The other day I was having a discussion with my friend about ethics. We were talking about whether society would be better if everyone went through some sort of formal training in ethics. "When I think of the people that I've known that are really good people," I said, "I don't see formal training as a common factor shared by these people. Many of them are simple people, not particularly trained in anything at all."
"So what was a common factor?" he asked.
"Well, I don't know. They were all... just... posessed of a certain temperament, I guess. They were just good people."
"So we're just abandoned to fate, then? We're just good or we're not?" he asked.
"Well, no. I don't believe that," I replied, grasping for words to describe what I was thinking. "I don't think people are so cognitive, though. People typically just do what they want to do in any given situation. Even when they go through some thought process, they just find a way to arrive at what they wanted to do in the first place."
"I disagree," he said. He went on to describe his own very deliberative approach to ethics and decision making.
"Well, I don't work like that at all," I said. "Maybe we're just fundamentally different. Maybe there is no approach that would work for both of us."
"What about the rest of the world?"
"Well," I thought aloud, "maybe there are different types of people for whom different approaches work."
"How many different types? Do you think they could be categorized or identified?"
"What if everyone is completely different? What if no two people have the same brain format, the same operating system?"
"I don't think that could be right," he said. "Maybe there are just a few types."
Meanwhile, the homeless guy at the table beside us was talking to his chair. "Kill, kill, kill," he said, knocking the ash tray from the table. I couldn't tell which side he was on. I think he might have been a third type.
Hello, friends. What do you think? How are you today?
Later. Love.
P.S. - Send your good thoughts and prayers to Karindira. Her house caught fire last night. No details yet, except that everyone is okay, which is the most important thing.
P.P.S. - Here is a Karindira update. Keep her in your thoughts. Her house is a total loss.
