Are my guiding principles healthy and robust?
Marcus Aurelius in his book "Meditations" says:
"Bear in mind that the measure of a man is the worth of the things he cares about. If it is good to say or do something, then it is even better to be criticized for having said or done it. Are my guiding principles healthy and robust? On this hangs everything." Book 7, #3.
Are my guiding principles healthy and robust?
For truly on THAT hangs everything.
I've been sitting and thinking about There...God knows why I do it, I am the ultimate glutton for punishment.
I think in my life, justice, honor, wisdom and altruism have to be the greatest of what qualities I wish to possess as a human being.
Today, once again, the glutton for punishment that I am...I had to look in on the little Therians and what is going on in their lives. I kind of look down on them like a pack of high school kids with an imbicilic Principal.
But there it was, and damn my nobility, I felt compelled to help. Now of course I know that me trying to help is probably going to be like pearls before swine, completely wasted time and energy. But still, the nagging feeling in my gut said that I not only could speak up, I should.
During my time on the Fall 2005 Members Advisory Board in There, I led the Developers Group, in which I labored for six months to try to bring some focus and mission to the group. Succeed I did, for I just found my "Developers Top 10" that I created, and each and every thing on that list, except for one, has been done. Now as a track record, that's not bad.
I'm the Vice Dean of the UoT, I lead the 3D Design Department, and I do it all with the compassion and love of a Mother to her children. I want nothing but the best for my staff and my students. I protect them, I watch over them and I try to guide them as best as I can.
But there it was, staring me in the face, a topic called, "What purpose is the Developer's group for you?" I will skip the diatribe I have about the topic's author, albeit the fact that he and I are very adversarial, but we have respect for each other.
My reply was after some of the other developers, some of which called for going to the press about our neglect by the Staff at There, others saying that nothing could be done because the There Staff could care less, that we were secondary to their project with Viacom and "Virtual Laguna Beach".
However, my reply to the question "What purpose is the Developer's group for you?" was simple.
"The Developer Group serves as a conduit/focus group for the There Staff to enable them to maintain and improve the Developer Program in There.
It is the voice of the collective of Developers in There. It is our way of making sure that the MAB and Staff have a way of knowing of our issues first hand. I think that a member of the Staff should be at the meetings because they are only once a month and because the Developer Program shoulders a portion of the profit for There. Because it has to do with the almighty dollar, and that we developers, by creating objects for this online world, save Makena from having to hire a full time artist. So if we are saving them an annual salary, we deserve our due credit for assisting in their vision and deserve (as does all of the members of There) the appropriate customer service for our field of endeavor."
Damn my altruism and nobility. Because I have political capital to leverage on this subject. Now you will not find outside of a handful of people in There that would really give a damn about me, but there I am, big as day, trying to help people that would rather wipe their shoes on me rather than say a simple 'thank you'.
I would not, except for the improvements in the Developer Program, get anything out of taking up this fight.
Are my guiding principles healthy and robust?
I would say that I have gone completely mad.
That "The only reason that I'm speaking up is because if I'm going to resume teaching next semester at the U, I want to make sure that my students get the very best out of their experience as a developer in There, whether it be through classes or through interaction with the staff.
You'll have to forgive me because my thoughts dwell on the future of There and the new developers who can use the wisdom and the knowledge that the members of the Dev. Group have to offer. If we can affect some change by speaking up and bringing solutions, not just problems, we're all better off."
Altruistic to the end I guess, but you know, on this DOES hang everything. It says something about a person's character that they are willing to sacrifice for others, that they are willing to hang their butt out on the line to fight for principles that are just and right. I know that I will never hear a 'Thank You' that the only thing that I get out of taking up the fight is to KNOW that in the future, every single new developer in There will have it better than we do now.
Is it lunacy that makes me do it?
Is it that I am truly a glutton for punishment?
Is it that I care more for others than myself?
