stan writes:
Reading this thread, I think that Sam, William, and Wolfgang have
pretty much the same response to this, a very self-actualized response.
I congratulate you, because your attitude is a great one to have.
However, I want to point out that you are probably capable of that
attitude because of a couple of fortunate circumstances. First, you
probably had an upbringing that enabled you to have the ability to
adopt that attitude. i.e. your environment programmed you without
harming you, and gave you good base values and beliefs. Second, your
brain is probably wired in a way that made it easier for you. Many
people in this world don't have those advantages. They had abusive
childhoods that programmed them as victims. They have cognitive wiring
that makes it harder for them to overcome this.
There are always individual exceptions, but in general I believe that this
is exactly the opposite.
It is precisely those who successfully overcame life's personal obstacles,
who beaten tremendous odds and challenges – those individuals who have
succeeded despite every boundary and obstacle that life threw their way –
it is those individuals who learned the value of having a solid foundation
of self-esteem, personal responsibility, and a strong ethic: those are the
kind of people who are just not going to take any crap from anyone else.
If everyone in the world was like you, or even capable of being like
you, then 'anything goes' could be the rule. Your boss would call you
in to give you a pep talk as so:
"XXXX, what is this latest turkey you produced? Have you got shit for
brains? A five year old could do better work than this. I'm surprised
you can walk and chew gum at the same time. Now get out there and
produce something worthwhile, or I'll fire your useless ass!"
Ummm, no. I'm pretty sure that's not going to be "the rule". At most,
something like that would happen only for the first, and last time.
When I wrote that an appropriate license is require before someone is
allowed to offend me, it doesn't mean that I'll just sit there, quietly,
while they rant and rave in my direction.
That's not what I meant, at all.
But everyone in the world isn't like you, and so if we want to
make
contributions from everyone welcome, we have to make all those psyche
styles welcome.
What's this, stackoverflow.com?
That means everyone has to coalesce around a
greatest
common divisor style, a mostly non-confrontational and non-belittling
Hold that thought.
person never feels slighted. I remember reading a science fiction
story once. It was a world where everyone was lowered to the lowest
common denominator.
Right, and I opt myself out.
I'm simply not going to reduce myself to the lowest common denominator in
the vicinity. I won't stop, or object, to someone else who chooses to do so.
That's their decision to make, but it won't be mine.