Idealism

While many strategies for constructing a system of thought exist, the main dichotomy one must consider is the one between cooperation and competition. On the one hand, competition is an alluring strategy because it acts as an impetus to progress. There are countless examples of great things that exist today because of the efforts of people engaged in competition. That said, cooperation must be the dominant paradigm. A society must be free to realign the framework that surrounds a competition in order to align the incentives with that society’s desired outcomes. The framework – a system of rules and norms defining the stakes and potential rewards – must encapsulate a gamified version of competition, because when it is the other way around, people – actual flesh and blood people – get abandoned, hurt, traumatized, maimed, and killed. History teaches us very clearly that unchecked competition leads to a breakdown of the social order. Famine, war, disease and pogroms are the result of allowing the desire to dominate and succeed overwhelm the desire for community and genuine human connection. This is my most cherished ideal. Perhaps the only thing I feel truly certain about. It is the one principal that underlies all other principals with which I organize my life – even my own thoughts. You may dominate me, coerce me, manipulate me, persuade me, convince me, or entice me. However, I absolutely abhor the idea of betraying this principle. In no case could I ever compromise on this core belief, because if in the future, the entity residing in this body ceases to hold this belief, that person will no longer be me in any meaningful sense.