Every now and then you read a book that gives you a whole new model for looking at some aspect of the world, and it's one of the headiest experiences I know.
One book I remember doing that to me was Jane Jacobs' Systems of Survival. She argues that there are two distinct, parallel systems of morality at work in society -- "trader" or "commerce" on one hand, and "guardian" or "warrior" on the other -- and that each is completely self-consistent but often contradictory to the other. She points out that many problems arise from an attempt to inappropriately use one system of ethics in a situation that is properly the purview of the other system. I found it a fascinating book.
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Every now and then you read a book that gives you a whole new model for looking at some aspect of the world, and it's one of the headiest experiences I know.
One book I remember doing that to me was Jane Jacobs' Systems of Survival. She argues that there are two distinct, parallel systems of morality at work in society -- "trader" or "commerce" on one hand, and "guardian" or "warrior" on the other -- and that each is completely self-consistent but often contradictory to the other. She points out that many problems arise from an attempt to inappropriately use one system of ethics in a situation that is properly the purview of the other system. I found it a fascinating book.