Your Prime Directive, How High Is The Moral Compass?

August 22, 2019,

All is fair in love and war.

The earliest known origin of the philosophy “all is fair in love in war” is found in poet John Lyly’s novel “Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit,” published in 1579.

The story relates the romantic adventures of a wealthy and attractive young man which includes the quote “the rules of fair play do not apply in love and war.”

Some believe the desired end result justifies the means. Stated another way, if you win, then the way you won doesn’t really matter. If you have tons of money, even if inherited, you’re a winner.

How you received it doesn’t matter as long as you have it.

History is written by the winners.

Is that what you believe?

You might depending upon what your life’s prime directive is.

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We view it as your primary life moral compass where there are certain lines in life that you will not cross, no matter what.

The thinking originated with the masterful Gene Rodenberry’s Star Trek.

Viewed as an executive order, the summary of the order given in the 1968 episode “Bread and Circuses” which is, “No identification of self or mission; no interference with the social development of said planet; no references to space, other worlds, or advanced civilizations.”

As the Star Trek franchise evolved, the thinking behind it became more expansive and, though referred to often, less defined.

The Prime Directive is also known as “Starfleet General Order 1”, “General Order 1”, and the “non-interference directive”.

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This philosophy applies particularly to civilizations which are below a certain threshold of technological, scientific and cultural development; preventing starship crews from using their superior technology to impose their own values or ideals on them.

Since its introduction in the first season of the original Star Trek series, it has served as the plot focus of numerous episodes of the various Star Trek television and movie series.

The intriguing thought on Prime Directives, Moral Compasses and important principles are much easier to be adhered to when times are good and stable.

It is far more challenging when under severe duress.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”…Friedrich Nietzsche

If you’ve ever worked at a restaurant during a super busy shift and one of your co-workers makes a mistake that destroys your order, normally civilized, you might snap at them.

We have worked at restaurants and have seen it happen.

Maybe even did it ourselves.

Of course it can get far more serious than that. You might be impelled to do something that you normally wouldn’t, due to circumstances of duress.

In many circles, once viewed as a B movie starring an action hero, over time, Death Wish resonated with millions and became a classic.

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Death Wish is a 1974 American vigilante action film, loosely based on the 1972 novel of the same title by Brian Garfield. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Charles Bronson as previously liberal Paul Kersey, an architect who becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter sexually assaulted during a home invasion.

Frustrated with the police and judicial system he takes matters into his own hand and begins to murder one criminal after another.

Part of the lure and terror of the film was that Mr. Kersey was so civilized before the tragedy but whatever his principles were before, they went by the wayside after his suffered one of the deepest losses one could imagine.

What about you?

How often do you speak of your principles to others?

We were once in organized religion, for over twenty years and there we saw many, including ourselves speak of how we would maintain our integrity under duress, persecution and sever threat.

In reality, when members were truly tested, they, we, seemed to lose our way.

Is it really possible to stay with your prime directive and moral compass under great duress? We are starting to feel the answer is no. Especially in today’s volatile world where atrocities seem to increase and abound.

A part of our thinking, based upon our life experience, is that virtually no one will stand by their principles, prime directive and moral code when they are under attack or great duress.

We’ve rarely seen it.

So why are having high standards and principles so important?

Let’s examine two reasons.

In his July 6, 2016 article in Psychology Today, Mr. Joachim I Krueger Ph.D. related, “When deciding whether we like, respect, and understand a person, we care most about whether that person is moral, more so than whether he or she is sociable or competent.

As it turns out, morality is the thing we care about most when forming impressions of a person (see Goodwin, Piazza, & Rozin, 2014). We care about a person’s morality, more so than nearly any other factor, including their competence, sociability (friendliness), and a variety of other personality traits.”

Okay, so we like people more and they do us as well, when we have a higher moral compass.

That makes sense, so if that is important to you, then perhaps you should continue to evaluate your principles, standards and morals.

Again, if that is important to you.

What if that isn’t important to you? At least not heavily important. We all want people to like us more than not, but how much do we really care about what others think of us?

Some people truly don’t.

If that is the case, what else should motivate you to have a higher behavior system?

It is about how you view yourself.

That could be very important. People who have a dim view of themselves tend to behave in ways that are self-destructive and have a tendency to sabotage important relationships.

Low self-esteem is extremely powerful.

Admiration and respect for who you are, as seen by you, can go a long ways towards helping you keep the bar high on your standards and principles. It may help you refrain from certain hurtful behavior because you know people of lower standards behave that way.

Not you.

Your expectations of yourself begin to rise because based upon your past experience, you feel you are capable of doing greater things.

Just like Star Fleet.

It’s one of the reasons why we love Star Trek: Next Generation and Star Trek Voyager. Both shows depict who we can aspire to as human beings as opposed to what we are often seeing on our currently angry planet.

So yes, it is good to aspire to higher morals, principles and standards.

People will tend to like and admire you more and you will like yourself better.

Just a reminder though.

Anyone can talk about their high morals, standards and principles relating to their personal prime directive.

As the expression goes, talk is cheap.

Our perspective?

Your principles are not your own, unless you are severely tested and you adhere to them.