Solo Furthering Education (Part 3)

[Kaizer Dragos]

Winter, 12, 515

Carefully sorting everything out in his mind, Kaizer filed away all of the new information regarding philosophy, then decided to put some of his own personal views on paper. While he normally didn't like personal views on a subject involving study, he never intended for someone else to read his work, at least not yet. More than anything this was a process of him figuring out his own mind and sorting ideas so they could be better expressed at a later date. This would allow for a much more rational and clinical point of view, although the idea coming to the surface was, in fact, the exact opposite. With that in mind Kaizer shrugged to himself and decided to go with the flow.

For a long time I've often thought to myself about how logic and emotion seem to contrast each other as opposites. This however is something I'm not so sure about anymore. As strange as it may sound there often is a logical explanation for emotional responses even if we don't understand what it is or where it comes from. The reason for this is that the more I study logic and philosophy, the more I come to understand the nature of things that eluded me in the past. I will do my best to explain this in a manner that is both logical and reasonable as it is one of my personal goals to try and better understand the nature of sentient existence.

In order to do this, we must first consider the basis of emotion itself. The basic definition is: a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. Now in order to better study this, one must ask themselves where this instinctive state of mind comes from. Is it nature or nurture? That in itself is another entire subject of study for a later date. My belief is that it is both. While every sentient being has natural instincts they are born with a mind capable of conscious thought also begins to form ideas opinions and points of view both from those that teach them and what they themselves experience in everyday life.

For this study I will use myself as an example. I was raised to be considerate of others kind compassionate and to never intentionally harm another without just cause to do so. In life I have met others who have often been the exact opposite. Slavers for example are a class of people that seems to enjoy hurting others they care little for what happens to slaves because of their actions and even willfully hurt others who do not deserve it. They may have been raised in a culture where this was consider to be acceptable and taught such. On the other hand they may well have decided to be this way despite what I consider a proper upbringing. Regardless this also causes a person to form instinctual responses to outside individuals and actions.

The next point of discussion is mood. This can also affect emotional responses because a persons mood can and often does alter their response to a given situation. If a person is happy they might decide to be generous. If theyre angry they may choose to lash out at someone instead. Now the question here is were does one derive a mood from. There is no single easy answer to this because mood can be influenced by so many factors. Some people seem to have mental problems that affect their mood without being able to control it. Other times mood can be affected by the world around them. Did they have a good day or a bad day. Did a loved one pass away or perhaps an enemy had a bad day thereby making someone else happy.
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[Kaizer Dragos]

The second part of my explanation actually dealt lightly with the third being relationships with others. That can very much alter a persons emotional state. If a person is in a poisonous or abusive relationship it can and often does have negative results. This could be physical abuse leading to a sense of lacking self-worth. It could destroy a persons self-confidence and more. However there is another way of looking at this as well. Relationships with others could also mean how a person relates to a group of individuals or society. When a person finds themselves in contrast with the established order it an cause a lot of stress and negative emotions regarding the situation in general.

Now that I've covered a basic overview of emotions perhaps now I can get down to trying to understand them in a less arbitrary manner. What I've recently come to understand is that emotions arent as random as I once thought they were. That point of view is actually the result of a lack of knowledge and understanding on my part. What I mean by this is that emotions themselves are often derived from the system of morals and beliefs that a person holds themselves to. I will once again cite myself as an example for the following explanation. As such I will attempt to explain some basic emotional responses in a manner that is not random or arbitrary but rather logical and sensible.

For this we will discuss first a basic outline of the system of beliefs that I myself try to adhere to. I have always been a firm believer of law and order. These are things paramount to good government and an orderly society. Because of this when I see a crime such a one man unjustly beating another out of anger it causes considerable anger within me as well. The question now is why. The answer is because from my own beliefs attacking another person out of anger over perhaps a verbal argument I consider it to be unjust. Now if this person is arrested and brought to trial then convicted and sentenced according to the law I feel a sense of satisfaction. Again this is because I believe justice has been served and law and order have prevailed.

