Monday, June 27, 2016

VIRTU3 and Christianity

The theological structure of the Trinity makes Christianity a uniquely VIRTU3OUS religion.

God the Father is the consequentialist aspect of the divine. He is the source of all creation and cares more about outcomes than intentions or actions.

Jesus is the ethical aspect of God. As fully human, he is capable of engaging with all other humans on a peer-to-peer basis. We are individually free to accept or reject his teachings.

The Spirit is the moral aspect of God. The Spirit is universally benevolent towards all of creation and hopeful for the redemption of even the most depraved among us.

Some Christian sects try to elevate one of these aspects above the others. Father God sects focus on a prosperity gospel and divine retribution. Spirit sects focus on the social gospel and benevolent (missionary/ministry) works. Christ sects focus on a more personal gospel and redemption through grace.

In attempting to live a life that pleases all three aspects of God, Christian trinitarians are encouraged to be fully VIRTU3OUS - productive, respectful and benevolent. This has led to Christendom being the most prosperous, humane and generous civilization in the world.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

VIRTU3 and Death

The theory of VIRTU3 classifies human behavior using three domains: consequences, ethics and morality. I think seeing how the theory of VIRTU3 applies to death will helps to understand and apply it to life.

When looking at death from a consequential point of view, there are three possible options. We can know someone is dead. We can know someone is alive. We can be in the dark about whether or a person is alive or dead.

When looking at death from an ethical point of view, there are three possible options. We can know someone acted in a way that directly lead to someone's death. We can know nobody acted in a way that lead to the person's death. We can be unsure about whether or not anybody acted in a way that lead to somebody's death.

When looking at death from an moral point of view, there are three possible options. We can know someone wanted that person dead. We can know nobody wanted that person dead. Or we can be in the dark about whether or not anybody had a death wish for that person.

So the theory of VIRTU3 has 27 ways to classify any particular death status. I'll just focus on the eight fully-informed situations and leave out the consequential, ethical and moral "in the dark" possibilities for the rest of the discussion. So someone can be DEAD or ALIVE, their death can be NATURAL or ARTIFICIAL, and their death can be DESIRED or UNDESIRED.

CASE 1: ALIVE, NATURAL, UNDESIRED
Living. This is the status of almost all of us in our day-to-day lives. We are, in fact, alive. We aren't facing a deadly peril. Nobody hates us so much they'd be happy to hear of our deaths.

CASE 2: ALIVE, NATURAL, DESIRED
Hated. Someone hates the person and wants him dead. This situation would include the planning time before a murder. It would also apply if someone just hopes another person dies, but isn't taking any actions that would lead to that other person's death.

CASE 3: ALIVE, ARTIFICIAL, UNDESIRED
Accidental near miss. Someone acted in a way that could have killed someone out of carelessness. The person, thankfully for both the actor and the potential victim, survived.

CASE 4: ALIVE, ARTIFICIAL, DESIRED
Attempted murder. Someone acted in a way that could have killed someone because he wanted to kill that person. He did not succeed.

CASE 5: DEAD, NATURAL, UNDESIRED
Passed away. This is death by natural causes, including illness and natural phenomenon (e.g. tornadoes, floods, fires, earthquakes). It would also include situations where a causal link to another person's actions are too unclear or indirect to assign blame.

CASE 6: DEAD, NATURAL, DESIRED
Hated dead. In this situation the death was natural, so even someone who hated the dead man and was actively planning to kill him would bear no ethical responsibility for the death. It could also include situations where a causal link to another person's actions are too unclear or indirect to assign blame.

CASE 7: DEAD, ARTIFICIAL, UNDESIRED
Manslaughter. Anyone who dies because of another person's careless, but non-malevolent, behaviour falls into this category. There was no intent to kill, but there is still a clear and direct causal link between someone dying and the actions of another person.

CASE 8: DEAD, ARTIFICIAL, DESIRED
Murder. Intentional, premeditated murder.

When the topic of death comes up, justice follows on its heels. The theory of VIRTU3 is about assessing human behavior, about figuring out the proper way to act given everything we know. About figuring out what type of punishment is appropriate for each situation. Clearly murderers (CASE 8) must be brought to justice. Manslaughter (CASE 7), too, should be dealt with, though less punitively than murder. The enemies of the hated dead (CASE 6) should be left in peace, though the cleverest murderers will seek to kill by sufficiently indirect methods that investigators mistake CASE 8 murders for CASE 6 deaths. As for those who die of natural causes (CASE 5), death is often more punishment than they and those they leave behind deserve.

