A Personal Morality,The Mechanics of Virtue, aphorism 276

276

A Personal Morality: A machine has been handed a manual which is said to be the function and said in such a way that we are to ignore the existence of the machine and its actual function.  The machine, its function, and its manual are separate perspectives ... upon one reality.  

We do not bother to sort these out in order to put together a strategy for reality, but mix and match elements from each perspective as a human consequence.  We do not plan but rather find a behavioral harmony already in place through a natural force which might best be called, “the law of convenience.”  What will get us through the day without upsetting our imagined rank and without rasping against the inertia of our habits?  That is our “method.”  


Those unfortunate truth-seekers are those whose manual is the most incongruous with the visible function.  This incongruity can result from a poorly crafted machine, a poorly written manual, or a function whose capacity exceeds that of the technical writer.  This incongruity results in an ongoing inconvenience which then forces the individual to sort out the various perspectives.  Truth is not revealed to him from above or from the beyond – but from within – or so he feels it (and with some truth, for he has been cracked open under the boot of his circumstance).  The most he can do with this otherwise impossible situation is claim, “I am a truth seeker” ... the “truth is within me.” But to see what he is talking about, others now look beyond themselves....

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