[Ansteorra] Motivations (was: Love and recognition)

[L T]

Sir Lyonel,

Are you "related" to Sir Samuel de Grac'e of the Outlands?

You definitely have similar points of view...
or maybe it's just the condition of being a "knight"
or maybe that's why you are both knights... ;)

Regards,

Lorraine DeerSlayer

Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace <sirlyonel at hotmail.com> wrote: Salut cozyns,

I would like to second Sieur Jean-Paul's sentiment (although, considering 
the speed with which my posts make it to the list, I'll have to be satisfied 
with fourthing or fifthing his sentiment).

I don't agree with the Objectivist view that no one does anything for 
altruistic reasons, but I do believe that altruism is a form of enlightened 
self-interest. Unless I'm urgently needed somewhere else, I've always made a 
point of stopping to help people in need: opening doors, jump-starting dead 
batteries, rendering first aid, pushing stalled cars off the road, changing 
tires. I have two reasons for doing this, and they're both selfish:

1) I have something of a White Knight complex. Deep down I'll always want to 
be the Lone Ranger, walking away from a scene amid 
who-was-that-masked-stranger whispers.

2) I believe in social karma. Do Unto Others increases the likelihood of 
receiving help when I need it or when someone I care about needs it. Every 
time I jump-start a dead battery for a stranger I increase the odds that 
someone will be there to jump-start my dead battery or my wife's or my 
daughter's.

In all fairness, however, Kat did specifically call out "self-glorification 
at the expense of others." Going back to my original statements about 
motive. Yes, a trail of bodies would be a good clue that the individual in 
question should not be considered for an award. I worry about parallax, 
though. Let me give you an example I've seen in many places in the SCA 
(including a half-dozen examples right here in various parts of Ansteorra):

A Key Player in a group begins to promote a New Way. Key Player gather's a 
Big Cadre around himself, and Big Cadre grows to become the most powerful 
group in his region (either through sheer numbers or by developing or 
recruiting influential members.) Key Player works hard to promote the New 
Way and to support other efforts of Big Cadre members. Big Cadre overwhelms 
other cadres who do not support the New Way. Other cadres die out, move 
away, or hang around complaining that they've been disenfranchised.

Most members of Big Cadre consider Key Player a hero. Players from the 
disenfranchised cadres consider Key Player a selfish bastard. Occasionally 
you'll find a small minority of players within Big Cadre who will tell you 
that Key Player was *once* a hero but is now a Little Tin God.

I've been a member of at least three Big Cadres. In one of those, I was Key 
Player. In another, I was affiliated with a Big Cadre that left a bunch of 
my friends feeling disenfranchised.

If you're on the outside looking in, you'll have to decide for yourself who 
to believe. In any case, you're stuck once again sifting motives. My 
original point was not that we shouldn't try to determine motivation. My 
point was simply that we have to be damned careful how we go about it. When 
you decide that you've figured out another's motives, you need to step back 
and ask yourself how much you've ascribed to evil what should have been 
ascribed to ignorance, error, and parallax.

lo vostre per vos servir
Meser Lyonel


 		
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