Attempted murder (CASE 4) cannot be ignored or treated much less harshly than successful murder. In non-fatal, but injurious near-miss situations (CASE 3 with harm), most people believe damages of some kind are owed to the victim. But is it ever appropriate to punish someone who hasn't harmed another person but has acted recklessly (CASE 3 without harm)? The time and energy needed to ferret out secret hate (CASE 2) makes any punishment for this situation cost-prohibitive and socially corrosive. Finally, for the living (CASE 1), life is reward and punishment enough for those of us fortunate enough to experience it.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

The Relativistic Plane

The plane in VIRTU3-space that is exactly half-way between the VITRU3 and 3VIL corners is the relativistic plane. This plane is where most political and cultural battles are fought. On this plane, no position is is better or worse than any other from a fully virtuous perspective.

The Relativistic Plane in VIRTU3-space

The Relativistic Plane

From the perspective of the selectively blind or the absolutist, there are huge differences between different parts of the relativistic plane. One of these six ways of looking at the world becomes dominant as you approach each of the six edges of the hexagon-shaped relativistic plane.

It's easier to get people to rally around absolutism, so most political parties or social movements drift towards the red, blue or green edge.
  • Moral absolutism tends to be associated with progressive movements
  • Ethical absolutism tends to be associated with independence movements
  • Consequential absolutism tends to be associated with conservative movements
Institutions tend towards one of the three blindnesses due to their fundamental incentive structures.
  • Organized religious/ideological institutions grow out of particular combinations of ethical and moral beliefs. Consequential blindness comes from the tendency of these types of institutions to stick with official doctrines despite (or even because of) the destructive results of past applications of those ideas.
  • The core purpose of governments is to punish immoral behaviors (intentional murder/theft/etc.) and protect or reward moral behaviors (with renown/subsidies/etc.). Governments can drift towards ethical blindness unless they are vigilantly policed by powers outside of their legislative/judicial purview.
  • Markets exist as a successful set of ethical rules that allow for peaceful trade between relative strangers. Once it reaches a certain size a market becomes morally blind as participants have no way to know anything about the moral intentions of other participants.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Institutional VIRTU3

Most institutions grow out of a set rules for two of the three domains of VITRU3. Communities depend on a set of moral and ethical standards to avoid conflicts and resolve disputes peacefully. Markets function through a set of ethical and consequential conventions that foster mutually beneficial exchanges. Governments grow out of the attempt to codify a set of moral standards that will lead to long-term positive outcomes. Each of these institutions is subject to one of the three types of blindness.

The table below shows how differences in the priorities of institutions contribute to conflicts within and between societies. True VIRTU3 comes from each of these institutions compensating for the weaknesses in the others.

COMMUNITY GOVERNMENT MARKETPLACE
DOMAIN Moral & Ethical Moral & Consequential Ethical & Consequential
PLUS/MINUS Right & Good/
Wrong & Bad
Positive & Good/
Negative & Bad
Right & Positive/
Wrong & Negative
CATEGORY Theory & Beliefs History & Beliefs Theory & History
TIME The Present & Future The Past & Future The Past & Present
SPACE Local National Global
HIGHEST
VALUE
Idealized Truth Idealized Authority Revealed Truth
MEASURE OF SUCCESS Population Growth National Autonomy International Influence
BASIS Self-Knowledge &
Human Nature
Self-Knowledge &
Observed Results
Human Nature &
Observed Results
STYLES OF
REASONING
Intuitive &
Deductive
Intuitive &
Inductive
Deductive &
Inductive
FAILURE
MODES
Self-Delusion/
Logical Fallacies
Self-Delusion/
Black Swans
Logical Fallacies/
Black Swans
SOURCE OF ERROR Consequential Blindness Ethical Blindness Moral Blindness
MORAL PHILOSOPHY Religion Interventionism Laissez-Faire
SCIENTIFIC PRIORITY Social Correctness Social Engineering Engineering
JUDICIAL EMPHASIS Mens Rea &
Fault-Based Liability
Mens Rea &
No-Fault Liability
Fault-Based Liability &
No-Fault Liability
RELIGIOUS FOCUS Divine Grace & Justice Divine Grace & Favor Divine Justice & Favor
ECONOMIC TOOLS Economic Philosophy &
Economic Praxeology
Economic Philosophy &
Econometric Analysis
Economic Praxeology &
Econometric Analysis
POLITICAL NARRATIVES Aspirational
Rationalism
Aspirational
Pragmatism
Rational
Pragmatism
AMERICAN POLITICS Progressive
Movement
Bipartisan
Establishment
Conservative
Movement
POLITICAL ECONOMICS Cooperative Socialism Regulatory Corporatism Market Capitalism
POLITICAL HIERARCHY Cooperative
Meritocracy
Authoritarian
Collectivism
Market
Aristocracy
POLITICAL POWER-GROUP Revolutionary
Patriot-Insurgents
The Government
(Civil & Military)
Reactionary
Patriot-Insurgents
POLITICAL FAILURE MODE Revolutionary
Fragmentation
Military
Totalitarianism
Reactionary
Fragmentation

