On the priority ordering of values
A few different thought streams just merged in my head, and I'd like to share.
( This got long. Also includes discussion of potentially sensitive topics. )
( This got long. Also includes discussion of potentially sensitive topics. )
You're right - playing ad lib would be hellish, impractical, and too sloppy for making sound decisions. That's why you have to cultivate the various frameworks in advance. It's not natural; it's something you have to learn after you recognize the need for it.
Of course, once you recognize multiplicity, a host of new moral issues are raised. For instance, you recognize that some frameworks help you more than others in various situations, and it's obvious that choosing the framework that benefits you most would be reprehensible. You might try to escape this by picking one framework and only reaping the rewards where it benefits you, but flipping heads every time when the guillotine falls randomly on someone else's neck is not a solution. That kind of meta-decision is something you have to struggle with.
The importance of the critic/architect dichotomy remains. If your greatest moral gratification in a given week comes from not doing something, passing judgment on someone else's action, or choosing from a set of presented choices, then you're probably not living up to your potential.
Let me conclude by asking you to not take this as an affront. I'm sincerely glad that I know people who are amenable to discussing this kind of thing.
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