Intro to Wisdom

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
-- Isaac Asimov

Intro to Wisdom

One of the goals of the Missive is to incorporate a body of secular Wisdom, drawn from the historical period.

By secular, I mean that which does not rely on any Higher Power as authority or basis for ethical behavior. This is not to disparage a belief or reliance on any Higher Power. Rather, it is to seek out that which is common to and directly observable within human experience (i.e., does not rely on mystical or spiritual experience).

Wisdom may be said to be distinguished from Knowledge in that it relies on induction, rather than deduction.


My aim, at present, is to assemble a preliminary set of secular maxims, eventually to be offered as advice to future readers, rather than as rules or commandments (despite their frequently imperative form). I see them as loosely applicable as personal, behavioral and/or social.

Here are several sets of maxims which I find to be mutually supportive:



Synopsis of Maxims

The following are my distillation of a number of similar maxim sets drawn from a number of sources. The first is sometimes called the Apollonian Maxim. Others are drawn from many cultural traditions, especially Eastern philosophies and from New World indigenous cultures.

• Know yourself.
• Respect yourself.
• Seek balance.
  
  
• Respect the balance of yourself.
• Respect the balance of others.
• Respect the balance of nature.

Love Maxims

While these are drawn primarily from religious sources, they are secular in the sense that no Higher Power is invoked.

• Love your self.
• Love your neighbor.
• Love your adversary.

Gottmans' Maxim (Paraphrase)

In love, in habits, in behavior, in life...

• Turn toward that which you would increase.
• Turn away from that which you would diminish.

Axelrod's Results

Axelrod's results touch on conflicting or adversarial  interactions.

Exploring iterated game theory - in which strategies compete in repeated, zero sum encounters. Roughly speaking, in each encounter, two parties may either cooperate to their mutual benefit or 'defect' to the short term gain of the defector and the cooperator's expense. If both parties defect, neither benefits.

A hands down winning strategy emerged (cooperative tit-for-tat):

1. Begin with cooperation.
2. Repeat your opponent's last move.
3. If caught in a defection cycle, try the occasional cooperation.

NOTE: Defection Cycle might be seen as oppositional to cooperation.

Significantly, Axelrod's results establish a rational, testable and evolutionary basis for cooperation, observable within and between species.

NOTE: In researching equity (see Maxims of Equity, below), I ran across the heartening characteristic of Inequity Aversion common to (most?) human beings; the tendency to prefer equitable (fair) outcomes. Axelrod's results, in part, suggest the adaptive value of inequity aversion.

These 'rules' reflect a (non-rigorous) summation of approaches typical of successful strategies:

•  Be nice -- Cooperate, never be the first to defect.
•  Be provocable -- Return defection for defection, cooperation for cooperation.
•  Don't be envious-- Focus on maximizing your own benefit, rather than advantage over others.
•  Don't be too clever -- Don't try to be tricky (complicated strategy).

I'll add one reflecting point 3 from the winning strategy:

• Dare random acts of kindness!

Rom ('Gypsy') Rules for the Road

(Paraphrased from Ugo Bardi)

Be yourself.
Cultivate a free spirit.
Family First.

Protect your privacy.
Blow smoke.
Never stand and fight.

Stay mobile.
Live light, travel light.
Seize opportunity.

Cultivate know-how.
Minimize overheads.
Waste not.

 
Richard J. Maybury's Two Laws

Maybury considers these two laws to be those to which all world religions agree, and to form the basis of both Common Law and (optimal) Economics.

In arriving at these, Maybury notes that 'persons' and 'property' highlight terms to be defined. This is a task which is on-going in our own times. In terms of the Missive, I believe it's best to leave the task to the future.

• Do all you have agreed to do.
• Do not encroach on other persons or their property.

The first rule is the basis of contract law, and the second, the basis of tort law and some criminal law. -- Richard Maybury (found on-line, needs verification for quotation)

In my own thinking, I would add a consent 'law'... work in progress:

• Do not encroach on behavior among consenting adults.

Maxims of Equity

Maxims of Equity are drawn from historical Courts of Equity running parallel to (British) Common Law courts. Common Law evolved law via court decisions setting precedent for future cases; Equity Law favored principle over particulars, and served to redress  injustices stemming from the strict application of precedent.

I've linked these as their interpretation is somewhat less obvious for lay readers. For purposes of the Missive project, I would think they need some winnowing, consolidating and rewording.

