Philosophical Questions: Improvement

[ysabetwordsmith]

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Are people ethically obligated to improve themselves?


No. What you do with your own life, learning, body, etc. is your free choice. It is both ethical and advisable to improve yourself, but you don't have to. Maybe you're happy the way you are, maybe you don't have the resources for self-improvement, whatever. Don't should on yourself.

Note that this is a general parameter. Some ethical systems may place additional requirements on people who choose to follow them -- in which case, this comes under "choosing to improve yourself."

Comments

[arlie]

Demanding that other people "improve themselves" is a fairly common form of oppression. The "improvement" is of course defined by the oppressor, not the person who'll supposedly benefit. We see this at all scales, from governmental fiat ("take the Indian out of the child") down to abusive "friends" and family (uncounted examples among my acquaintances, but no handy soundbite tropes). Many religious "leaders" are guilty of pushing "self-improvement" on their congregations.

That said, I do tend to see actual self-improvement attempts as ethically positive, not to mention part of our innate biological wiring. (Just watch a child enthusiastically increasing their knowledge and abilities.) But it's absolutely not an obligation. And sometimes simply coping is more than enough to deal with. Or you simply have other priorities. (But of course this last paragraph is pretty much what you already said.)

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Demanding that other people "improve themselves" is a fairly common form of oppression. <<

That's true, and I hadn't thought of it. Thank you for adding this.

>> The "improvement" is of course defined by the oppressor, not the person who'll supposedly benefit. <<

But then it is not self improvement, and because it is meant to benefit someone else, often not improvment at all. Common example: neuroprivileged people make more and more demands of neuroppressed people until the neuroppressed people break down (e.g. autistic burnout) and then are blamed for "failing to perform." The attempt to keep up with shifting goalposts wrecks physical and mental health.

Something I've noticed about Terramagne is how often they offer options to people -- like a flyer in Rutledge after the Big One: "Do you feel like your life is spinning out of control? Here are some things you can control" and then a list of workshops like meditation to control your mind, yoga to control your body, craft or building classes to control specific tools, bicycle lessons, etc. that people were free to choose anything they thought would help them regain a bit of agency.