Memes

This lodged in my brain and wouldn't leave. Realised why. Standards vs. no standards is a more important distinction than high vs. low standards.

A passage from Vaillant's The Tiger:

"The most terrifying and important test for a human being is to be in absolute isolation,” he explained. “A human being is a very social creature, and ninety percent of what he does is done only because other people are watching. Alone, with no witnesses, he starts to learn about himself—who is he really? Sometimes, this brings staggering discoveries. Because nobody’s watching, you can easily become an animal: it is not necessary to shave, or to wash, or to keep your winter quarters clean—you can live in shit and no one will see. You can shoot tigers, or choose not to shoot. You can run in fear and nobody will know. You have to have something—some force, which allows and helps you to survive without witnesses."

That force: standards.

This lodged in my brain and wouldn't leave. Realised why. Standards vs. no standards is a more important distinction than high vs. low standards.

A passage from Vaillant's The Tiger:

"The most terrifying and important test for a human being is to be in absolute isolation,” he explained. “A human being is a very social creature, and ninety percent of what he does is done only because other people are watching. Alone, with no witnesses, he starts to learn about himself—who is he really? Sometimes, this brings staggering discoveries. Because nobody’s watching, you can easily become an animal: it is not necessary to shave, or to wash, or to keep your winter quarters clean—you can live in shit and no one will see. You can shoot tigers, or choose not to shoot. You can run in fear and nobody will know. You have to have something—some force, which allows and helps you to survive without witnesses."

That force: standards.
https://warpcast.com/na/0x0ce453bd

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Or the practice of mindfulness (which we'll be generous and assume is a proxy for the attempted attainment of enlightenment). The most basic behaviour is attentiveness, awareness, observation. And once one begins observing standards inevitably emerge.