Sacred Honor

Every year near the Fourth of July I take the time to read the Declaration of Independence. Its strange to think that 237 years ago a small group of men locked themselves in a room and decided that in the name of what they believed to be right, they would take on the strongest superpower of the time. I imagine the mood in that room must have been as tense and heated as a July afternoon can be as they contemplated an action that could have very well meant death for each and every one in attendance.

 

We all know the first part of the Declaration, the part that declares that all men are created equal and that we all are entitled to certain rights namely: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is never this part that moves me. It is powerful language, no doubt, and it has been used and quoted time and time again to demonstrate what those men fought for and what this country is about. Yet, what has a larger impact for me is not what these men decided to fight for, but rather, what they were willing to sacrifice. The very last sentence of the last paragraph of the Declaration reads:

 

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

 

Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor. The thing that is especially captivating about this line is that it not only demonstrates their willingness to sacrifice everything they had, but also that they truly understood just how large that sacrifice may be. For these ideas, these rights of equality and liberty, these men and those who followed them were willing to give their lives; and not just their own, but also those close to them that they knew would follow their lead. They were willing to give their fortunes, every worldly possession that some had spent their lives acquiring. And lastly, and most importantly, they were willing to give their Honor.

 

Fortunes can come and go with ease. Human life is immensely valuable but also transitory. Honor on the other hand...honor is something that we leave behind forever. In the same way that we now emphatically celebrate these men as heroes, as patriots, as fathers, we could just as easily revile them as cowards, villains, and traitors. These men knew that for the rest of human history they could be known as some of the most heinous, murderous, and evil people that had ever lived but even that, even that risk of an eternal taint, would not stop them.

 

These men risked everything for what they thought was right. They believed in their cause so deeply, so truly, that nothing - not death, not poverty, not even eternal dishonor - would prevent them from making a stand.

 

I imagine all this racing through their heads on that humid July day as each approached the front of that silent room, lifted their pen, and never looked back.

 

There are things in life that are worth fighting for, there are things that are worth dying for, but should we ever come across something so important we are truly willing to give everything for it, I pray we are strong enough to rise to the challenge. And furthermore, I pray with all my heart that one day we find it.

Astronaut Theory

There was once a little boy who was only five years old when his father asked him, "Johnny, what do you want to be when you grow up?" The little boy had no trouble answering. From a young age he had been fascinated with the heavens above him, and the opportunity to explore them. "I want to be an astronaut!" he emphatically replied. His father was elated! How ambitious for a five-year-old! His son was truly destined for greatness.

A few years went by...

Johnny was now nine and his father asked him again, "Johnny, what do you want to be when you grow up?" "An astronaut!" Johnny once again replied to his father's pride.

A few more years went by...

Johnny was in the middle of his sophomore year of high school. One school night, Johnny was toiling away at his science homework when his father passed his bedroom. Impressed by the dedication his son was showing for his work he asked, "Johnny, have you put any thought into what you might actually want to do when you grow up?" Johnny looked confused, "I want to be an astronaut dad, you know that." The father's pride was noticeably weaker than it had been in years past. He sighed, "its good to have high hopes Johnny, but you're soon going to have to be more realistic. There are a lot of little boys and girls that want to be astronauts and very few actually are able to do it." Johnny was undisturbed. "I know dad, but I'll be one of the people that makes it!" His father feigned a smile and walked out of the room.

A few more years went by...

Johnny's hard work had paid off and he was accepted to a prestigious university. His father and him sat down to decide on a major. "Before we decide what major you should choose, we should first decide, once and for all, what you want to be when you grow up." "I want to be an astronaut dad, nothing has changed since I was a boy." His father had had enough.

"Jonathan! You need to forget about that silly dream! Thousands, probably millions of children want to be astronauts, and all but a handful fail! When I was a young boy, I too wanted to be an astronaut, and I failed. Everyone fails. All my friends who wanted to be astronauts failed. People in the neighborhood have been talking about you. They think you're head is in the clouds. You need to be sensible. You need to pick a dream that is more realistic. You will never be an astronaut!"

Johnny was crushed...at first. He had dealt with this his entire life. Friends, family members, guidance counselors, and virtually everyone else had told him the same thing. His dream was ridiculous, so he finally agreed with his father, and the rest of them. After all, if none of them were able to do it, why would his fate be any different?

Many years went by...

John had graduated from school. He got a good job working as the manager of a local company. He got married, and was able to afford a comfortable living for himself. He never became an astronaut, but after all, the odds were against him anyway...

Now, Lets look at another version of the story:

Johnny's father would still ask the question from the time he was five up until he was applying to college and every time that he was asked that question, Johnny would answer the same way. But in this version, instead of trying to persuade his son to change his mind, imagine that Johnny's father responded differently:

"Yes John, that is a great idea and I'm so glad you're still following your dream!"

"How about I buy you books about how to become one? Or, how about I take you to talk to people who have done it? Or, how about I help you pick a major that will best suit your endeavor?"

"I always wanted to be an astronaut and although I wasn't able to do it, I believe that you can!"

"Don't listen when people tell you to take your head out of the clouds! Keep gazing at the heavens  Never under any circumstance should you doubt yourself!"

Would the outcome be any different?

The statistics still say that there would be a minuscule probability; that there is still such a low change of it happening the father's actions wouldn't have any real impact...

But they might have.

Try, try as hard as you can and you will likely fail; but, if you listen to those who say you can't and never try then you'll never even get that slim chance. Surround yourself by those people who tell you that you can reach the stars, and you just might do it.

