Sometimes You want to do the Good Thing and the result is a Bad Thing.
Sometimes You start an Activity with a Good Intention but the Activity runs completely Out of Hand because You were unable to Predict all the effects.
Sometimes an Activity starts with a Good Intention and Ends with a Good Result but much later You discover that you have started a Chain of Activities and the Result of the Chain is Bad.
Good and Bad are Context Dependent.
Look at this little Story:
A Chinese farmer awoke one morning to find a horse grazing in one of his fields. Since nobody came to claim the horse, the farmer used it to plow his uncultivated land. “What a good this horse is for you,” said his neighbor. “We’ll see,” said the farmer. Soon after, the farmer’s 18-year-old son was riding the horse when it shied at a snake. The youth fell off and broke his leg. “What an evil this is for you,” said his neighbor. “We’ll see,” said the farmer. Soon after, the warlord’s agents combed the village, conscripting young men for his army. Because of his broken leg, the farmer’s son was not taken. “What a good this is for you,” said his neighbor. “We’ll see,” said the farmer.
The Tarot Card the Devil: The Devil, the God Pan, is the Force of Desire. On the Card we can see that Humans are able to Lift the Chains of Desire.
About the Golden Rule of Ethics
The big problem is that we attach a Value to the Intentions or the Consequences of an Activity and this Value has just two Names named: “Good” or “Bad“.
When the E-Valuation is “Good” we Feel Good. When the E-Valuation is “Bad” we feel Anger, Sadness, Guilty, Depressed or Worse. The Names of the Evaluation trigger the Emotions Deeply.
Most of the time we feel Guilty without any need to feel Guilty because we are not in Control of Everything that Happens.
The Ego, our Identity, is not able to stand the Lack of Control it has on the Outside World.
Humans need the “Illusion of Control” to sustain their Identity. Deep within they don’t want to believe that Other Human Beings or the Forces of Nature (“the Acts of God“) are also Active Agents.
The Science that is trying to define the Good and the Bad is called Ethics.
Ethics is the Philosophical Study of “the Moral Value of Human Conduct and of the Rules and Principles that ought to govern it” or “the principles concerning the distinction between Right and Wrong or Good and Bad Behavior’
The most important Rule of Ethics is the so called Golden Rule : ” We should do to others what we would want others to do to us” or “do not do to others what you would not like to be done to you“.
The Golden Rule of Empathy and Forgiving is the most important Ethical Rule in many Cultures all around the World.
The Golden Rule uses the Principle of Self-Reference. Something is Applied on Itself.
When we apply the Principle of Self-Reference to the Bad, we move into the Domain of Lady Justice.
Lady Justice: An Eye for an Eye (Revenge)
About Justice and Revenge
When Bad People don’t want to use the Good Golden Rule some cultures use the Rule “An Eye for an Eye” (Revenge) to do Justice to the Bad Ones. When you do Bad to a Person, the Bad Behavior is Applied to Yourself. “Eye for an eye” is used to make Bad People Aware of the Good Golden Rule.
The interesting point is that the combination of the Golden Rule and the “Eye for an Eye“-Rule (called Tit-for-Tat) is the best way to solve the Iterated Prisoners Dilemma, a Chain of Conflicts.
Strangely enough The Good (now called Cooperation) is Accomplished when you just Imitate the Behavior of the Others.
There is One (fatal) Exception to the Strategy of Tit-for-Tat. If you want to operate On Your Own and You think You don’t need the Others to Survive the best Way to Operate is to Betray Every Body. Bad Behavior provides you with a Huge Economic Win but also with a Huge Social Loss.
When you Betray the others, You have To Protect Yourself for the Revenge of the Others.
To Compensate your Social Loss You have to Buy the Others (Lawyers, Mercanaries, ) or (worse) you have to Force the Others with Violence to Cooperate with You. In the first Case you lose a lot of Money and in the last case the Amount of Revenge increases exponentially.
To Survive you always have to Balance the Social (“the Other“) and the Economic (“the Ego“). The “easy way’ is to do the Good and the “difficult way“ is to do the Bad.
Cooperation is a highly Effective and Efficient Method to accomplish the Good for Your Self and the Others because Good Behavior attracts Good Behavior and Bad Behavior attracts Bad Behavior.
The Seven Virtues
About the Seven Virtues.
To do Good or to do Justice you have to Apply the Same to the Same because The Same Attracts the Same.
The Same not only Attracts the Same. The Same Repels the Not-the-Same.
The Same Law: ”Look-A-Likes Like Each Other and Repel the Organisms that are not looking alike” (called Genetic Similarity Theory) also explains Evolution. This rule was detected by Charles Darwin when he wanted to explain the huge amount of Cooperation in Nature.
When you Apply the Same to the Same (Self-Reference) it generates a Fractal Structure in which the Same Structure Repeats Itself on Every Level (“As Above, So Below“).
