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Failing To Do Good - Unverified Revelations

substack.com · 3,148 words · saved by 1 readers

We rarely do as much good as we would like. Our ambitions to leave a legacy of good works can end up indefinitely postponed or dissipated into dead end, do-nothing projects. I want to live an abundantly pro-social life in service to others. I have mostly failed. This is not advice from someone who is successful. This is an analysis of my failures in the hope that it will help others. The accusatory “you” that I sometimes use is directed at myself. Doing good is harder and easier than most people realize. It requires thought, care, and attention - but abundant opportunities are passed over for not flattering our egotism and preconceptions. Why Opposition to Evil is Not Enough We want more than to just be good adherents to the “silver rule” - “do no harm.” This rule is more robust than the golden rule, and is essential to any functional morality. But it runs into the “dead grandfather” problem: we can abstain from harm better when we are dead. For life to have meaning there must be good

We rarely do as much good as we would like. Our ambitions to leave a legacy of good works can end up indefinitely postponed or dissipated into dead end, do-nothing projects. I want to live an abundantly pro-social life in service to others. I have mostly failed. This is not advice from someone who is successful. This is an analysis of my failures in the hope that it will help others. The accusatory “you” that I sometimes use is directed at myself. Doing good is harder and easier than most people realize. It requires thought, care, and attention - but abundant opportunities are passed over…

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