• 2.1 Equity sees that as done what ought to be done
• 2.2 Equity will not suffer a wrong to be without a remedy
• 2.3 Equity delights in equality/Equality is Equity
• 2.4 Equality is Equity (Aequalitus est quasi equitas)
• 2.5 One who seeks equity must do equity
• 2.6 Equity aids the vigilant, not those who slumber on their rights
• 2.7 Equity imputes an intent to fulfill an obligation
• 2.8 Equity acts in personam or persons
• 2.9 Equity abhors a forfeiture
• 2.10 Equity does not require an idle gesture
• 2.11 He who comes into equity must come with clean hands
• 2.12 Equity delights to do justice and not by halves
• 2.13 Equity will take jurisdiction to avoid a multiplicity of suits
• 2.14 Equity follows the law
• 2.15 Equity will not aid a volunteer (this is wrong description of the maxim)
• 2.16 Where equities are equal, the law will prevail
• 2.17 Between equal equities the first in order of time shall prevail
• 2.18 Equity will not complete an imperfect gift
• 2.19 Equity will not allow a statute to be used as a cloak for fraud
• 2.20 Equity will not allow a trust to fail for want of a trustee

Stoics…

1. The Stoic's Triad:

• Control what you can, let go of what you can't.

• Act with integrity and virtue.

• Cultivate wisdom and self-awareness.

2. The Three Rules of the Stoics

• live in agreement with nature

• follow reason

• be of service to others

3. The Four Virtues of Stoicism

• Wisdom: Understanding the difference between things in our control and things not in our control

• Courage: Acting according to our values, even in the face of adversity

• Justice: Treating others fairly and with kindness

• Temperance: Moderating our desires and passions for the greater good

1. The Serenity Prayer:

1. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

2. The courage to change the things I can,

3. And the wisdom to know the difference.
   
   

2. The Four Agreements (Toltec):

1. Be impeccable with your word.

2. Don't take anything personally.

3. Don't make assumptions.

4. Always do your best.
   
   

3. The Five Precepts of Buddhism:

1. Refrain from taking life.

2. Refrain from taking what is not given.

3. Refrain from sexual misconduct.

4. Refrain from false speech.

5. Refrain from intoxicants that cloud the mind.
   
   

4. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:

1. Be proactive.

2. Begin with the end in mind.

3. Put first things first.

4. Think win-win.

5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

6. Synergize.

7. Sharpen the saw.

RE SHARPEN:  Covey says that one should balance and renew one's resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. He primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, good prayer, and good reading for mental renewal. He also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.

Covey explains the "upward spiral" model”. Through conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, an upward spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement. In essence, one is always attempting to integrate and master the principles outlined in The 7 Habits at progressively higher levels at each iteration. Subsequent development on any habit will render a different experience and one will learn the principles with a deeper understanding. The upward spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, do. According to Covey, one must be increasingly educating the conscience in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral. The idea of renewal by education will propel one along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power, says Covey.

5. The Eightfold Path of Buddhism

1. Right understanding: Seeing things as they truly are

2. Right intention: Cultivating wholesome intentions

3. Right speech: Communicating in a way that is truthful and beneficial

4. Right action: Acting in accordance with ethical principles

5. Right livelihood: Earning a living in a way that does not cause harm

6. Right effort: Continuously striving to improve oneself

7. Right mindfulness: Being aware of the present moment

8. Right concentration: Focusing the mind in meditation
   
   

6. The Four Cardinal Virtues of Christianity

1. Prudence: Being practical and making wise decisions

2. Justice: Treating others fairly and with kindness

3. Fortitude: Having courage and perseverance in the face of adversity

4. Temperance: Moderating our desires and passions for the greater good
   
   

7. The Humanist Manifesto

1. The world is self-existing and not created

2. Human beings are a part of nature and have evolved through natural processes

3. Human beings have the responsibility to make the most of their lives and to strive for the greater good

4. Ethics should be based on reason and empathy, not on supernatural authority

5. The goal of human life is to achieve happiness and fulfillment
   
   

8. The Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant

1. Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
   
   

9. The Four Freedoms of Franklin D. Roosevelt

1. Freedom of speech… thought? expression?

2. Freedom of worship

3. Freedom from want

4. Freedom from fear
   
   

10. The Four Values of John Dewey

1. Democracy

2. Science

3. Education

4. Social responsibility
   
   

11. The Three American Rights

1. Life

2. Liberty

3. The Pursuit of Happiness.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

by Max Ehrmann ©1927

Intro to Wisdom (Draft)(Ehrman’s Desiderata framework)

Know yourself

Seek your own balance

Respect the balance of others

Respect the balance of nature (Apollonian)

Nurture courage to change what must be changed

Nurture serenity to accept what cannot be changed

Nurture wisdom to know the difference (Wygal/Niebuhr)

Strive to do good without attachment to results (Bhagavad Gita)

I. Yourself

How will you live 

Your one wild and precious life?