It Looks Like there is a Universal Moral Law that explains Behavior on Every Level of the Universe.
Some Scientists believe the Moral Laws are Eternal Truths. This believe has a long History that goes back to Ancient Rome (Cicero), Ancient Greece (Plato, Socrate) and Ancient Egypt (Ma’at).
During the Renaissance (“Rebirth“) the Moral Principles of Rome, Greece, and Egypt were reborn and transformed into Moral Systems based on the Four (Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Fortitude) or the Seven Virtues (The Four Virtues & Faith, Hope and Love).
When you understand and apply the Universal Moral Laws you use the Virtue of Prudence (Wisdom, Knowledge). To Apply the Golden Lesson you need to have Courage and a Strong Will, the Virtue of Fortitude. When you keep the three Virtues (Wisdom, Justice and Will) in the right Balance you are practising the virtue of Temperance.
They last three virtues are derived out of the First Letter to the Corinthians written by Paul:
“If I speak in the tonguesof men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”.
The Golden Rule of Ma'at (Forgiving and Empathy)
About the Temperance of Ma’at
Ma’at (later named Sophia ) was one of the (3×3) Nine Egyptian Neteru . She represented the Virtues of Truth, Balance, Justice, and Order. Just like Lady Justice she uses a Scale.
The dead person’s Heart was placed on the scale, balanced by the Feather of Ma’at. If the Heart weighed the same as the Feather of Ma’at, the deceased was allowed to go on to the Eternal Afterlife and gained Immortality (Heaven).
If the deceased had been found not to have followed the concept of Ma’at during his life (if he had lied or cheated or killed or revenged) his heart was devoured by a demon and he died the final death and was Reincarnated (Hell).
The Human, the Talking Baboon, had to start all over again to Learn and Apply the most important Golden Lesson of the Universe.
The way of Ma’at was to Act out of the Center of Conscioussness, the Heart. Acting out of the Heart is called the Virtue of Love.
Ma’at was also the God of Balance, Rythm and the Cycles. The Good and the not-Good moved the Cycles of the Universe.
The Good and the not-Good came out of the Same Source, the Void, the Sekhem, the Source of Infinite Potential and Love.
The Tree Faces of Shiva (Creator, Destructor and Brahman (Void, Love, Infinite Potential))
About the Trinity of the Mind
In the Eastern (Gnostic, Egyptian, Indian, African, Mystic) Believe System the Good and the Bad are both created by the Demiurg (or the Logos, “In the beginning was the Word and Word was God“) one of the Creations of the Void. The Void exists outside our Level of Existence. The Void is a Mystery.
The Good and the not-Good, the Bad, are Complementary Opponents. Their Union is the Whole. They Share the Void, the Empty Set. The Empty Set contains Everything that is Impossible.
The Good and the Bad Move the Cycles of the Universe. They represent the E-Motions (Expansion (Desire, Creation) and Contraction (Control, Destruction)) of the Void.
The Good and the Bad Cooperate by Competing to bring the Lonely Souls back to the Void.
The Good, the Creator, and the Bad, the Destructor, are Two Faces of the Same Entity, the Spiritual Trinity, who came out of the Nothing.
The connection with the Void can be found in the Middle (the Golden Mean) of the Body, the Heart, the Link between the Triangel of the Material World (the Body) and the Triangel of the Spiritual World (The Mind).
The Heart, the connection with the Void, is the Seat of Consciousness. It is also the Seat of the Emotions (Soul).
When the Heart Weights like a Feather, the Upper (Mind) and the Lower Trinity (the Body) connected by the Emotions are in Balance.
The Bad and the Good are Attractors. When the Attraction becomes too High you get Addicted to the Bad or the Good. A huge Expansion is compensated by a huge Contraction to Balance the Cycle. When you want to avoid the Pain of Contraction you have to Balance your Life.
The Two Triangels with the Heart in the Middle are the Same As the Seven Chakra’s (2×3+1) and the Seven Virtues of the Renaissance.
The Seven Chakra’s together with the Spiritual Trinity are Similar to the Tree of Life, The Egyptian Pesedjet/Neteru and the Jewish Sephirot (3×3+1).
The Seven Chakra's
About the Trinity of the Body
When Body and Mind are in Balance, the Ideas of the Spiritual Trinity are received by the Trinity of the Mind and are Implemented by the Trinity of the Material Body in the Material World (Earth).
When the Mind is not connected to the Body and the Spirit, the Ideas become Abstractions (only Words) or the Impulses of the Desire of the Body Takes over Control.
When the Mind is not connected to the Spirit Innovation stops and Old Ideas (the Seeds) Repeat Themselves All the Time. The Human becomes a Machine Caught in the Wheel of the Good and the Bad.