Even if a person is not consciously aware of why they feel a certain way it is often the result of their own personal belief system. Some may try to express these beliefs and sway others as well because they think it will help or they may try to impose these beliefs by force out of a desire for power. Either way I believe this along with what else I've discussed is the basis for many of the emotional responses that many people see and experience within the world. As one might imagine this doesn't encompass the whole subject and there is still a lot about emotions that I don't understand. Although it may not be quite as logical as what Ive been speaking about I will try to elaborate further.

There are still quite a few things about emotions in general that I dont understand for instance love. Ive seen couples that love each other but dont seem to like one another very much. There is some sort of attraction that draws them together and at the same time they push each other apart. It seems almost counter productive but to be honest I couldnt say much on this without further study and I dont see people letting me study their personal lives on a daily basis. I imagine there will always be a part of emotional response that I dont understand and because of this I will probably always study the subject. Maybe one day we will understand things of this nature but it obviously wont be today.
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[Kaizer Dragos]

Reviewing the information Kaizer nodded to himself a little and sat back to think about it. Love was something that had always mystified him to a degree. While he understood things such as loving one's parents and a general love for the well being of others, that of a romantic nature still eluded him. It was no doubt from a lack of experience as he'd never fallen in love. That would be something that he would have to study in detail when and if it occurred, he simply didn't have enough information at the moment. With everything written down regarding the basics of emotion, Kaizer turned his attention to something else.

Always a student of sentient nature he began to contemplate the nature of ethics. He had already mentioned before in writing that it was a quagmire of personal views and opinions, but he still felt compelled to say something about it, even if it was just in his own personal writings. Not only did this allow Kaizer to explore a great many subjects, it also helped to solidify and rationalize his own personal views and opinions. While they were something he'd always carefully guarded and held to, many of them remained unexplored. For a long time Kaizer believed certain things because he was taught to, however the extensive writing was beginning to make question things.

There are two particular issues I'll write about here. The first will be some of my own personal ethics and the second will be the nature of what one believes. In regards to my own personal ethics I was raised to believe that every sentient being has the right to self-determination and that anything or anyone who wantonly hurts others is wrong. I know this seems rather vague and in some ways it is because it has to be. As I mentioned before one cannot live their life through an inflexible set of rules because they must always be able to adapt to the unexpected. In this regard my mother and father always taught me to think about my actions and the effect they might have on others.

Personally I'm believer that one must not only rationalize the purpose and intent behind their actions but also the results and be held accountable for all. I also believe that one should always pursue the path that results in the greatest benefit and least harm to all involved. To that end laws should treat everyone equally regardless of race social standing or wealth otherwise law and order cannot prevail. Personally I do believe that the world would probably be a better place if others shared these views as well but I cant justify trying to force my beliefs onto others. I can try to convince others that my way is a good way but ultimately a person must make their own choices in life.

The last page that Kaizer wrote seemed more like a personal journal entry than an analytical review of a subject. As this work was never meant to be published he just filed it away as furthering the explanation of his own morals and ethics. Having seen quite a bit of injustice and downright evil in the world, it only made him all the more determined to stick to his own code and try to do the best possible, not only in his life, but to those around him as well. With all of that out of the way he decided to write a little commentary regarding beliefs. This would once again fall largely into the realm of personal opinion but he still felt it necessary to further the work at hand.
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[Kaizer Dragos]

Personal beliefs are something that every mind capable of sentient thought has. Regardless or race religion species gender nation of origin or other factor everyone has personal beliefs. One of the more interesting aspects of sentient thought is that no two people seems to hold the exact same beliefs. For much of my life what I believed was a product of my own personal experiences combined with what I was taught as a child. However the more I study philosophy the more I begin to question my beliefs. Its not to say that Im losing faith in them but now Im beginning to wonder why I believe in them rather than doing so simply because it always has been.

The beliefs that a person holds close to themselves are something that always change to some extent. Even those that they hold to the hardest and seem to remain constant will change to some degree over time. This is because of the fact that we learn something new each and every day. As our minds absorb and process new information it gets applied to everything we know even if its not a conscious effort. Now Im beginning to understand that in order to justify what one believes they must also understand why they believe in it. One cannot simply go around proclaiming a belief without a rational explanation as to why otherwise no one will take them seriously.