Or is it simply,
"No matter what anyone else does or says, I must be good. It is as if gold or an emerald or purple dye were perpetually telling itself, "No matter what anyone may do or say, I must be an emerald and keep my color". Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, Book Seven, #15
"Bear in mind that the measure of a man is the worth of the things he cares about. If it is good to say or do something, then it is even better to be criticized for having said or done it. Are my guiding principles healthy and robust? On this hangs everything." Book 7, #3.
Are my guiding principles healthy and robust?
For truly on THAT hangs everything.
I've been sitting and thinking about There...God knows why I do it, I am the ultimate glutton for punishment.
I think in my life, justice, honor, wisdom and altruism have to be the greatest of what qualities I wish to possess as a human being.
Today, once again, the glutton for punishment that I am...I had to look in on the little Therians and what is going on in their lives. I kind of look down on them like a pack of high school kids with an imbicilic Principal.
But there it was, and damn my nobility, I felt compelled to help. Now of course I know that me trying to help is probably going to be like pearls before swine, completely wasted time and energy. But still, the nagging feeling in my gut said that I not only could speak up, I should.
During my time on the Fall 2005 Members Advisory Board in There, I led the Developers Group, in which I labored for six months to try to bring some focus and mission to the group. Succeed I did, for I just found my "Developers Top 10" that I created, and each and every thing on that list, except for one, has been done. Now as a track record, that's not bad.
I'm the Vice Dean of the UoT, I lead the 3D Design Department, and I do it all with the compassion and love of a Mother to her children. I want nothing but the best for my staff and my students. I protect them, I watch over them and I try to guide them as best as I can.
But there it was, staring me in the face, a topic called, "What purpose is the Developer's group for you?" I will skip the diatribe I have about the topic's author, albeit the fact that he and I are very adversarial, but we have respect for each other.
My reply was after some of the other developers, some of which called for going to the press about our neglect by the Staff at There, others saying that nothing could be done because the There Staff could care less, that we were secondary to their project with Viacom and "Virtual Laguna Beach".
However, my reply to the question "What purpose is the Developer's group for you?" was simple.
"The Developer Group serves as a conduit/focus group for the There Staff to enable them to maintain and improve the Developer Program in There.
It is the voice of the collective of Developers in There. It is our way of making sure that the MAB and Staff have a way of knowing of our issues first hand. I think that a member of the Staff should be at the meetings because they are only once a month and because the Developer Program shoulders a portion of the profit for There. Because it has to do with the almighty dollar, and that we developers, by creating objects for this online world, save Makena from having to hire a full time artist. So if we are saving them an annual salary, we deserve our due credit for assisting in their vision and deserve (as does all of the members of There) the appropriate customer service for our field of endeavor."
Damn my altruism and nobility. Because I have political capital to leverage on this subject. Now you will not find outside of a handful of people in There that would really give a damn about me, but there I am, big as day, trying to help people that would rather wipe their shoes on me rather than say a simple 'thank you'.
I would not, except for the improvements in the Developer Program, get anything out of taking up this fight.
Are my guiding principles healthy and robust?
I would say that I have gone completely mad.
That "The only reason that I'm speaking up is because if I'm going to resume teaching next semester at the U, I want to make sure that my students get the very best out of their experience as a developer in There, whether it be through classes or through interaction with the staff.
You'll have to forgive me because my thoughts dwell on the future of There and the new developers who can use the wisdom and the knowledge that the members of the Dev. Group have to offer. If we can affect some change by speaking up and bringing solutions, not just problems, we're all better off."
Altruistic to the end I guess, but you know, on this DOES hang everything. It says something about a person's character that they are willing to sacrifice for others, that they are willing to hang their butt out on the line to fight for principles that are just and right. I know that I will never hear a 'Thank You' that the only thing that I get out of taking up the fight is to KNOW that in the future, every single new developer in There will have it better than we do now.
Is it lunacy that makes me do it?
Is it that I am truly a glutton for punishment?
Is it that I care more for others than myself?
Or is it simply,
"No matter what anyone else does or says, I must be good. It is as if gold or an emerald or purple dye were perpetually telling itself, "No matter what anyone may do or say, I must be an emerald and keep my color". Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, Book Seven, #15
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