Change Bots aka 'What is your moral philosophy?'

[rousseau]

I was going to write a thread on my phrase 'change bots', but decided last minute to give it two threads in one:

1) The question: What is your moral philosophy?
2) The explanation of what's turning into my own moral philosophy

For the first part my intent isn't to spur debate on which moral philosophies are correct, only to draw out what people consider their moral relationship with the world.

For the second part I wanted to go a little deeper into where it seems like my own is going:

When I was growing up I got the idea in my head that the world was in need of leaders, that being a leader is good, that making change is good. There are problems out there and they need solving.

When I hit my early to mid-twenties I had a bit of megalomania going on and thought I was going to write books, change the world, you name it. Moreover, I wanted to become famous and be a 'name'.

Looking back on that period of my life I believe a lot of my thinking was related to fitness. What better way to attract people to you than to do good in the world? Even now, at twenty-nine, I get ideas in my head about stuff like this almost weekly.

If you pay attention to people across social media you'll notice that trend. Most people are political, most people want to make change, most people want to help, and so on and so forth. It's almost like this tendency to want to solve problems is an instinctual part of the way we think. We just keep doing it, over and over, because it's how we create value for ourselves and others.

It reminds me of a few pages I read in 'The Guns of August' by Barbara Tuchman a few weeks ago. The introduction by an editor discussed Tuchman writing the book, and how she spent eight hours furiously writing and re-writing the opening passage to the book. We're talking a Pulitzer Prize winner, probable genius, who was so immersed in her grandiose project that she forgot to take a break and have a cigarette.

And that's where my phrase 'change bots' comes in. I've noticed my own tendency to want to furiously solve problems, mine and others, to make a better world, and so on, and to some degree I've decided to step outside of it.

I don't want to be someone spending ten years of my life dedicated to making marginal changes while my children play by themselves in the back-yard. I don't want to miss a single evening going for a walk or a coffee with my partner. You get the idea.

That's not to say that I don't have a sense of morality or don't want to make things better, but I'd guess my philosophy has turned into one of harm / pain reduction that's easily within my power. Throughout my life, look out for other people, make others feel better, but don't be a slave to it. Don't let this instinctual obsession cloud my ability to take in and enjoy the world.

So there are some thoughts on where I'm at. Curious what others thoughts are on this topic.

 

[PyramidHead]

That's not to say that I don't have a sense of morality or don't want to make things better, but I'd guess my philosophy has turned into one of harm / pain reduction that's easily within my power. Throughout my life, look out for other people, make others feel better, but don't be a slave to it. Don't let this instinctual obsession cloud my ability to take in and enjoy the world.

This resonates with me and where I am in my life right now. I don't have the instinctual obsession you talk about, however. I don't want to be a leader or an agent of major change. I suppose this stems from my opinion of the human species as tragedy. It's hard for me to get optimistic about improving the lives of others as long as more lives continue to sprout up, in need of their own improvement.

If you pay attention to people across social media you'll notice that trend. Most people are political, most people want to make change, most people want to help, and so on and so forth. It's almost like this tendency to want to solve problems is an instinctual part of the way we think. We just keep doing it, over and over, because it's how we create value for ourselves and others.

Maybe this is only a trend among people who bother to post on social media. It could also be the case that people on (and off) social media portray themselves as more altruistic than they truly are, in order to appear more worldly and political to their circle of acquaintances. Zapffe describes this kind of behavior as "anchoring", one of the psychological mechanisms people have evolved to cope with the strain of living.

"Anchoring might be characterised as a fixation of points within, or construction of walls around, the liquid fray of consciousness. Though typically unconscious, it may also be fully conscious (one ‘adopts a goal’.) Publicly useful anchorings are met with sympathy, he who ‘sacrifices himself totally’ for his anchoring (the firm, the cause) is idolised. He has established a mighty bulwark against the dissolution of life, and others are by suggestion gaining from his strength."

I have no reason to think he is definitely correct, but I see no obvious reason to doubt it either. This puts the "change bots" in quite a different light.

"The human yearning is not merely marked by a ‘striving toward’, but equally by an ‘escape from.’ And if we use the word in a religious sense, only the latter description fits. For here, none has yet been clear about what he is longing for, but one has always a heartfelt awareness of what one is longing away from, namely the earthly vale of tears, one’s own inendurable condition."

Morally, this means to me that you and I are both fleeing from harm and pain, and trying to help others do the same in our own way, out of a sense of camaraderie with those who share our predicament, namely everybody. There is nothing wrong about adopting the approach of the "change bot", which in the end may just be activity undertaken primarily to soothe the bot's existential tension, but it isn't necessarily better than living a quiet, local life that harms as few people as possible.

 

[rousseau]

"The human yearning is not merely marked by a ‘striving toward’, but equally by an ‘escape from.’ And if we use the word in a religious sense, only the latter description fits. For here, none has yet been clear about what he is longing for, but one has always a heartfelt awareness of what one is longing away from, namely the earthly vale of tears, one’s own inendurable condition."

That's fantastic.

One of those occasional moments on this forum where I have a major shift in perspective.

 

[untermensche]

Is this more than "Stop and smell the roses"?

What you find is that many people are fascinated with themselves.

And others are fascinated with the world.

I say, better to be fascinated with the world.

 

[rousseau]

Is this more than "Stop and smell the roses"?

What you find is that many people are fascinated with themselves.

And others are fascinated with the world.

I say, better to be fascinated with the world.

It's more like: realize you can be smelling roses forever if you absolve personal responsibility for making a difference.

I'd add a third type of person to your list: those bouncing around like a bag in the wind with no fascination at all, conforming to whatever is in their environment.

 

[untermensche]

Is this more than "Stop and smell the roses"?

What you find is that many people are fascinated with themselves.

And others are fascinated with the world.

I say, better to be fascinated with the world.

It's more like: realize you can be smelling roses forever if you absolve personal responsibility for making a difference.

I'd add a third type of person to your list: those bouncing around like a bag in the wind with no fascination at all, conforming to whatever is in their environment.

The conformists can be quite manic and driven.

And to them "making a difference" is increasing conformity.