I leave you with this video:

http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_have_a_great_career.html

Platonic thought

"You must contrive for your future rulers another and a better life than that of a ruler, and then you may have a well-ordered State"

-Plato

Quantum Morality

While talking about some of the basics of quantum physics with a friend I realized something interesting. So while Newtonian physics applies to every object that we deal with on a day to day basis, it fails to explain what happens on a quantum level. While we can calculate with the utmost certainty how fast a block of billions of carbon atoms will fall if it's dropped, it's much more difficult to do the same thing with a single atom. On an individual level, atoms sometimes behave much differently than expected. In a way, this makes newtonian physics nothing more than a prediction based on typical and probable outcome. It's a generalization. In the same way, we can describe how individual actions can be different than their generalizations in a moral fashion. For example, we can say that killing as a general category is wrong and it's rare to find many people who will disagree, Thou shalt not kill. But we start to see problems arise when we look at individual instances. What if you're being attacked? What if the person is about to kill others? What if it's a felon on death row who has done terrible things? Suddenly the idea that killing is wrong starts to feel a little less absolute. This is why rules demanding absolute adherence are ridiculous. It's the problem with Kant's "murderer at the door" problem and conflicting biblical commandments. Ethical systems based on rules work fine in the realm of generalizations, but when it gets down to the morally quantum scale, things might not work as you expect.

The American Scholar

I'd like to start off by saying that Ralph Waldo Emerson was a very intelligent man. One of his more celebrated works was a speech that he gave to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge university on August 31, 1837. It was entitled "The American Scholar" and it pointed out a few risks that "Man Thinking" might face if he was not well grounded enough in himself. The main part that I was hoping to discuss today was a passage regarding books of the past in which he states:

"The sacredness which attaches to the act of creation, -- the act of though, -- is transferred to the record. The poet chanting, was felt to be a divine man: henceforth the chat is divine also. The writer was a just and wise spirit: henceforward it is settled the book is perfect; as love of the hero corrupts into worship of his statue. Instantly the book becomes noxious: the guide is a tyrant. The sluggish and perverted mind of the multitude, slow to open to the incursions of Reason, having once so opened, having once received this book, stands upon it, and makes an outcry, if it is disparaged. Colleges are built on it. Books are written on it by thinkers, not by Man Thinking; by men of talent, that is, who start wrong, who set out from accepted dogmas not from their own sight of principles. Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote these books."

Now, I apologize for the long passage that you had to read through but it makes too invaluable of a point to summarize. Essentially, we have a tough time thinking for ourselves in this society and that transfers expectedly into the education system. Now a days we are not dedicated to learning how to be developed thinkers, but rather taught the most effective theory or process of the day. Collegiate education especially is not intended to teach you how to be a builder or a dentist. It is intended to teach you how to be a free-thinking individual whom, upon becoming a builder or dentist, will be able to think through issues that face him.

To often to we cram the views of certain famed thinkers down the throats of students. Descartes said this, Hippocrates said that, Pythagoras purported something else. This is not how you create scholars. Emerson states later in the same work:

"The so-called practical men sneer at speculative men, as if, because they speculate or see, they could do nothing."

Something that has always stricken me as interesting is that whenever somebody is asked what they are studying in college and the answer is business, pre-med, pre-law, advertising, or journalism. The response is always supportive: "What a good major, that is going to lead to a very lucrative career." However, when the response is instead something along the lines of philosophy, history, sociology, or math, the classic reply is "And what are you going to do with that?" People today don't realize that education is not solely about training you for a career. We are not machines that are being given the latest version of software to perform our assigned tasks at an optimal level. We are living, thinking beings who are capable of more than regurgitating technical manuals, business theories and formulas.

It saddens me that people view school as a trial we must face to get to the "real world." In fact, the etymology of the world School comes from the Greek "Skhole" which translates to leisure. That's because at the end of the day, after farming, after making pots and building houses, the Greeks would sit around and learn, debate, and discuss the theories of the day. Nowadays, school is a trial that kids must struggle through, it is a burden.

If the intent is to learn how to better hold a job, how to better build, sew, type, or calculate; traditional education is probably not the most efficient route, but if the desire is to learn to think critically, originally and novely; educate away! But don't spend that time of leisure cramming the words of men and women you are told are smarter than you. By all means read them and learn them, but don't forget that imperative step of taking that information, analyzing it and using it to shape your own views, which may very likely be far more useful and revolutionary than those of your muses.

If you are going to obtain an "education" make sure you're doing it for the knowledge, not for the piece of paper that says you've paid your dues.

The Fallacy of the Map Maker

M. Scott Peck wrote a book called the The Road Less Traveled, an excellent book I might add, and within it he tells the story of a map maker. I don't have the book on me at the moment so I'll try to paraphrase as best I can.

There once was a map maker who was charged by the king of the realm to create the most detailed map ever to be created. The map maker was an expert in his craft and known far and wide for his skill. He took great care to collect all the data he could find to aid him in his endeavor and after many months of intense labor he finally completed his task. The map was perfect. Every blade of grass, every building, every road, every tree and sapping, every rock and pebble, and every other possible detail was well documented and demonstrated by the map. It was so good that the king decreed that it would be the official map of the realm and to be used for all official business. Years went by, then decades, centuries, and finally millennia and the map remained the official document. Yet while the map remained the same, the realm did not. Canyons now stood where there were once only rivers. towns had been abandoned and new ones built, trees were cut down to fuel industry and new forests have been planted elsewhere. The map had become outdated but rather than creating an updated version the people clung t their "perfect map" and let it lead them astray day after day, year after year.

The story of the map tells us that we must sometimes pause and question tradition. Times change as do situations and circumstances and eventually what was once the best possible course of action, can become obsolete or potentially the worst option. We must be constantly aware that as time change so too must the rules, regulations and institutions that dictate the course of our lives.

This blog is to be a guide to some of those rules, traditions, and systems that have fallen prey to the fallacy of the map maker.