- it is giving people what they deserve, not out of malice or preference but because they have earned it, or because perhaps they possess the budding virtues required to earn it. Whether its a corporation or an individual. If I thought I had the mental bandwidth for law school, I would go for it -- sadly, even computer concepts can overwhelm me if I'm forced to digest them too quickly... volumes of sticky human relations rules would knock me out so fast I'd have no hope of keeping up.
Productivity -- the achievement of a purpose.
I could probably rack my brain for years on end over whether her final virtue, Pride, is actually a virtue, and whether it is actually incompatible with Humility as supposed. For now, I am quite happy to declare that -- I don't know!
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Years ago, I prayed desperately to God asking him to show me whether Jesus was real -- it mattered so much to me. I received the FEELING that He would show me, if I always did what was right. Of course, I didn't always, but years later, I was somehow lucky (or good) enough to receive my answer anyway: Jesus is alive and well, and poisoning the world with his altruism. Resurrection or no, Jesus is hellspawn. I love my Christian friends.... and I confess a particular affinity for TRUE Christians, probably because I was one once. Some Christians manage to eschew altruism and achieve a quiet sort of Justice in their souls -- but in doing so, they lose Integrity (as I have defined it, because their outward choice of purposes betrays their inward sense of Justice, even though they may not be conscious of the betrayal). And most true Christians really are altruists at heart who are sorely lacking in Justice (but in such a case, they could have Integrity). But no one's perfect. No one that I know, anyway. If productivity is the yardstick, I know I fall laughably short.
But, anyway, that's my moral lens through which I view the world and everyone in it. Perhaps I have too much confidence in it? If that is the case, I should exercise it all the more rigorously, so that I can find the correction needed sooner rather than later...
Rationality -- the use of reason to achieve a purpose
Independence -- having one's own purposes, validating them by one's own reason, and maintaining them via one's own self-esteem
Integrity -- for me, this means being the same outwardly as inwardly... being the embodiment (outside) of the person you are (inside)
Honesty -- so basic that I'm at a loss, and I have to quote here -- "... the refusal to fake reality, i.e., to pretend that facts are other than they are." (Leonard Peikoff)
Justice -- is practically an obsession for me -- it is giving people what they deserve, not out of malice or preference but because they have earned it, or because perhaps they possess the budding virtues required to earn it. Whether its a corporation or an individual. If I thought I had the mental bandwidth for law school, I would go for it -- sadly, even computer concepts can overwhelm me if I'm forced to digest them too quickly... volumes of sticky human relations rules would knock me out so fast I'd have no hope of keeping up.
Productivity -- the achievement of a purpose.
I could probably rack my brain for years on end over whether her final virtue, Pride, is actually a virtue, and whether it is actually incompatible with Humility as supposed. For now, I am quite happy to declare that -- I don't know!
----------------------------------------------------------
Years ago, I prayed desperately to God asking him to show me whether Jesus was real -- it mattered so much to me. I received the FEELING that He would show me, if I always did what was right. Of course, I didn't always, but years later, I was somehow lucky (or good) enough to receive my answer anyway: Jesus is alive and well, and poisoning the world with his altruism. Resurrection or no, Jesus is hellspawn. I love my Christian friends.... and I confess a particular affinity for TRUE Christians, probably because I was one once. Some Christians manage to eschew altruism and achieve a quiet sort of Justice in their souls -- but in doing so, they lose Integrity (as I have defined it, because their outward choice of purposes betrays their inward sense of Justice, even though they may not be conscious of the betrayal). And most true Christians really are altruists at heart who are sorely lacking in Justice (but in such a case, they could have Integrity). But no one's perfect. No one that I know, anyway. If productivity is the yardstick, I know I fall laughably short.
But, anyway, that's my moral lens through which I view the world and everyone in it. Perhaps I have too much confidence in it? If that is the case, I should exercise it all the more rigorously, so that I can find the correction needed sooner rather than later...