In the debate about values ,I'd like to add my own two cents. Although I
agree that values are an important inherent aspect of any culture, the
difficulty that most people might face would be in deciding which values
would be "good" and therefore, suitable to adopt.
I want to add another angle to Gary's example of the Rolex lying on the
beach. Here is what he says :
>... If you truly believe in the value of honesty, and you're walking down
>a deserted beach and see a beautiful rolidex watch half submerged in
>the sand, do you pick up and keep it? If you live and act conguently
>with your value of honesty - No! That would be dishonest -- it's not
>yours and you know it! You leave the rolidex there and let someone
>else pick it up and keep it!
This is all very well for the virtue of honesty, but what about the virtue
of acting responsibly ? I think that the appropriate thing to do woud be
to pick it up and act responsibly by reporting it to a lost and found
agency. Someone else picking it up - do you really know it will be the
owner who picks it up ?
You might point out that Gary and I still agree that the person who finds
it shouldn't keep it if he isn't the owner. But what if the finder had,
for example, a hungry family ? Would it still be worth it to keep walking
? Would it be worth it to allow your family to go hungry to indulge in
some 'feel-good' principle like honesty ?
After all, what are values and who defines them ? Like marriage,
government, and relegion , values are what we created and what we have
propogated through history. My point is that we are still at a nascent
stage and we should inquire further before labelling certain behaviours as
'good' and others as 'bad'. Perhaps a large chunk of history's massacres
and bloodsheds have been caused by people who think they are acting in
accordance with good values ( eg. the crusades).
Nothing is inherently good or bad, it is only the way that we choose to
see it that defines the goodness or badness of an action.
However, what I emphatically agree with is that a culture and it's
acheivements are defined by it's values. For example, the British values
of keeping one's word were instrumental in creating the gigantic British
empire that dominated continents. America's values of free sppech and
thought have made it's economy the most progressive in the world . China
and India's values of respect of learning have made them treasure troves
of human talent.
Is any of this good by itself ? No, but they represent goals that other
cultures would like to acheive...
Thanks for lending me your ear !
Jyotsna
--Jyotsna Pattabiraman <jyots@blr.cybercash.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>