My Ethos

How I try to live my life

• Incorporate Personal Policies
  • My more practical specific to me policies like I don’t drink here or I don’t loan money to friends or … These are a great way to say no to people. You say I don’t do XYZ, its against my policy. People tend to respect this more than a specific reason for saying no.

My Ethos

I believe the purpose of life is to live - interacting with the world, eating, sleeping, and having fun. This is a collection ethical guidelines for my thoughts and actions, rather than ideals about how the world should be. I organize it here to help me organize it in my mind. (Lot’s of organization needed)

Core Rules

This list is prioritized: not harming others comes before securing my own happiness, which comes before helping others. (I can’t pour from an empty cup!)

1. Do no harm

• Don’t impede the freedom of others
  • Don’t make decisions for other people
  • Never share another’s secret unless it causes harm
• Preserve the natural world
• Exception: Unless in defence of others or self

2. Be happy

• Happiness is a state of peace, knowing who I am that I’m living according to my ethos, it’s not something obtained.
  • I can be happy in a chaotic world, even in negative situations.
  • The goal is to protect this state
• Happiness from outcomes is like using medication for pain relief, while happiness from living my values is like addressing the root cause of the pain. Achievements can give me quick bursts of happiness, but they can also lead to dependency that can limit my freedom.
• Happiness can be grown, nourished and protected.
• This is not just self confidence, it’s not a belief in my skills, it’s a beliefe in my value.
• Core skill is abililitiy to reframe life in a positive light

3. Help others

• Do the most good
• Sometimes not doing this would interfer with our default happiness / self worth and therefore some level of sacrifice is required
• Priority order in which I should provide any support I can. Emotional and Material
  1. Partner
  2. Friends & Family
  3. Society
  4. Environment
• Lift other up

Core Principles

Believe in People

• People are inherently good / Banality of evil
• I choose to believe in humanity. I believe there is no “evil”, just extreme cases of people acting in extreme ways because their circumstances warp and accelerate and basic human desires.

Don’t lie to myself

• Thoughts affect our feelings and actions, allowing myself to fantasize over a lie

Don’t defend my honor, it doesn’t need defending

• My integrity is not affected by the opinion of others.
• It becomes easier to not be controled by rage and cortisol in a stressfull situation if I remove any possibility of offence

Shit happens, Focus on what I can control and accept what I cannot.

• Dichotomy of control
• Without obstacles, life would be dull
• Stop struggling and embrace life without avoiding or seeking.
  • (Pick the handcuffs open calmly, wriggling would just cut up my wrists)

Practical Principles

Make tomorrow simpler

• Identify what matters, elimnate the rest
• Practice interrupt coalescing by alowing interruptions and micro-tasks to accumulate in categories, to be delt with all at once at a planned times.
• Planning and organizing reduces cognative load
• Inteligence is creating future opportunity, and simplification is one of the best ways to create opportunity

Strive to live simply and self sufficient

• Don’t Spend Money
• Having a craft that can be exchanged for the means of Independence
• Independence isn’t inherent
• Consume as little as possible
• Leave no trace
• Eat pescitarian
• Recycle and resuse
• Avoid plastics

Accept help when needed

Don’t substitute labor for thinking something through

Don’t live based on an assumed future or past

• Ability to let go previous visions or expectations
• Example: Don’t wait around on inheritences or “when we have more money” or “when things normalize”
• Lifetime of trips instead of the trip of a lifetime
• Trust that my mind is a powerful filter and let’s go of memories I don’t need
• Accept that there is no normal routine, there will always be unique challenges

Prioritize building and maintaining relationships {#prioritize people}

• They take work, but lead to increased happiness and quality of life
• I value community
• It only works with those who you can be yourself with

Don’t Engage Stupid {#dont engage}

• People are neither good nor bad, there is ignorance who talk about others being good or bad ar typically bad.
• If safe, don’t agree with something you don’t agree with.
  • It is ok to lie if it will difuse a dangerous situation and not cause additional harm.
• How to manage when you can’t disengage?
• This doesn’t mean that I won’t share knowledge when I believe it can make a difference.
• I want to avoid triggering defensive reactions in others.
  • Ask them to describe both sides argument or view of the situation?
  • It’s important to engage with others with proper introductions that relay that I am an individual with an open mind and good intentions, not a representative of any group, like liberal or conservative.
  • Factors that affect ability to change someone’s mind
    • Thier original belief
    • What they value
    • What/ Who they trust

Don’t absorb news at face value

• News is not reality
• Don’t check news
• Don’t read, listen or watch the news. When I hear something I will try and confirm with a valid source.
• News is generally exaggerated
• Things tend towards a normal bell curve
• Things are generally always getting better throughout history

Don’t Complain if you are going to do it anyway

Deal with what is weighing most on your mind

• Investigate to discover what’s most on my mind
• This helps get you going again

Don’t rush, Keep to the Plan, One task at a time

• Generally if I feel rushed it’s because I’m mismanaging time and not allocating to the right areas

It’s not just important to do the right thing; it’s also crucial to do it at the right time.

• There is power in our ability to chose some of our challenges and when we take them on

Prioritize Sleep

• no phone, tv, or anything in the bedroom.
• The bedroom is only for sleep, sex, and clothes

Prioritize Exersise

• every day eliptical and stretching routine or running

Eat real Food

• Eat real food, not to much, mostly plants

Don’t be an asshole, defer to others whenever possible

Generally I don’t drink

• I don’t wish to be drunk ever again, I believe I can have more fun this way
• My evolving list of exceptions include wedding toasts, trying someones drink for taste, and when I know it will be only one drink

Change environment to accomplish goals

• Cut out people that hold you back

Don’t obsess over people or concepts like money or success

Be able to compromise

Be willing to specialize - let go of some knowing all skills

• Accept that in my lifetime, I won’t be able to accomplish everything, I have to choose my pirorities

Be satisfied, there are always upgrades, but there cost doesn’t always add value

Identify and avoid activities that are done as a form of avoidance or distraction vs enjoyed for their own benefit (Doom Scrolling, Drinking, TV binging)

• Addictions and obsessions distract us from a full life experience and stick us in that one thing
• Entertainment is not a hobby

Acknowledge that my happiest state is being busy

Avoid people and groups that value Measures of Accomplishment, social capital, Power Dynamics, Revenge / justice, Spiritual Beliefs, and ascetics

• Measures of Accomplishment: Wealth, success, achievement
• Social capital: Respect, loyalty, influence, loyalty, position, fame, popularity
• Power Dynamics: Authority, status, leadership

Priorities and Values

To maintain and protect

To activly Pursue

Applications

Traditional Examples

• The Trolley Problem: A runaway trolley is heading towards five people tied to a track. You can pull a lever to divert the trolley onto another track, where it will kill one person instead. The dilemma is whether to take action that results in one death to save five.
  • I would pull the lever. I see this as aligning best with my rule #1 and doing less harm.
• The Lifeboat Dilemma: A lifeboat is overcrowded and at risk of sinking. If one person is thrown overboard, the others will survive. The dilemma involves deciding whether to sacrifice one person for the greater good.
  • I would jump overboard following rule #1
• The Doctor’s Dilemma: A doctor has five patients who need organ transplants to survive. A healthy patient comes in for a check-up. The dilemma is whether to sacrifice the healthy patient to save the five.
  • I would not sacrifice the health patient. They are not breaking the exception to rule #1 - I am not defending the others from that person, I would be harming that person. Helping others comes after doing no harm.

Real Life Examples

• Someone does …