I bet that your reading of the opium wars is in accord with that of many respectable historians and discord with many other respectable historians. Your account of the opium wars, like any account of any historical situation of large scale, is tendentious. I don’t think history is always a great place to contemplate morality.
Still, when you say
what I’ve been doing for the last few months seems to be working so far
I bet that your reading of the opium wars is in accord with that of many respectable historians and discord with many other respectable historians.
Fair enough. I guess it would’ve been better to start with a more personal example.
What do you mean?
I trust my moral intuitions about if something is ultimately good or bad, but spend time reflecting on my emotions, which I often act contrary to.
Often when I’m annoyed its the result of someone misunderstanding something, or me not eating recently or sleeping enough. When I’m working with someone on a goal that I’ve determined is good (like, my FIRST team or something) and I feel the urge to snap at someone, I try to not do it. It would feel right, but snapping would probably do things contradictory to my goals.
Suspending emotions is easier when I run through a checklist of why I might be feeling it. For instance when I’m tired (often a forerunner to me becoming lazy, or irritable) I ask myself if I’m actually just hungry. If I think that’s why, I go eat and things are better, and my actions are more consistent.
The opium wars are not obscure!
I bet that your reading of the opium wars is in accord with that of many respectable historians and discord with many other respectable historians. Your account of the opium wars, like any account of any historical situation of large scale, is tendentious. I don’t think history is always a great place to contemplate morality.
Still, when you say
what do you mean?
Yay!
Fair enough. I guess it would’ve been better to start with a more personal example.
I trust my moral intuitions about if something is ultimately good or bad, but spend time reflecting on my emotions, which I often act contrary to.
Often when I’m annoyed its the result of someone misunderstanding something, or me not eating recently or sleeping enough. When I’m working with someone on a goal that I’ve determined is good (like, my FIRST team or something) and I feel the urge to snap at someone, I try to not do it. It would feel right, but snapping would probably do things contradictory to my goals.
Suspending emotions is easier when I run through a checklist of why I might be feeling it. For instance when I’m tired (often a forerunner to me becoming lazy, or irritable) I ask myself if I’m actually just hungry. If I think that’s why, I go eat and things are better, and my actions are more consistent.