Insecurity => creativity LO10963

Durval Muniz de Castro (durval@ia.cti.br)
Tue, 12 Nov 1996 10:10:16 -0800

Replying to LO10900 --

Benjamin B. Compton wrote:

> Which brings me back to me original question: What is moral? How do we
> know what is moral? These are important questions to answer before we say
> that we've experienced "moral decay."

Lao Tzu wrote (with some help of R. G. Henricks):

The highest virtue is not virtuous; therefore it truly has virtue.
The lowest virtue never loses sight of its virtue; therefore it has no true virtue.

The highest virtue takes no action, yet it has no reason for acting this way;
The highest humanity takes action, yet it has no reason for acting this way;
The highest righteousness takes action, and it has its reasons for acting this way;
The highest propriety takes action, and when no one responds to it, then
it angrily rolls up its sleeves and forces people to comply.

Therefore, when the way is lost, only then do we have virtue;
When virtue is lost, only then do we have humanity;
When humanity is lost, only then do we have righteousness;
And when righteousness is lost, only then do we have propriety.

As for propriety, it's but the thin edge of loyalty and sincerity, and
the beggining of disorder.
And foreknowledge is but the flower of the Way, and the beggining of
stupidity.

Therefore the Great Man
Dwells in the thick and doesn't dwell in the thin;
Dwells in the fruit and doesn't dwell in the flower.
Therefore, he rejects that and takes this.

(End of Quote)

Morality is not a binary quality, maybe we can say it is a scalar, with
various levels exhibiting different properties. The highest level of
morality is not subjected to rules ("Love and do as you wish"), while the
lowest levels consist in prudently following rules.

It is difficult to evaluate if our morality is worse now than in the past.
Things that were hidden in the past are now brought to the open. Will that
make us better or worse?

Morality is manifested in behavior through culture. Thus, the same
behavior may express different morality levels in different cultures.

Are we born with a high morality level which is then corrupted by society?
Or must morality be learned beginning from the lowest level?

What is the relation between morality and business? Business would
certainly be impossible without a certain level of morality. What
contribution should business give to morality? Not making it worse is
enough or should we expect a positive contribution?

The Learning Organization implies education in a wide meaning, of bringing
out the best in people, and doing so in organizations too. Thus, the
Learning Organization requires a growing level of morality.

Unfortunately, the things that are easy to measure are the ones most
likely to be checked. Short term financial results are easier to check
than long term investments. Strict rule following is easier to check than
social responsibility.

Maybe the only support for the assumptions that morality is not lost, that
it is reasonable to have hope, and that humanity has a tendency to
goodness, is simply faith. Faith doesn't have to be unchecked, but it is
fundamental to make life worth living.

Durval

-- 
Durval Muniz de Castro <durval@ia.cti.br>
Fundacao Centro Tecnologico para Informatica <http://www.ia.cti.br/>
Campinas - Brasil - Fone: 55-19-2401011 - Fax: 55-19-2402029
 

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>