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Below is a list of virtues, qualities of thinking and behaving that I believe are
well-evolved and conducive, if not necessary, to Prosperity and the fulfillment
of the desires of Pleasure, Truth, and Symbiosis.
Reason: Logical computation of knowledge (data), the most reliable method
of understanding our reality. I believe that if we choose an irrational method of
understanding, such as faith, we surrender our ability to effectively think to
the extent that we believe. When the faith-based understanding, or
understanding reached through other irrational thinking (using logic with bad
knowledge or vise versa for example) is grossly inconsistent with reality, bad
things happen. This can range from simply looking and sounding stupid to
genocide and mass murder.
Hedonism: The belief that pleasure is virtually synonymous with “the Good”
and suffering with “the Bad” and in the use of pleasure and suffering as the
cornerstone of ethics. Pleasure tends to correlate with life in the manner that
suffering correlates with death. Our actions are influenced by a desire for
pleasure for not only ourselves, but also in consideration of the rightful
pleasure of others, stemming from altruism, empathy, understanding of how
the welfare of our neighbors is tied to our own, etc. When the virtue of
hedonism is rejected it becomes acceptable if not desirable to murder, rape,
steal, defraud, etc. Not to mention screw up one's own life directly, or
indirectly by degrading one's social and physical environment; after all it is
only replacing pleasure with pain.
Empathy: The ability to understand what another is experiencing and to be
able to put yourself in their shoes so to speak. This is a critical faculty for any
humans that are not living alone in the wilderness. People who are severely
lacking in empathy are more likely to view others as mere external objects and
to engage in parasitic behavior.
Responsibility: I presume that we have “free will” and believe in personal
responsibility. We must be responsible for our own thinking, and understand
that it is risky to trust others to think for us. We believe in responsibility for our
actions and in facing the consequences of stupid decisions. We are also
responsible for our world, and believe activism and participation in our social
environment to be virtuous. If we are to throw out responsibility as a virtue
then one must believe that it is acceptable to use society, religion,
environment or anything else as an excuse for our bad thinking and actions. It
is then fine, for example, to complain about monopolies while giving them the
monetary vote that keeps making them grow. You can shoot people and
blame it on them for not cooperating better, making eye contact, being in the
wrong place, because you religion told you to, or any other irrational excuse.
You don't need to work either. Everyone owes you. They should have to work
for you.
Humility: The understanding that we are not infallible, not perfect, and that
we may be wrong, about anything. When one becomes too full of one's self
understanding tends to suffer. We believe in realistic self-evaluation. Lack of
humility can result in poor understanding because of too much faith in one's
self. It can retard personal progress and evolution when one already believes
themselves to be an optimal being. It can result in the breakdown of symbiosis
when organisms believe themselves to be so much greater than the other
organisms and behave obnoxiously.
Equity: Belief in justice and equity when dealing with others. Absence of
equity is injustice. Without justice human societies are poorly suited to
satisfying our desires.
Strength: The power to influence one's world, including one's own mind.
Control of one's situation is empowering, and conducive to good mental and
physical health. Knowledge without the power to use it is pointless. In the
absence of power one is helpless and at the mercy of other forces. This is
poor for one's physical and mental health (especially if the one with power is a
petty sadist and parasite).
Honesty: The heartfelt attempt to be honest with one's self, and in a
secondary sense with others, as almost nobody wants to live or deal with
shady people. Dishonesty with one's self creates self-delusion. Dishonesty
with others can backfire and create distrust as well as invoke retribution, as
lies are easily perceived as hostile actions.
Respect: Not going out of one's way to make trouble for another or otherwise
deliberately give them displeasure, even if you are in the mood to do so.
Tolerating others even though they are different, even though you’d rather
not. Remembering that we are all on the same ship. When people are
disrespectful to each other hostilities grow, and it degrades the net pleasure
of the habitat or society.
Freedom: Belief in the right for all to do whatever they please as long as it
does not infringe upon the rights of others. It is conducive to our evolution
that we are able to do as we please. Government over-organization and
restriction, for example, seems to harm our social environment and thus our
personal lives, and the only enforced laws (which are enforced with the barrel
of a gun) should be those which are proven to improve the lives of the
governed, such as the employment of habitat guardians such as police,
military, and border patrol, without sacrifice whenever possible, as oppression
and senseless restriction can degrade symbiosis when people are oppressed.
