I often say that I’m frustrated with being human, but that’s not really true. A
dog may feel anger, jealousy, fear. A chimpanzee can show understanding of
consequences, but can never have the willpower to use that knowledge. Even the
simplest of animals can feel pain. But it is a uniquely human ability to
transcend those base drives, to consider the future, to do not what is easy,
but to do what is right. It is this uniquely human property which will take
us to the stars. It is this property which allows us to become more ethical
than the society in which we are raised.
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Your brain does not exist to do what is “right”. Your brain does not exist to
make the world a better place. Your brain does not exist to make your
experience meaningful, or pleasant, or pain-free.
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There are oftentimes when I talk enthusiastically about sharing my skills,
techniques, and knowledge with other people. Usually this is greeted with
enthusiasm in return, but sometimes I get a strange reaction… Whether it’s
improving one’s codebase, or creating a spectacular outfit, or simply getting
interesting people to meet and share their ideas, I’ll occasionally have a
friend ask me if I really want to be doing that, because I’m giving away
my “secrets”.
I appreciate that in business, a competitive advantage is a good thing. Being
able to differentiate yourself from your competition is vitally important, and
sharing one’s secrets with those who might use them to compete with you isn’t
always a wise choice.
My problem with this attitude is that it assumes that money is the point
of the exercise. It’s easy to think this, and from a business perspective it
might be true, but thinking of money as the goal kind of misses the whole point
of living.
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