Statement of Beliefs
Regarding Ethics & Morality:
Multiple moralities can be congruent with the same ethical framework.
We have an ethical obligation to leave those aspects of the world that we have agency over in better condition than they were when we took agency over them.
We have an ethical obligation to understand that our ethical framework is not, by virtue of it being ours, superior to the ethical frameworks of others.
All ethical frameworks are fundamentally subjective.
The subjective nature of all ethical frameworks requires that all ethical frameworks be subject to constant self-scrutiny by those who subscribe to them.
Contradictions in ethical frameworks are unavoidable when they are universally applied.
Contradictions in ethical frameworks do not, in and of themselves, invalidate those frameworks.
Suffering among organisms that can suffer should be limited when possible.
Conscious individuals have an immutable right to suffer if that is their preferred state.
Notions of fairness are not wholly congruent with notions of equity.
An ethical society has a responsibility to protect and nurture the rights of all individuals in that society.
Willful ignorance is unethical.
Regarding the Self:
It is not possible to truly know the motivation of one's self or of others.
One should live in a way that results in continuing development of one's self.
Regarding Science:
Science is the most objective mode of analysis of the physical Universe that is available to the human mind.
The human mind is not capable of conducting scientific analysis in a completely objective manner.
Scientific understanding of the Universe should be used to inform ethical frameworks when possible.
No domain of existence within the larger Universe should be removed from scientific investigation.
Scientific evidence is useful when interrogating/integrating/resolving conflicting ethical frameworks.
Scientific understanding will never explain all Universal phenomena.
It is not possible to completely model any aspect of the Universal system.
Regarding Technology:
Technology can be used to both expand and constrict cultural expression.
It is unethical to constrain technological progress to support specific business models.
Wherever possible, open models of technology usage and implementation are always better than closed models.
Advertiser-monetized models of interactive social media and technology platforms will always tend toward degradation of the user experience and unethical behavior on the part of the concerns that own and operate those platforms.
Any company that is unable to effectively moderate and monitor the use of the platform(s) it create(s) should not be legally allowed to continue to exist in its current incarnation.
It is unethical to patent any aspect of the biological system.
Patents and copyrights for ideas should end no later than the end of the life of the individual(s) who developed those ideas.
Nanotechnology, biotechnology, and artificial superintelligence pose realistic existential risks for human society and should be regulated as such.
If a Great Filter exists, it is most likely technological in nature.
Regarding Nature:
Humans are not removed from the laws that govern the Universe in any capacity.
Humans have a unique capacity for agency among terrestrial life.
The climate crisis is caused by anthropogenic effects and is singular in its negative effects throughout the planetary system.
Humans are not the only conscious animals on Earth.
All great apes and cetaceans should be afforded the same individual rights as humans.
It is unethical to allow any animal that can suffer to do so without taking all necessary steps to mitigate its pain.
Terrestrial life is not the only life in the Universe.
You can not change just one thing in the terrestrial system.
There is no upper limit to the levels of organization of Universal systems.
There is a finite lower limit to the levels of organization of Universal systems.
Biological evolution is one manifestation of a more generalized physical law that affects all systems in this Universe.
It will never be possible to travel through time in a non-linear progressive path.
Regarding Religion:
Morality exists independently of religious belief.
Religious beliefs can not be rational or objective.
Religious belief does not hold any special authority by virtue of its being religious in nature.
No religious tradition, tenet, or individual should be removed from criticism.
Religious considerations should only affect the lives of those who hold them as applicable.
There is no agent in the Universe that approximates the characteristics of the god of any so-called "revealed" religious tradition on Earth.
Regarding Education:
All living systems have a capacity to learn.
Humans have the most highly developed capacity to learn among all terrestrial organisms.
An ethical society has the responsibility to offer opportunities for education to all members of that society.
All members of a society have an ethical obligation to learn.
It is unethical to compel participation in a specific learning system.
It is unethical to refuse to participate in any learning system.
It is unethical to refuse to teach a subject because of discomfort or other matters of personal belief.
It is not possible to teach a subject without employing a political lens. An “apolitical” political lens is, by definition, a political lens.
Honesty is a requisite for any effective pedagogy.
Teaching is only useful when it furthers development of the learner.
Learning is frequently neither easy nor enjoyable.
Assessment is only useful as an indicator of learning.
Evaluation is inherently subjective.
Until such time as the mechanisms involved in learning are understood at the cellular level, there can not be a cohesive theory of learning.
Problems with the American public education system are fundamentally driven by the deprofessionalized context of being an American public school educator.
Regarding Culture:
Representative democracy is the most ethical form of government.
There is nothing exceptional about modern American culture with respect to the modern cultures of other representative democracies.
The influence of money has caused fundamental flaws in the modern American political system that can not be rectified until such time as the influence of money is substantially lessened, if not entirely removed.
The racist origin of the American state has not been reconciled, and until such time as it is American society will continue to demonstrate fundamentally racist dynamics.
Societal intolerance will inevitably impinge upon, and then co-opt, the functions of a political system if it is allowed to persist in a form that is significant enough to affect the functions of that political system.
Absent extensive and efficient regulatory structures, capitalist economic systems will inevitably and increasingly exploit the terrestrial system and human society.
The United States electoral college should be abolished.
Tradition is not an acceptable justification for any behavior.
Art includes all creative expressions of conscious beings.
It is not possible to determine the value of a work of art.
It is unethical to make money from any enterprise that does not improve the state of the world.
Artistic copyright should not extend past the lifetime of the artist.
The usage of art within any non-commercial context should be legally permissible in all circumstances.
Regarding the Law:
The legality of a proposition is not in itself sufficient justification for the ethical or moral grounding of that proposition.
Any behavior that does not affect the health or well-being of anyone other than the individual that evinces that behavior should be legally permissible.
Any behavior that affects the health or well-being of anyone who provides informed consent to engage in that behavior should be legally permissible.
For legal purposes, the concept of a "person" should apply from birth to death.
Constructivist interpretations of the Constitution of the United States are irrational.
The American legal system is subject to systemic institutional bias against the non-white and the non-wealthy members of the American population.
The dynamics that have resulted in the mass incarceration crisis in the United States are fundamentally racist in nature.
Participation in any aspects of the carceral system of the United States makes one complicit in perpetuating institutional racism and White supremacy culture.
The individual protections afforded in the second amendment to the Bill of Rights should not include the right to keep and bear weapons that have been principally designed to cause maximum harm to other human beings.
It should require at least as much training and licensing to own and operate any gun as it does to own and operate an automobile.
It should be illegal to possess any personal income in excess of a societally determined maximum.
Updated September, 2021