[lit-ideas] Re: virtue-practical example of being taught
- From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006 15:29:18 +0900
On 1/2/06, Eternitytime1@xxxxxxx <Eternitytime1@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> Do we get to know WHY we should take the longer path? Do we get to know
> whether or not if we do/don't that more people would die because the 'bad
> guys' would know where we were exactly? Or, is the order to go the longer
> way a ''because I said so" sort of order?
>
In contrast to Mike and Paul, who blow off the question with flip
remarks, illustrating the sickness of our "it's all about me and leave
me alone" society, it's Marlena who gets the "A" in this course by
asking precisely the right question. The hard part is that on a
battlefield you may not have time to ask the question or the people
you are asking may not be willing or able to give you the answer you
need, so the choice is ultimately up to you.
In the case at hand, what person who gives you the order may or may
not know (he could be simply passing on something from someone higher
up) or fail to tell you because he hangs up and goes on to deal with
the next emergency or may fail to tell you because technology fails or
something else is happening (the enemy has begun to overrun the base
where the superior officer is located) is that, according to what my
daughter told me, the valley, where an enemy force has been
entrenched, is scheduled to be carpet bombed. Thus, taking that path
is likely to get your whole unit wiped out.
One way of reading this cautionary tale is simply to do what you're
told because those above you know best. But Marlena gets the gist of
what the class was about: Ask for more information or, if no other
information is available, at least carefully consider the possible
consequences of the choice you have to make. It's a life and death
decision and you have to make it.
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama 220-0006, JAPAN
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