Aria Jenneth
Caldari
Ghost Festival
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Posted - 2008.08.18 01:08:00 -
[31]
 Originally by: Stitcher
The lovely thing about being human, pilot, is that we have the capacity to change with time - to leave past grievances and hatreds behind us, to adapt to a new reality and a new way of thinking. With time, the unthinkable can become routine.
I'd associate that trait more with being living, conscious, and perhaps sentient (defining the word broadly, to include such creatures as dogs) than with being human, as such, Verin. Even leaving our own state of being out of it, humans aren't the only creatures in which attitudes change.
As a note, I can't help noticing that you keep stating and restating our common humanity. Would the point of this be an attempt to diffuse hatreds, basically stating, "Caldari, Gallente, we're all just human?" If so, it's a charming if possibly slightly inaccurate point (they would all be human; we might not be). If not ... well, I can't help wondering whom you're trying to convince.
In any case, my apologies for getting bogged down in minutia.
Ms. Ehr:
I actually started out not too different from yourself, though perhaps a little more skeptical of my own indoctrination. I'm not sure I ever really overcame it; I'm not really sure I want to. What I see as good in this universe is a part of my identity. But time and experience do tend to moderate people (and notice I say "tend"), and intense beliefs encounter compromise and contradiction at every turn.
The Amarr say that the gates of heaven open but once-- to wander from the path, to become, even briefly, unworthy of heaven is to lose it forever.
I think that's the most ridiculous balderdash ever expressed (and I say that as someone who finds much to admire in the Amarrian faith). One who never wavers may make a good role model for those who desire nothing more than to be whatever their superiors desire them to, but for those who aspire to understand ... it's not enough. How could it be?
The Amarr seem to believe that those who wander will never come back, but it seems to me that one who sees other places and other things, and tries to understand how others live and why, and then sees for herself why she believes what she believes, and the good that it does, will be much the stronger and the better citizen for it-- enough to make up for those who wander off, never to return.
You have your name, you have your nation of birth, you have your loyalty. You might as well find out for yourself why you should maintain these things-- and if, in the end, you can't see a reason to value what you have been taught to value, well, perhaps it's better that way. At least you will follow whatever you believe because you see the importance of that belief, not because you were programmed with it.
Admittedly, I'm Achura-- understanding our places in this universe is a cornerstone of our faith. Perhaps it is different for the Civire and Deteis; I know at least one Civire who might passionately disagree. But it seems to me that one who is loyal, knowing why she is loyal, is worth ten who are loyal out of mere habit. |
Stitcher
Caldari
Duty.
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Posted - 2008.08.19 00:18:00 -
[32]
Originally by: Aria Jenneth
I'd associate that trait more with being living, conscious, and perhaps sentient (defining the word broadly, to include such creatures as dogs) than with being human, as such, Verin. Even leaving our own state of being out of it, humans aren't the only creatures in which attitudes change.
Maybe so, but we are the only species I am aware of that is so massively recalcitrant when it comes to acknowledging said change. Our present behaviour is too often influenced by data and responses that may be months, years or decades obsolete.
Granted, past action is worthy reference material. There are a small handful of pilots out there who I doubt I will ever be able to fully trust because of the magnitude of their demonstrated dishonesty. It would certainly take a near-total rebirth of personality to redeem them.
Still, those are extreme cases, examples of clear and overt deed (I forget exactly how many billions of ISK or the precise number of dreadnoughts the people in question stole, but neither figure was small). Words are less absolute in this regard. A person whose arguments lack merit might ultimately be convinced of the fact. An undiplomatic soul might conceivably be taught the value of care and restraint in their speech. People are too unwilling to give the benefit of the doubt however - if we cling too long to the past words of a reformed personality, we do them an injustice. In my book, you should forgive an injury of deed slowly if at all, but an injury of word may be mended quickly.
Quote:
As a note, I can't help noticing that you keep stating and restating our common humanity. Would the point of this be an attempt to diffuse hatreds, basically stating, "Caldari, Gallente, we're all just human?" If so, it's a charming if possibly slightly inaccurate point (they would all be human; we might not be). If not ... well, I can't help wondering whom you're trying to convince.
No real agenda, I just believe it to be a self-evident truth. We ARE all human (you too, Aria, whether you believe it in your heart of hearts or not). There are common threads of thought and instinct that unite us all as a species, even if other threads drive us apart as factions.
I see no need to convince people. Mostly I just put these thoughts out there as a way of advertising the fact that I continue to have a functioning brain. |