I’ve been watching a new show on Netflix called Dark. It’s a German series that starts with the disappearances of a few young children and then goes on down a rabbit hole of time travel, parallel timelines, and deceit (this isn’t really a spoiler as you will learn this plot an episode or two in). But this post is less about the show itself, and more about some of the themes in the show I taken note of so far. I’m about 8 episodes into the first season.
Something I’ve noticed is the series creator’s contrast between the past, present, and future behaviors of some of the characters. Some of the characters start out as bad people, and then are revealed as good people in a different timeline, or vice versa. Basically, people can be considered good people or bad people at different points throughout their lives. This doesn’t seem like a newfound philosophical discovery, but I think we overlook this idea all too often today.
We like to define people by using surface-level descriptors like black, white, brown, etc., and using higher-level descriptors like Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, or Progressive. But these don’t do a good job, or are just completely useless, when describing our moral character. This reminds me of an observation by Prof. Dan McAdams when assessing personality traits at different levels.
The first level (or lowest level) are the personality traits we are born with that remain largely unchanged throughout our lives. I would consider this similar to the surface-level descriptors like color of skin. The second level are learned personality traits by lived experience. This is like the higher-level descriptors that define our subscribed ideology or less rigid worldview. But the third level (or highest level) personality traits come from the narrative we tell ourselves about our lives. This is the most under looked element of human behavior. This is why a black person can have the exact same interaction with a police officer as a white person but have a completely different lived experience during that interaction. I think this third level brings us closer to understanding how to define our moral character.
Our moral character is defined by behavior, not surface-level descriptors or prescribed ideology. This is a common theme in Judeo-Christian religions, yet very misunderstood. There is no such thing as good or evil people, just good and evil ideas. These ideas manifest in behavior. This is why someone can be defined as a bad person one day and a good person the next. Behavior is the context of moral character.
Most people say there are obvious exceptions to this rule, take Hitler for example. Most would consider him an evil person, but that evil is defined by his actions. Evil behaviors can infect the mind like a parasite, but when we make the man the devil, we begin to lose the context of the evil behavior. This is why so many find it so easy to call President Trump, “Hitler” because the man is made evil instead of his actions. Anyone who would come out and say, “President Trump has a plan to systematically exterminate 6 million Jews” would not be taken seriously (although I could see that as a NYT headline).
I know I went down a rabbit hole myself when making these points, and I’m sincerely sorry for anyone who read the first paragraph and thought this was going to be a Dark series review. These are just some thoughts I had while watching the show. Let me know what you think.
I was listening to some news updates when I heard this CNN clip about the potentially hazardous water in East Palestine, and as soon as I heard her ask the question about whether or not her guest would drink the water, I IMMEDIATELY thought of this clip from South Park. Enjoy.
In this special episode of The Engineering Politics Podcast, Truman from Return To Reason is back for a new video and podcast series titled ‘Revisiting The Road To Serfdom’ where we review F.A. Hayek’s classic work, The Road To Serfdom. This episode covers ‘Chapter 15: The Prospects of International Order’.
This will be an ongoing series that covers the entire book. We put a ton of work into making this insightful and relevant, so we hope you enjoy watching/listening as much as we enjoyed reading and recording.
Become a subscriber of the Engineering Politics Locals Community to support this content. Also, consider joining the @ReturnToReason Locals Community to show Truman some support.
In this episode of The Engineering Politics Podcast, I team up with Truman from @ReturnToReason to interview one of the most intelligent and influential creators in the space of philosophy today. Stephen R.C. Hicks is a Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, and Senior Scholar at The Atlas Society. He has written many books including Explaining Postmodernism and Nietzsche and the Nazis. We bring him on to talk about the social and political issues we are currently facing in America, and the West more broadly, and what the collectivist ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau might have to do with it.
Become a subscriber of the Engineering Politics Locals Community to support this content. Also, consider joining the @ReturnToReason Locals Community to show Truman some support.
In this special episode of The Engineering Politics Podcast, Truman from Return To Reason is back for a new video and podcast series titled ‘Revisiting The Road To Serfdom’ where we review F.A. Hayek’s classic work, The Road To Serfdom. This episode covers ‘Chapter 15: The Prospects of International Order’.
This will be an ongoing series that covers the entire book. We put a ton of work into making this insightful and relevant, so we hope you enjoy watching/listening as much as we enjoyed reading and recording.
Become a subscriber of the Engineering Politics Locals Community to support this content. Also, consider joining the @ReturnToReason Locals Community to show Truman some support.
In this episode of The Engineering Politics Podcast, I team up with Truman from @ReturnToReason to interview one of the most intelligent and influential creators in the space of philosophy today. Stephen R.C. Hicks is a Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, and Senior Scholar at The Atlas Society. He has written many books including Explaining Postmodernism and Nietzsche and the Nazis. We bring him on to talk about the social and political issues we are currently facing in America, and the West more broadly, and what the collectivist ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau might have to do with it.
Become a subscriber of the Engineering Politics Locals Community to support this content. Also, consider joining the @ReturnToReason Locals Community to show Truman some support.
In this special episode of The Engineering Politics Podcast, Truman from @ReturnToReason is back for a new video and podcast series titled ‘Revisiting The Road To Serfdom’ where we review F.A. Hayek’s classic work, The Road To Serfdom. This episode covers ‘Chapter 14: Material Conditions and Ideal Ends’.
This will be an ongoing series that covers the entire book. We put a ton of work into making this insightful and relevant, so we hope you enjoy watching/listening as much as we enjoyed reading and recording.
Become a subscriber of the Engineering Politics Locals Community to support this content. Also, consider joining the @ReturnToReason Locals Community to show Truman some support.
Alright @Eng_Politics , what are your early predictions? I'll ask the same question on Truman's page.
