ideas on which I am willing to act
Goals
To critically assess …
- Whether good is what a virtuous person does or a person is virtuous who does good
- Whether acting on a brief is a choice or merely an instrument carrying out the belief
- How absence or loss enhances awareness or appreciation
- How we can be perceived as minor characters in the story of others
- To what extent a cause amounts to a reason for a response
- The extent to which a smart home pragmatically has beliefs
Theo’s Deity
Theo believes there is a being,
beyond the natural plane,
willing acts of consequence:
forming stars, making rain.
Imposing flood,
inspiring artists.
Shedding blood,
bringing harvest.
Theo thinks this deity,
in all it does or would,
can only be for humanity
by definition “good.”
But if such a super being
can do no moral wrong,
is ‘good’ simply the deity’s will
and all need for virtue gone?
What do you Think?
- There’s a saying about the Golden Rule: those who have the gold make the rules. Do they make good rules or are the rules good because they make them?
- If Theo’s deity is behind our every action, are we good or puppets of the good?
Russell Eves
Russell Eves rakes tree debris,
remnant of the storm.
There among the autumn leaves
is the ring his wife had worn.
Russell wrestles whether to retrieve
this gild of bond not long lost.
Redeem a measure of his grief,
or bury it where it was tossed.
Was it choice or misplaced surprise
as love melted in summer’s heat?
His bitter words, then her demise.
Time together they cannot repeat.
But if such a super being
can do no moral wrong,
is ‘good’ simply the deity’s will
and all need for virtue gone?
What do you Think?
- Did Russell’s wife lose the ring or toss it out? You don’t know what you have until it’s gone — is that true more for men or for women?
- Does it matter that ‘Russell Eves’ is a play upon rustling leaves? Could a case be made for the narrative told from the vantage of the ring and Russell has passed, no longer able to reach his wife? Maybe the ring is a symbol for a lifebuoy? Maybe this suggestion is just shiny.
Home.ostasis
Does my toilet stop filling after flushing
because the float thinks the tank is full?
Does the furnace start heating the house
when the thermostat is feeling a chill?
Would a plank re-balance on a wedge
because wood wants to live on the level?
Might mattress springs recoil from stress,
pushing back when feeling they’re able?
Reactions like these are certainly simple.
Feedback loops keep the physical stable.
And yet each trigger has a common motif:
they respond to stimulus based on belief.
Belief is detecting when imbalance is true
and responding as needed with what to do.
Belief resides in my mind and my heart,
and within my home — responsively smart.
What do you Think?
- Do we ever respond without a reason? Does a smart house ever respond without a reason? Does that mean it reasons?
- I know I have beliefs (and pain, and memories). I don’t know for certain that you have beliefs or those other things. I believe you have beliefs. So doesn’t it make sense to believe the house has beliefs?