The One, the Spiritual Trinity, who is The Void, the Good (the Creator) and the Bad (the Destructor), uses the Strategy of Tit-for-Tat, the Trickster.
The Trinity Imitates the Behavior of the Humans or We the Humans Copy their Behavior (“We are made in the Image of God“)!
The One wants to make the Humans Aware of the Fact that the only way to Survive the Infinite Chain of Conflicts (Dilemma’s, Contradictions), which is Life, is to Cooperate (Live out of the Heart) with the Infinite Potential, the God of Love.
The Big Implosion
About Destruction
The Golden Rule of Ethics tries to avoid the Negative Emotions, the Emotions of Loss. It wants to Create a situation were Everybody is Happy.
The Golden Rule of Ethics helps a lot to Evaluate our Intentions and the Consequences of our Intentions but the effect of our Collective Actions on the Bigger Structures is almost Unpredictable.
It would help a lot if we could Expand our View from the Emotional Human Other to “all the Other Life-Forms” that are in Existence.
In this case we have to Understand the Effects of our Behavior on the Negative Emotions of the Bacteria, the Plants, the Animals, Earth and even the Universe.
It is not clear if our Emphatic System is able to Imagine the Inner World of the other Life Forms.
If the Act of Destruction is felt the same by all these Organisms it will be simply impossible to Live.
We have to Destroy Others to stay Alive.
The Universe Destroys to Stay Alive.
The Destruction of the Old is needed to Create the New.
At this moment we are confronted with a World-Wide Crisis on many Levels of Existence. The Collective Behavior of the Human Race is Destroying our Environment.
The Collective Desire to Create and Expand has reached the Limits of the System we Live in.
It is almost impossible to Control this Expansion. The Control Systems have also reached their Limits.
The Two Complementary Forces, The Good and the Bad, Expansion and Contraction, Desire and Control, have both reached their Outer Limits.
If they both reach the Limits the Expanding Balloon of our Outer Universe will Explode in Itself (Implode) and move through the Void to another State. There is Simply no Space Left to Expand.
If this happens the Expansion of the Outer World will be Transformed into an Expansion of the Inner World.
The Big Bang, the Big Explosion, the Sublime Act of Creation, will Repeat itself and the Big Implosion will Create a New Universe.
The Flow of Time
About Not-Acting
Wu Wei (Not Acting, Acting without Effort) is an important concept of Taoism.
When you want to apply this concept you have to Know Everything There is to Know about the Cycles and the Forces of Nature. Wu Wei is only possible when you have aquired the Knowledge and the Wisdom of Ma’at/Sophia.
Most of the Time the Power of the Cycle is so Strong that it is impossible for Us to influence the Flow of Time.
Sometimes on a Rare Moment on a Special Place the Cycles can be Influenced.
Only at that Special Magic Moment the Human is able to do the Good or the Bad.
At all the other Moments History Takes its Course. The Good and Bad Forces, the Acts of God, Act without our Consent on the Higher Levels of Our Universe. It is a Waste of Time and Energy to Oppose these Forces.
Most of the Time we are Pushed by the Forces of Nature. We Act without Effort.
In Ancients Times the Forces were called Gods, Angels or Devils. At this moment we Name these Forces with Different Names (Gravity, the Strong and Weak Force and the Electro-Magnetic Force) but the Effect of the Forces on our Field of Existence stays the Same.
At a Magic Moment Everything, even the Impossible, is Possible. At such a moment we are ”in Tune with“ the Empty Set, the Void, the Sekhem, the Tao, the Field, the Love, the Mystery, the Unspoken.
The Emotions of Loss are created when we Lose Something.
If you Own Nothing You have Nothing to Lose.
If you Expect Nothing, Every Thing will Happen.
When people see things as beautiful,
ugliness is created.
When people see things as good,
evil is created.
Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low oppose each other.
Fore and aft follow each other.
Therefore the Master
can act without doing anything
and teach without saying a word.
Things come her way and she does not stop them;
things leave and she lets them go.
She has without possessing,
and acts without any expectations.
When her work is done, she takes no credit.
That is why it will last forever.
(Tao Te Ching, Chapter II)
LINKS
About Game Theory and Ethics
About Cybernetics and Ethics
About Social Balance Theory
About Addiction
How to Resolve a Conflict
About the Seven Virtues
About the Illusion of Control and other Human Biases
About Morality and Ethics
About Ethical Dilemma’s
About Tit-for-Tat
About Tit-for-Tat and World Politics
About Genetic Similarity Theory
About the Renaissance
About Ma’at and the Measure of the Heart
About the Nine Egyptian Concepts (the Neteru)
About Plato and the New Harmony
About Socrate and the Golden Rule
About the Demiurg
About the Mystic Experience
About the Heart
About the Void
About the Sekhem
About the Trinity
About the Trickster