For me I believe in law and order because when properly applied it gives all sentient being the same rights protections and opportunities as any other in a society. I also believe it is the right and duty of intelligent beings to determine what they do and do not find acceptable within society. This is the basis upon which laws will be formed. Any law that is applied to a society should be thoroughly reviewed tested and scrutinized in order to make sure the benefits outweigh the possible harm by a considerable margin. From there people can begin to form a society that allows freedoms within a given structure of laws and rules. I've always personally believed the idea of absolute freedom is not only a fantasy its also a dangerous one.

Often I've heard people decry the application of a law claiming that it infringes upon their personal freedoms. They also rally behind the cry that personal choices that dont hurt someone else should be ignored by society. The only problem with this is there are few if any personal choices that dont affect a society. Even if someone isnt going out and committing crimes if they make choices contrary to society they will eventually try to spread those ideas to others as a harmless point of view. Soon it devolves into ideological debates that divide a society and have people fighting against one another over so called harmless ideas.

I realize there are many who would consider my own point of view on this to be overbearing and try to label me as a judge of personal choices. What I am is a judge of how other people affect the society that I and the rest of Lhavit live in as should be anyone who lives here. What so few people seem to understand is that too much freedom is just as dangerous as too little. Just like a parent raises a child and punishes them for breaking the rules so must a society. They must also be on guard against thoughts and ideas that undermine the fabric of law and order disguised as harmless opinions. Most people think towns and cities are conquered by swords and armies. Too few seem to realize they can just as easily be conquered by words and ideas.
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[Kaizer Dragos]

Part of the reason for the quagmire mentioned above is that trying to control or edit thoughts and ideas is a slippy slope for anyone. There is a very fine line between trying to protect a society from malicious ideas and suppressing freedom of speech. In my ideal society a person should have the right to speak their mind and express opinions as they wish, but as with anything there must be a limit a line which shouldn't be crossed. Now many would ask how one could avoid violating the rights that I believe are inherent to all sentient beings. The truth is that at this point I havent thought about that in depth.

Sitting here and thinking about it I believe that someone should be able to express thoughts and opinions in ways that do not promote undue violence against others or call for revolution when it is not needed. Now if I were publish something like this it would of course need to be more refined but for the moment I think I will outline the basics. I personally don't believe that hate speech has any place in a proper society. More than once Ive heard people in other cities trying to rally public opinion against a particular group or race of people. More often than not these people are nothing more than racist who have no real purpose for their hate.

They go around promoting themselves and their kind as right and proper while everyone and everything else is inferior. The only thing this kind of talk does is stir up violence and hatred. It divides people against one another and incites violence where there need not be any. This is why I feel that hate speech should not allowed and anyone trying to do so should be arrested for disturbing the peace at the very least. Ive heard people say that any thought or idea should be allowed to be openly expressed and I often wonder to myself if these people truly have any idea how dangerous a sentiment that really is. We readily protect people from physical danger so why are others so often lax in in guarding against ideological danger.

While I think the term revolution might be a little excessive for what I'm trying to convey, the idea itself is sound. The one thing that I know is a crime is trying to incite revolution against an established government. The question in this instance is that of if said revolution is just or not. Against a tyrannical and abusive government I believe it is however against a government like that here in Lhavit it is absolutely is not. If there is a law here that becomes a problem for the people and it needs to be addressed the people have the option to bring it to the attention of those in power. More than once I've seen similar situations occur and these matters are taken quite seriously.

Here there is no need for violence or uprising because the government that is in place does the best it can to benefit as many as possible. If there is a problem the people have peaceful recourse to bring this to the attention of others and have said problem addressed. There is no need for violent revolution in Lhavit and I would ardently fight against anyone who tried. Upon reviewing this little article I also realize that I still tend to ramble sometimes. If I ever hope to publish something I really need to learn how to edit properly.
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