"What ya got there Doc?" asked Eddy.

"Oh, it's an old paper I once started writing," Doc said, with a slight despondence in his voice. "But I wasn't sure where to go with it."

"Too much eh?" asked Eddy, displaying unusual curiosity.

"Yeah, too much," said Doc, the corners of his mouth moving out slightly, "It's a touchy subject to bring up, much less discuss."

"Like sex, huh Doc," quipped Eddy.

"You could say that," chuckled Doc.

"Or pornography," Pete wise-cracked, hoping to outdo Eddy and get a bigger rise out of Doc.

"Yeah that's an even tougher one to talk about," said Doc, getting serious again, the exact opposite result of what Pete was aiming at.

"I get the feeling," said Miles, joining Doc in his introspection, "People think if you don't talk about these things they'll just go away."

"But ignoring them only makes them worse," said an always thoughtful Carol.

"I think this is great stuff for discussion," said Doc, "And at some point we may return to it. But for now let's get back to the balance. Remember last time, I asked you to put all sorts of paired values on the scales and imagine how they weighed out, to see how they balanced. At the end we discussed how these paired values are not necessarily opposed, at least in the sense that one value is good and the other bad. Instead, we realized that seemingly opposed values could instead
complement one another, even exist together by necessity, as in freedom and responsibility for instance. Now, these complimentary values..."

Doc, suddenly stopped and nodded a go-ahead to Bill, acknowledging his hand in the air. 

"Doc could you give another example of complimentary values?" asked Bill, "I'm not exactly clear here."

"Sure, let's get back to the hero," reflected Doc. "If we wonder what type of hero we might have with, and without, both courage and compassion, we can put these two values on the scales and see what happens as the pans tip to both extremes. Now imagine a hero with lots of courage and little compassion. What kind of hero do you have?

"Probably less a hero and more a criminal," said Carol.

"Yeah, a real tyrant," said Pete.

"Ok," said Doc. "Now what happens if our hero is all compassion and no courage."

"A hero that feels much but does little," said Miles.

"Now, Bill, what happens when both courage and compassion are in balance?" asked Doc.

"That's easy..." blurts out Eddy.

"I asked Bill."

"You get more of a hero," said Bill.

"That would seem more the ideal," said Doc, "But when it comes to values, things may not be that simple. You see, values can change under different circumstances."

"Like the way your body weight is different on the Moon than the Earth?" said Miles.

"Hmm, I suppose something like that Milo," said Doc, "That may be a good metaphor to work with."

"Wait a minute Doc," Eddy protested, "I thought this was supposed to make things easier to understand, not harder."

"I didn't say that Eddy," grinned Doc, "I said this was an exercise. Whether it's easy or hard depends on what you make of it. Consider making a labor of pain into a labor of gain."

Eddy groans, as the rest of the group looks on.

"So anyway, because values can change depending upon different circumstances, it's unlikely that the scales will ever be completely static or in absolute fixed balance. In reality, the pans probably move up and down to some extent, either a little bit or a lot depending upon how settled you are on your values and the stability of your surroundings. And this movement up and down is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it could be good."

"So what are we trying to do then?" asked Susan. "What's the balance we're trying to reach?"

"Just think about this, " said Doc, looking serious. "Imagine the extremes of values. Say for instance, the scales are completely tipped to one side or the other and they don't move at all. Or imagine the scales wildly flip-flopping up and down, no rhythm at all in their movement. Or maybe the scales are absolutely still, level or not, they are completely fixed. Can you imagine any of these extremes a good place to be, at least in the sense of stability?"

"Wait a minute," said Carol, "I thought we wanted the pans to be level and still."



"Stillness does not necessarily promote balance," Doc said, "In fact it may interfere with it. Think of riding your bicycle for instance. It's very difficult to balance yourself on a bike if you're at a standstill. But once you get moving balance becomes nearly effortless."

"Same with a plane," added Miles. "A plane needs to keep moving for you to have any sort of control over it."

"Yes," said Doc, "Whether you're bicycling or flying, or in this case thinking, a certain amount of movement tends to promote balance. Wild extremes however, whether in movement or absolute fixedness, tend to interfere with balance."

"That's a lot to think about," said Pete.

"It's like riding a bike," said Doc. "Once you get the hang of it, the less you have to think about it."

"Doc, are you saying our brains are like bikes and airplanes?" asked Bill.

"Our nervous system, our entire body in fact, is a sort of electro-chemical machine. And yes, it must be kept in balance to properly function. It's called homeostasis, and, like riding a bike, it happens mostly automatically without you having to think about it. Stop the movement however, block the flow of nutrients and information and energy, and guess what happens?"

"You die," said Carol.

"That's right," said Doc, "Or you get sick. Ok, that's enough for today. Between now and next week, I'd like you to do a couple things:

1. Make a list of seven values that you feel are important and, much like we've discussed, imagine weighing these values in pairs on the scales. Can you think of situations where the usual tip of the scales might change or their movement start to wildly fluctuate.


2. In your own words, define rebel and criminal and describe what you think is the difference between the two.

3. What virtues do you think a hero should have? What's the difference, if any, between a rebel and a hero?

Ding.

"And don't forget your extra-credit assignment!"

Ding.

Anthropocentrism: Delusion, Addiction, Disease, Ignorance, Arrogance...or Just Plain Hard-Headedness? An Informal Analysis on the Source and Treatment of Human-Ego-Self-Centeredness