I'm curious what it means to give up blood sports
Boxing in all its forms. Hunting animals. Rollerball. Fight soccer. Naked fencing.
That sort of thing.
Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
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Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#12In case it's slow to load for others: https://web.archive.org/web/20250426185806/https://www.mail-...
I don't quite fully agree with these, but I agree with the general spirit.
Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#13I'm curious what it means to give up blood sports
Historically that would have been animal fighting or hunting. It’s a euphemism for death rather than injury. Today some people interpret it more literally and include any sport where injury is expected. Which is to say, pugilism.
I read that and thought of zero-sum winner take all pursuits that are more performance than achievement. Office politics, trash talking in earnest, picking sides in conflicts that don't involve me, etc.
Sporting for the sake of blood, not for any kind gain. Metaphorical fox hunts if you will.
Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#14I'd love to go through similar lists this site's users have made or found, which they swear by and which they would highly recommend to their younger selves. Here is something I have started (WIP): You move from rigid linearity (that the world projects) to fluid experimentation. 1. From your reptilian instinct (Response 1, i.e. fear and other emotional reactions) against change and situations, move to awareness and e…
The only thing here I would take issue with is neglecting outcomes. The outcomes of our behaviors are what define them as good or bad, not the intent. Many atrocities have been committed by people who believed they had "good intentions." This wisdom is found elsewhere in phrases such as "the outcome is the intent," "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," and "you shall know a tree by its fruits."
Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#15I wonder about the "never lie" bit. Any kind of negotiation comes to mind, where it might be best to not show your hand completely. You might be negotiating for your family, for your business, for your country even. Is it ok to accept a worse result in the name of honesty as a principle?
Sure the world might be a better place if everyone told the truth always. But this is advice for this world, not a hypothetical one.
Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#16This will get down voted, but a lot of this is mostly cliff notes from things like Sermon on the Mount. We are mostly godless here on HN, so I suppose the message has to be carried via agnostic vehicles.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205-7&v...
It's all kind of in there, here's a piece I like:
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#17At last, something of quality such as to redeem what I assume was his far prior, and exactly as effectual as ignorant and silly, "Declaration."
Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#18A corralary to number 5 might be: 'don't pretend that something is out of your control, when that is really not the case'.
Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#19In Canada we keep it simple. You have to reach 18 years of age and then all your behaviour is adult behaviour from that point forward. There's nothing else to it.
I don't think this is meant as a test to determine whether someone is an adult. I think this is meant as a guide to how to conduct yourself once you realize that you are an adult.
Re: Barlow's Principles of Adult Behaviour
#20"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."
by Max Ehrmann ©1927