Incomplete Information, Interpretation, Change

We do not possess the ability to communicate revelation in exact terms, metaphors and vagueness abound in all religions. To pass the scope of revelation we rely on allegories and seeming contradictory concepts, scripture become poetry that intends to carry more weight than what can be expressed by language. A work of poetry is considered great because it provides a surplus of interpretation. Capturing the scope of revelation is impossible so a poetic veil must be placed between the hidden truth and the surface interpretation, such as described by Moses Maimonides in "Guide for the Perplexed"

"See how beautifully the conditions of a good simile are described in this figure! It shows that in every word which has a double sense, a literal one and a figurative one, the plain meaning must be as valuable as silver, and the hidden meaning still more precious: so that the figurative meaning bears the same relation to the literal one as gold to silver. It is further necessary that the plain sense of the phrase shall give to those who consider it some notion of that which the figure represents. just as a golden apple overlaid with a network of silver, when seen at a distance, or looked at superficially, is mistaken for a silver apple, but when a keen-sighted person looks at the object well, he will find what is within, and see that the apple is gold. The same is the case with the figures employed by prophets. Taken literally, such expressions contain wisdom useful for many purposes, among others, for the amelioration of the condition of society; e.g., the Proverbs (of Solomon), and similar sayings in their literal sense. Their hidden meaning, however, is profound wisdom, conducive to the recognition of real truth."
Why can the real truth not be stated openly? The author may wish it hidden, but a work intended to benefit all by revealing the wishes of God would unlikely intentionally hide wisdom that can only benefit those who encounter it. Then it is a failure of the author or the ability of language to convey these ideas. Regardless, a deeper meaning is believed to be in parables and proverbs that can not, for whatever reason, be directly stated.

In reality there are many sects of faith whose interpretation of hidden meanings of the same material diverge. Perfectly rational minds made these interpretations and the claim of validity for one over the others, while debatable, is overshadowed by the fact that scripture can be interpreted in multiple ways. That being said we must look at the part of religion that makes it an enduring force instead of one human's contact with the divine, namely tradition, how religion is passed from generation to generation.

The part of religion that is passed from one generation to the next is two fold, first is scripture that is presumably unchanged in content and translated accurately. Second are the lessons of parents and mentors that encourage their charges to find specific deeper meanings to the scripture they read. As said it is actually impossible to relay a revelation in full, or those who had them would have laid them out in a manner that left no room for error so we can assume the experience with religion of passing generations also cannot not be imparted in full. Each subsequent generation makes a religion it's own to varying degrees of adherence or diversion. At times it's a pastime, or a unifying cause, or a reason to kill, or a reason to be martyred, the interpretation can not stop because of the natural conditions in which religion must be passed. And so, because one generation has found their religion to be a doctrine of peace and prosperity it does not ensure subsequent generations will meet the same results.

Develop Identity

Relationships must be built always with a sense of self identity.  Not to be mistaken with self-worship or avarice, this simply means individuals must not identify themselves through others.  A strong sense of identity and direction provides a standpoint from which relations can be examined as something one choses to participate in rather than a state that simply is.
Change is the nature of the universe and an identity formed through relations will be torn apart as the relations inevitably become estranged.   And one who moves through life basing his identity on others will have no chosen direction and no  knowledge, as all his actions and modes of perception will have been chosen, perhaps inadvertently, by others.

Notes from the Asylum

First, to provide some context. I have a great love for online role playing, Neverwinter Nights in particular. I enjoy exciting situations and well-played characters much more than seeing a monster splatter for the millionth time. But in seeking play quality that demands the devotion to stay in character, I have encountered many strange people who take themselves a bit too seriously or perhaps don't know how to take themselves at all. This essay is a start in forming well-reasoned opinion on a subject that has been vague with its limits not frequently discussed.

Identity is learned through interaction. When I encounter you, be it at the supermarket, in your bedroom, or on the internet, the way I act will give you an impression of my identity, and your reactions will give me input on my own identity. Should you and many others greet me with a smile and a wink, I may think myself handsome. Should you turn and run, I may think myself a monster. This is a greatly simplified and physical example. When encountering the internet one's abstract human identity or personality is expressed through a physically removed medium. These may be my words, but you can not hear my voice. I am also free to revise and edit before I commit to communication. This is perhaps an advantage of this method of communicating, and it does allow for effective portrayals of personalities other than one's own.

In a role playing game the premise is that one assumes the personality of a fictitious character. This character then goes on to live, love, hate, fight, and grow. There is nothing more wrong with this than reading fiction, a time waste perhaps, or therapeutic relaxation; however, when a character meets with more success than the player the possibility exists for confusion that can grossly skew one's perceptions. It is simple and expected for a fictitious character do meet with success in a fanciful pleasure world, but this is over-looked when it is granted that, while the characters may not be real, they face challenges and make decisions that are just as difficult as those faced in reality. This is not true as the situations are fictitious, imagined by people who do not know the actual weight of them. But this mistake leads to a dangerous deduction. If the character is able to meet these challenges with more success than the player does, the character's personality must have greater value than the player's own. The player then has a personality it values more than their own. It has met with success in a fantasy world; and many people tell me that they learn from their characters and they are able to think clearer as them, in short that they prefer to be their characters.