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Personal VIRTU3

The three domains of VITRU3 show up in many other areas of human action. The table below shows how some important conflicts and differences of opinion map back to fundamental disagreements about the nature of virtue. The columns represent the three absolutist stances on each of the different topics. More complex, nuanced views would apply to the three blindnesses. A full understanding of VIRTU3 comes from synthesizing these views without compromising any of them.

INTENTIONS ACTIONS RESULTS
DOMAIN Moral Ethical Consequential
PLUS/MINUS Good/Bad Right/Wrong Positive/Negative
CATEGORY Belief Theory History
TIME The Future The Present The Past
SPACE Hearts and Minds The World of Forms The Real World
HIGHEST
VALUE
Ideals Truth Experience
MEASURE OF SUCCESS Popularity Wisdom Prosperity
BASIS Self-Knowledge Human Nature Observed Results
STYLE OF
REASONING
Intuitive Deductive Inductive
FAILURE
MODE
Self-Delusion Logical Fallacies Black Swans
SOURCE OF
ERROR
Belief ≠ Reality Theory ≠ Reality Data ≠ Reality
MORAL
PHILOSOPHY
Intentionalism Natural Law Utilitarianism
SCIENTIFIC
PRIORITY
Social
Advancement
Procedural
Correctness
Practical
Utility
JUDICIAL
EMPHASIS
Mens Rea Fault-Based
Liability
No-Fault
Liability
RELIGIOUS
FOCUS
Divine
Grace
Divine
Justice
Divine
Favor
ECONOMIC
TOOLS
Economic
Philosophy
Economic
Praxeology
Econometric
Analysis
POLITICAL
NARRATIVES
Aspirational Rational Pragmatic
AMERICAN
POLITICS
Democratic
Party
Liberty
Movement
Republican
Party
POLITICAL
ECONOMICS
Socialism Voluntaryism Capitalism
POLITICAL
HIERARCHY
Progressive
Meritocracy
Associative
Individualism
Traditional
Aristocracy
POLITICAL
POWER-GROUP
Scientific-Technical
Elite
Guerilla
Patriot-Terrorists
Military-Industrial
Complex
POLITICAL
FAILURE MODE
Totalitarian
Communism
Feudal
Anarchy
Totalitarian
Fascism

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The 10 Commandments of VIRTU3

  1. Live virtuously at all times.
  2. Act only with good intentions towards yourself and others.
  3. Act only in accordance with the rights of yourself and others.
  4. Act only in ways that will yield positive results for yourself and others.
  5. Do not act with bad intentions towards yourself or others.
  6. Do not wrong yourself or others by your actions.
  7. Do not act in ways that will yield negative results for yourself or others.
  8. Do not use good intentions to justify wrong actions or negative results.
  9. Do not use right actions to justify bad intentions or negative results.
  10. Do not use positive results to justify bad intentions or wrong actions.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

The 3 Types of Blindness

Some people believe that one of the three domains of virtue is completely irrelevant. Because of this belief, they voluntarily blind themselves to the full view of VIRTU3-space.

Moral Blindness

Those who believe that morality is irrelevant are susceptible to moral blindness. For the morally blind, ethics and consequences are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the moral intentions that led to the behavior. Immoral behavior is justified and wholly excused by correct ethics and positive outcomes. Moral blindness is associated with sayings like "fake it 'til you make it" and totally rejects personal morality as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the morally blind orient VIRTU3-space. The yellow and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The blue and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either ethical or constructive, but not both.


Ethical Blindness

Those who believe that ethics are irrelevant are susceptible to ethical blindness. For the ethically blind, morals and consequences are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the ethical nature of the behavior. Unethical behavior is justified and wholly excused by correct morals and positive outcomes. Ethical blindness is associated with sayings like "you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs" and totally rejects ethical rights as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the ethically blind orient VIRTU3-space. The purple and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The green and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either moral or constructive, but not both.


Consequential Blindness

Those who believe that results are irrelevant are susceptible to consequential blindness. For the consequentially blind, morals and ethics are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the real or predictable outcomes of a given behavior. Destructive behavior is justified and wholly excused by personal morality and correct ethics. Consequential blindness is associated with sayings like "do what's right, come what may" and totally rejects real-world results as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the consequentially blind orient VIRTU3-space. The aqua and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The red and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either moral or ethical, but not both.