Moral values invert themselves with our inborn dominance mechanism. We cannot help but compete. When with the great one tries to be greater; when with the humble, contrasting themselves against that arrogance, one tries to be humbler still. Given the mechanism, one of these is immoral honesty, and the other, moral self-deceit.
the obstacle, aphorism 367, A Human Strategy by Matt Berry
367 A: Is it more pleasant without the obstacle? B: Yes, but before I discovered that it was an obstacle, I was content. There was no inconvenience, and therefore, there was no obstacle. A: But if it is “better” without the obstacle, wouldn’t it be wise to look for other comfortable, and therefore invisible obstacles everywhere? A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism