Are you leading the best life of which you are capable?

[piltogg]

The Five Tests

Are you about to take a big decision? How do you know it's the right one? Here are the five tests:

1.The Eternal Recurrence Test - this thing you are about to do: if you had to watch yourself performing this action an infinite number of times, would you still go ahead? If so, do it. If not, don't.

2.The Movie Of Your Life Test - this thing you are about to do: would you want it to be in the movie of your life, the scenes that show you at your very best? If so, do it. If not, don't.

3.The Gravestone Test - this thing you are about to do: would you want it recorded on your gravestone after your death? If so, do it. If not, don't.

4.The Mirror Test - this thing you are about to do: will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror afterwards and feel proud of what you have done? If so, do it. If not, don't.

5.The Others Test - this thing you are about to do: will you be happy for others to know all about it? If so, do it. If not, don't.

If you obey these five tests, you will never perform any acts that you are ashamed of. You will never lie and cheat, you will never be a slave to others and you will never do pathetic, unworthy things. You will take pride in everything you do. You will be happy for others to know about your life. Your life will be the best it can be. Your life will be your personal masterpiece, sculpted by you to perfection.

In fact, there is really only one test: the first one, Eternal Recurrence. Are you proud enough of the thing you are about to do to wish it to be repeated endlessly? If so, you will be delighted for it to be in the movie of your life, you will be proud to have it recorded on your gravestone, you will be thrilled to look at yourself in the mirror afterwards, and you will be eager for the whole world to know what you have done. You will have complete self-respect and you will command the respect of everyone who knows you. You will be a person who has lived life absolutely on your own terms, and not slavishly and humiliatingly followed someone else's path.

All other tests - such as those of religion (e.g. the Ten Commandments), the laws of your society, the expectations of family and friends - are one hundred percent irrelevant. If you obey the Law of Eternal Recurrence, you are a person of merit. Welcome to the Meritocracy Party. You have found your true home.

[Ross_Varn]

...did you just attempt to recruit every single person who thinks before they act?

[piltogg]

why yes. yes I did.

[Silent-sigfig]

you will never win

[Keldoclock]

This is a good thing, but it has a few failings.

We aren't all always on our best footing. How does your system fare with situations we are in because we did stupid shit or didn't fully understand consequences of our actions? How does it fare when our options are the shit sandwich and the shit sandwich with mustard?

How does it fare when we are not in our correct minds, thanks to love, depression, rage, chemicals, or anything else?


Idiotic, but those are situations we all find ourselves in often.

[Ross_Varn]

Again. Human nature.

[knolli]

To follow these rules would need a enormous amount of self control. Be lazy once and you can't look at yourself in the mirror. Be selfish once and you wouldn't want others to know about it. But sometimes the bed is just too comfortable to stand up at 5:30 in the morning to begin your perfect day with some exercise when you know that you have to leave for school/work right afterwards.

[stubby]

Nah, to follow these rules just requires an enormous amount of self-satisfaction. I'm happy to watch myself sleeping in for all eternity, hell yeah. Laughing my butt off while trolling the forum? Yes please. I can't think of a single thing I do that goes against any of these five rules.

[Hoboman]

Nah, to follow these rules just requires an enormous amount of self-satisfaction.

I have to agree with Stubby. These "rules" do not force us to be any way at all. Good or Bad, Lazy or Hardworking, Nice or Asshole, nothing is dictated by these rules. All they do is ask us to be sure we are comfoprtable with who we are. So they are mostly empty and do nothing to improve the world around us.

[Zupponn]

Nah, to follow these rules just requires an enormous amount of self-satisfaction.

I have to agree with Stubby. These "rules" do not force us to be any way at all. Good or Bad, Lazy or Hardworking, Nice or Asshole, nothing is dictated by these rules. All they do is ask us to be sure we are comfoprtable with who we are. So they are mostly empty and do nothing to improve the world around us.

As long as people are comfortable with who they are, then they will be happy. The world is improved when more people are happy.

[piltogg]

if everyone is happy... then the world is improved.

[BFenix]

Ugh... this looks like those unwanted e-mails full of crap about the future and that if you send it to others good things will happen. Taking difficult decisions in life shouldn't be something that can be categorized or standardized so anyone else can follow it as some sort of procedure.

[Tzan]

Taking difficult decisions in life shouldn't be something that can be categorized or standardized so anyone else can follow it as some sort of procedure.

Yeah I totally agree!


Oops wait a minute.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments

[Zupponn]

Sorry piltogg, looks like Moses beat you to it.