You do not have to be good

You do not have to walk on your knees

Far through the desert repenting

You only have to let 

the soft animal of your body

Love what it loves (Oliver)

Seek your own way

Without comparison to others

Go placidly amid the noise and haste

Remember what peace there may be in silence (Ehrman)

Consider your thoughts

For they become your words

Consider your words

For they become your actions

Consider your actions

For they become your habits. 

Consider your habits

For they become your values (Ghandi)

Be yourself

Be skeptical of what you have been taught

Question authority

Question yourself

Answer yourself

Turn toward love

Turn toward your beloved (Gottman)

Against all aridity and disenchantment

Love is as perennial as the grass (Ehrman)

Break your heart until it opens (Rumi)

What is so strong as the human heart

Which shatters over and over

And still lives (Kaur)

Be here now

Living and alive in each moment

Prepare as best you may

Be boldly cautious

Be cautiously bold

Surrender but don't give up (Gonzales)

Be firm with yourself

Be gentle with yourself

Take kindly the counsel of years

Gracefully surrender the things of youth (Ehrman)

Nurture strength of spirit

Your shield in misfortune (Ehrman)

Do not distress yourself with dark imaginings

Fear is born of ignorance

Of fatigue and loneliness

Worry not about tomorrow

Live each day in its turn

Consider flowers of the field

They toil not

Neither do they spin

Yet they are beautiful

Beyond all reckoning

Beyond all rivalry (Jesus)

You are a child of the universe 

No less than the trees and the stars 

You have a right to be

You have a right to consent

You have a right to withhold consent

You have a right to speak your mind

You have a right to your own person

You have rights beyond all these

Life is yours to live

Life is yours to end

At the time of your own choosing

Live right

Live free

Pursue happiness

Die well

Do to be

Be to do

Commit

Learn

Do

Be

II. Others

Love yourself

Love your neighbor

Love your adversary

Each is equally deserving

It is easy to love your friend

It is hard to love your enemy

Therefore make no enemy of your adversary

As far as possible 

Without surrender

Be on good terms with all persons

Seek first to understand

After to be understood

Speak your truth quietly and clearly

Listen to others

Even the dull and ignorant

They too have their story

Keep your balance

In the face of anger

In the face of contempt

Remember who you are

Remember where you stand

Consider

While happiness can be solitary

The happiness of others

Is the happiness of each

Be generous for selfish reasons (Cooper)

Strive for equity for selfish reasons

Strive to empower all alike

Tolerate diversity

Shun only intolerance

Do all you have agreed to do (Toltec+)

Respect other persons and their property (Maybury)

All is allowed among consenting adults

Live and let live

Nurture compassion

Nurture kindness

Nurture equity

Nurture justice

Nurture mercy (Karate+)

III. The World

Respect the balance of nature

That balance is robust

That balance is fragile

You are of nature

We are of nature

Its life is your life

Its life is our life

Be cautious

The world is full of deceit

Yet be not blind to virtue

Whether or not you see

The world is unfolding as it should (Ehrmann)

Sitting quietly

Doing nothing

Grass grows of itself (Tao)

Therefore be at peace

Whatever your labors and aspirations

In the noisy confusion of life 

Keep peace in your soul

IIII. Life and Death

Tallest tree

Brightest star

Soon shall all be gone

Do not grieve for all you see

Nor woe this flesh and bone (Willis)

Go not gentle into that good night

Rage rage against the dying of the light (Thomas)

Go gentle nonetheless

Life is but a moment

Between life and death

Just a deep deep breath

Full of memories and dream (Ventum)

Die with memories

Not dreams

O thou 

Last fulfillment of life

Death 

My death 

Come and whisper to me

Day after day 

I have kept watch for thee

For thee have I borne 

The joys and pangs of life

All that I am

All that I have

All that I hope

All my love

Have ever flowed 

Towards thee (Tagore)

Death is like taking off shoes

Which all along

Have been too tight (Ram Dass)

Death does not extinguish the light

Only puts out the lamp

Because the dawn has come (Tagore)

When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder

if I have made of my life 

Something particular and real

I don’t want to find myself
Sighing and frightened

Or full of argument

I don’t want to end up 

Simply having visited this world (Oliver)

And o 

There are days in this life

Worth the living

Worth the dying (Dickens)

Before death takes away what you are given

Give away what there is to give (Rumi)

Only in silence the word

Only in darkness light

Bright the hawk's flight

On the empty sky (Le Guin)