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Vladimir_M comments on The Meaning of Life - Less Wrong
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Comments (107)
I liked this post.
I needed a few solid years of good strong individualist pep-talks before I was at all ready to be an adult.
"Non serviam,"
"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine,"
"Listen to the fools reproach! It is a kingly title!"
"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."
"Truth forever on the scaffold/ Wrong forever on the throne,"
and so on. (This song is in the same vein. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZnV6hKhFDs)
There's a cluster of writers (generally science fiction, libertarian, and atheist, with a little Tom Paine and Blake and Joyce in the mix) who were really good at inspiring me to be less automatically servile, more willing to stand for things on my own, less excessively guilty. I actually knew some people who were like that in real life, and would say things to the effect that they'd rather die on their feet than live on their knees. Wonderful folks.
As time goes by, I find that the more I internalize personal independence, the less overt it becomes, and the less I seek out writing that has a propagandistic tone -- I find I need it less and less. This might be why the post has a lukewarm reception around here -- it's the sort of writing that's for inspiring people not to be lapdogs. People who have not been lapdogs for a long time sometimes forget how important this kind of language can be. And people who are still between "denunciation and confession" like b1shop find it hard to imagine that there will be a time when they'll completely take personal independence for granted.
SarahC:
Trouble is, there are things in life where being servile and shutting up about your complaints is the only sane thing to do, and standing up for yourself would be a self-destructive act. Someone who consistently lives by the principle you cite will almost inevitably end up prematurely dead or in prison.
Of course, in many cases you'll benefit from standing up for yourself, and in fact, the willingness to do so is one of the main things that sets successful people apart from losers. However, the problem is not only how to tell these cases apart in practice (which can be very difficult by itself), but also how to manage inconsistent attitudes that you're supposed to have. Ideally, you'd like to suppress your aversion against servility in situations where it's rational be servile, to eliminate the temptation for self-destructive rebellion and avoid the unhappiness of being reminded of your subjugation and low status. At the same time, you want to feel bad about being servile in situations where it's rational to snap out of it and stand up for yourself -- but only in those. It seems to me that one of the marks of very successful people is that they're extremely well calibrated in this regard.
Well, the very thing about the exhortatory (sp?) mode is that it tells you that some kinds of behavior are admirable and others shameful -- not what's practical.
This site is not particularly fond of exhorting people to behave any one way, except to behave rationally. I suspect that is not because LW readers have no beliefs about what admirable behavior includes; I suspect there is even some overlap in their beliefs. I think it's more likely that they already take their own values for granted and are no longer looking to be preached at.