A kind of person who devises special signals to put masks on a hiking trip when someone is approaching is indeed a cretin. I've seen lots of people like that where I live. I think the concept of forgiveness applied to people like that is almost a category error. It is similar to forgiving a wild animal. Possibly some trained Buddhists ca…
A kind of person who devises special signals to put masks on a hiking trip when someone is approaching is indeed a cretin. I've seen lots of people like that where I live. I think the concept of forgiveness applied to people like that is almost a category error. It is similar to forgiving a wild animal. Possibly some trained Buddhists can figure out what it means and how to do it, but not regular people like us.
Though not a Buddhist, I feel uniquely qualified to comment on this issue as my signature character strength is forgiveness and mercy! Those who can demonstrate that they understand what they did wrong in a manner that leaves us all confident they won't rinse and repeat for SARS-CoV3 will be helpful allies. This demonstration of understanding and contrition is a higher bar than most people think when it comes to the holier-than-thou professional class. Those who can't make it over this bar must be subjugated by any legal, moral, and ethical means available.
You misunderstood what I was saying. Let me rephrase it in less metaphorical terms.
The idea of the twin concepts of castigation and forgiveness is to promote intra-tribe (using the OP's terminology) cooperation. The defectors are threatened with castigation and punishment. For the threat to be effective it has to be carried out against the offending parties.
On the other hand, we do not want to castigate and banish everybody forever for most offenses. That way the tribe will soon end up with no members. Hence forgiveness. Also, if no forgiveness were possible, any offender would have every incentive to become the tribe's enemy forever.
However, the tribe would like to reduce recidivism. Hence no forgiveness without repentance. Which becomes harder and harder to accomplish with each subsequent offense.
The integral part of repentance is to understand and confess the wrong that one has done. That requires certain mental capacities. Without those mental capacities there could be no real repentance and therefore no real forgiveness. That's what I mean by my comparison of such a person to a wild animal.
My point is that a person who devises special signals to put masks on a hiking trip when someone is approaching have a certain kind of mental failing. I am not saying that they are crazy or stupid. But they are fools.
That failing cannot be explained just by believing the propaganda. It's beyond that. Part of their repentance must be realizing and acknowledging that mental failure, and explaining how they plan to avoid it in the future. Just saying "we trusted the government" is not enough. Until that is accomplished no forgiveness is possible.
Yes, the archetype of the Head Girl is important to understand. It is definitely a thing and deserves much attention. I think there is something very useful in understanding your own innate personality and that of others. Character strengths are related. I'll probably write something about it at some point.
A kind of person who devises special signals to put masks on a hiking trip when someone is approaching is indeed a cretin. I've seen lots of people like that where I live. I think the concept of forgiveness applied to people like that is almost a category error. It is similar to forgiving a wild animal. Possibly some trained Buddhists can figure out what it means and how to do it, but not regular people like us.
Though not a Buddhist, I feel uniquely qualified to comment on this issue as my signature character strength is forgiveness and mercy! Those who can demonstrate that they understand what they did wrong in a manner that leaves us all confident they won't rinse and repeat for SARS-CoV3 will be helpful allies. This demonstration of understanding and contrition is a higher bar than most people think when it comes to the holier-than-thou professional class. Those who can't make it over this bar must be subjugated by any legal, moral, and ethical means available.
You misunderstood what I was saying. Let me rephrase it in less metaphorical terms.
The idea of the twin concepts of castigation and forgiveness is to promote intra-tribe (using the OP's terminology) cooperation. The defectors are threatened with castigation and punishment. For the threat to be effective it has to be carried out against the offending parties.
On the other hand, we do not want to castigate and banish everybody forever for most offenses. That way the tribe will soon end up with no members. Hence forgiveness. Also, if no forgiveness were possible, any offender would have every incentive to become the tribe's enemy forever.
However, the tribe would like to reduce recidivism. Hence no forgiveness without repentance. Which becomes harder and harder to accomplish with each subsequent offense.
The integral part of repentance is to understand and confess the wrong that one has done. That requires certain mental capacities. Without those mental capacities there could be no real repentance and therefore no real forgiveness. That's what I mean by my comparison of such a person to a wild animal.
My point is that a person who devises special signals to put masks on a hiking trip when someone is approaching have a certain kind of mental failing. I am not saying that they are crazy or stupid. But they are fools.
That failing cannot be explained just by believing the propaganda. It's beyond that. Part of their repentance must be realizing and acknowledging that mental failure, and explaining how they plan to avoid it in the future. Just saying "we trusted the government" is not enough. Until that is accomplished no forgiveness is possible.
agree 100%
eugyppius just posted again on the subject: https://www.eugyppius.com/p/once-more-on-renowned-fool-emily
Using his terms, the mental failing is being a Head Girl. And he actually calls her a fool in in the title :)
Yes, the archetype of the Head Girl is important to understand. It is definitely a thing and deserves much attention. I think there is something very useful in understanding your own innate personality and that of others. Character strengths are related. I'll probably write something about it at some point.