Then a game is played to partake in another personality, to actually be someone else. If the player learns enough from a character that player may come to emulate the character and hopefully come to enjoy the same success the character has. This is the hope that amounts to creating a phantasm, valuing it more than oneself for something it can not possess, and then trying to become it to gain it's nonexistant attributes.

Further, it is argued that playing games may teach cooperation or that there are different ways to look at a situation, and that by playing a game one might actually become better at making choices in one's life. But these lessons are simply prevailing prejudices, sometimes referred to as commonplaces. All commonplaces have opposites, such as "look before you leap" and "fortune favors the bold" any game designed to teach commonplaces can teach their opposites. Since they artificially instilled in the controlled environment of a game, there is no reason to believe these values will lead to success in life, only faith that the creator of the game has knowledge of life and knows what prejudices will lead to success. Ultimately, a game will reflect an arbitrary set of prejudices. One can only learn these, and not actually learn about life.

Playing a character is not contemplation because it is a work of fiction. Because it involves mental activity people often trick themselves into thinking they are engaging in a process that can result in knowledge of something true. The only seeming revelations that are had reinforce a person's standing prejudices and modes of thought. Nothing true is generated in a game, only play and entertainment, and that is fine if left at such.

http://nwn.bioware.com/guilds_registry/viewtopic.html?forum=573&topic=155682&gid=462

This is an extreme example of what I'm addressing.

The universe is transformation: life is opinion.

Opinions are judgments of moral worth and should not be equated with observations of pleasure. Besides the obvious expression of gratification, "this food tastes good to me, it is good," this includes bowing to flattery and praise: thinking some action worthwhile because of the reaction it will draw. While something can not be both base and virtuous, or harmonious and discordant, one is always between states of deficiency and excess in regard to pleasure. When I am hungry, my hunger does not fade with the first mouthful of food, it persists and drives me to continue eating until it is sated. Likewise is the mind of one who seeks flattery, one must be continually complimented to achieve what is mistaken for being good. Opinions are to be formed and reformed by meditating upon truth rather than formed in reaction to mental and physical pleasure that is forgotten in the next moment.

Devote continual attention to opinion, why do I have my opinions and what purpose do they serve? Isolate and examine my opinions as far as I am able, silent introspection orders the mind and this allows me to focus on what matters. My ability to form opinion must be cherished and exercised so that I might form correct opinions without contradiction. My opinions are what relate me to the world and only correct opinion will guide me to truth.

"This then remains: Remember to retire into this little territory of thy own, and above all do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which is within. The other is that all these things, which thou seest, change immediately and will no longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is opinion."

Marcus Aurelius

The World is Flux, Don't Forget to Think

Inherent virtue of actions must be what drives one to them rather than goods they will reap. This is magnanimity over pragmatism. Doing good to live forever in heaven makes a good action empty as it is then arbitrarily good, it is simply the one that results in heaven, so it is called good. To call oneself good in this context, being the doer of arbitrary actions that will result in eternal reward is flattery. Then how must good be judged?

"Every art, and every science reduced to a teachable form, and in like manner every action and moral choice, aims, it is thought, at some good: for which reason a common and by no means a bad description of the Chief Good is, 'that which all things aim at.' "

That might be a place to start, and we may arrive asking ourselves what happiness is and virtue as well. Just take care not be deluded by the words and authority of authors, the responsibility to philosophy is everyone's.

Brief Thoughts on Self Knowledge

Self knowledge is essential to happiness, if one does not have knowledge of self the only indication that one has is sensation. Life becomes a series of pragmatic choices to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. This opens the way for a life of regret over wasted years, if one is moved by fleeting passions rather than continuous thought. I must stress continuous because of the deceptive element that masquerades as the self.

Modes of thought are considered natural, even expected. "You are different with your friends than with your parents." Impulsive thinking that dictates one to mimic the thought process of idols and archetypes. This is likewise fleeting and gives no continuous meaning to life. There is no resting upon premises because there is only the imitation of what is built from fundamentals. One simply doesn't know why he holds the opinions he expresses, and he acts on meaningless opinion, and there lies cause for regret in life.

Starting Out

I typed these ideas up before heading out to work this morning, they are just some ideas I was kicking around in my head.

The wish to start over, and placing it as a goal, to avoid unwanted choices is absurd. A person is bound to make the same choices given the same situations repeating themselves. So always this wish includes the gift of foreknowledge or a change of situation. This amounts to wanting to pick and chose the make up of reality rather than fully live in it. If one were to truly start again they would endure the agony of the same mistakes rather than rise to an imagined state of blessedness.

I have thought over the concept of Tarot cards. If they are thought of as a measuring tool, such as a barometer or a thermometer, that measures the effect of an invisible force (pressure, heat) upon it, then might they provide a forecast of what moves them in relation to each-other? Chance that arises by the workings of humans. Just as the mercury in a barometer tells us the weight of the clouds, so might tarot cards tell us what the climate of chance human interaction is around the dealer. Yet, this is an abstract gathered from another abstract, rather than measurements of nature. So this reasoning is not complete.