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Old 06-07-2010, 02:32 AM   #44 (permalink)
filtherton
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Location: In the land of ice and snow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cernunnos View Post
I tend to shy away from discussions that address the concept of rights, any sort of universal morality, or what one deserves. I consider these to be social constructs entirely dependent on the existence of other human beings in groups.

Rights originated as a necessity of law for relative peace and unity to be maintained within the group, common morality functions strictly as a deterrent against those who would otherwise infringe upon the artificial rights of others, and what one deserves is functionally related to the perceived quality and quantity of resources expended.

I would also be negligent if I were not to point out that you've dissected your traits and how they were undetermined by you, so you as an individual are undeserving, yet your identity as an individual and the object of inquiry remains unexplained. What are you, that can be deserving or undeserving of your success? You aren't some third person observer and judge; credit is what others grant, in their opinion. The summation of biology and experience is what you are, I would say. Refuse to consider yourself as an individual, only a collection of cells that produces an effect which perceives the sensation of false autonomy (individuality). Social constructs such as rights, morality, and deservedness dissolve into unintelligible nonsense. Accept who you are, which includes all of your biology and experiences, as well as those shunned traits, and follow your own wishes without feeling guilt over or antipathy towards your success.
I haven't mentally separated myself from my traits. In fact, it is the very things that make up me that allow me to ask the question in the OP. I am fully willing to embrace the idea that we're all merely the result of a very long, random, complex, iterative, multiscale process. I don't feel guilty about my successes to date and have embraced the traits I deemed worthwhile and tried to alter or mitigate the effects of the traits I've deemed detrimental.

I fully intend to enjoy whatever success I've achieved. I just don't plan on building a shrine to myself.
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