Conservative Rules of Acquisition

It has always been common for scientific fields to complement each other. A recent archeological discovery has revealed intact documents from the 20th and 21st centuries which were produced by the now-extinct humanoid specie Homo conservitii. They are currently being analysed, especially by comparison to similar documents from the 24th-century Homo ferengii, for clues to the evolutionary development of H. conservatii. This pre-publication description of the research is provided while research is finalized and a draft publication is composed and peer-reviewed.

The documents describe these species’ social organization in terms of a concept which both referred to as acquisition. This was a significant element of humanoid societies until the 34th century, when biological and social evolution converged to eliminate superstition, greed, and arrogance. An unknown 18th-century Homo sapiens sapiens promulgated such differing concepts of acquisition [present possession, occupation, prescription, accession, succession] from these later species’ concepts that it is clear that H. conservatii followed a highly divergent evolutionary path from H. sapiens.

Both documents included a statement of sequence, which researchers refer to as ‘staging’. A comparison of these stages for both species offers a valuable orientation:

           The Five Stages of Acquisition
H. Ferengii                            H. Conservatii
Infatuation                            Authoritarianism - 'I need this security'
Justification                          Obedience - 'I will do what Authority says'
Appropriation                          Manipulation - 'Action requires cynicism'
Obsession                              Possession - 'I've got mine'
Resale                                 Justification - 'This will shut the suckers up'

These stages are superficially different. It is beyond the scope of this pre-publication description to establish the sociological and psychological links which connect the two lists. It is more readily apparent from their expanded form, ‘Rules of Acquisition‘. Those rules which researchers consider congruent are listed as follows.

 The Rules of Acquisition
       H. Ferengii
       H. Conservatii
1. Once you have their money ... never give it back.
   You have always had their money. Get more.
3. Never pay more for an acquisition than you have to.
   Never pay for an acquisition that you can get with government help.
8. Small print leads to large risk.
   Do whatever you want. The suckers don't read the small print.
10. Greed is eternal.
    Greed is virtuous.
13. Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
    Nothing is worth doing except for money and power.
16. A deal is a deal ... until a better one comes along.
    A deal is a deal - until you buy a legislator to re-write it.
23. Nothing is more important than your health--except for your money.
    Nothing is more important than your money - certainly not other people's health.
34. Peace is good for business.
    War is good for business.
35. War is good for business.
    War is best for business.
52. Never ask when you can take.
    Never persuade when you can legislate.
60. Keep your lies consistent.
    Keep your lies working. The suckers don't know consistency.
76. Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
    Every once in a while, declare Mission Accomplished
    - before a competent H. liberalii actually does it.
85. Never let the competition know what you're thinking.
    Never give the suckers evidence that you're not thinking.
94. Females and finances don't mix.
    Females, a guy in the adjacent stall, porn chats - bring 'em on!
106. There is no honour in poverty.
     Never give a rat's ass about poverty.
141. Only fools pay retail.
     Only fools pay the same taxes as the suckers.
177. Know your enemies ... but do business with them always.
     Know your country's enemies. You always do really good business with them.
239. Never be afraid to mislabel a product. Never be afraid to profit from a faulty or ineffective product.
266. When in doubt, lie.
     When you get caught, lie.

This new discovery does not establish that Homo ferengii evolved directly from Homo conservitii or Homo sapiens. Previous research has revealed significant differences, especially in their involvement with war. The two species had orthogonal, not opposite, adaptations to social conflict. H. ferengii recognized that acquisition, but not war itself, was a goal. H. conservitii clearly had goals of acquisition and war which were interchangeable and, effectively, equivalent.

For example, H. ferengii society sought to make everyone wealthy. H. conservitii society tied wealth to war: wealth was regarded as something which inherently required the poverty, even the illness and death, of others.

Additional research into the similar misogyny of H. ferengii and H. conservatii societies may provide the concluding determination of their evolutionary relationship.

The Ten Commandments of GodStone

Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 8:18pm

The Church of GodStone

Ten Commandments
of GodStone

 

Commandments by number, with comments and corollaries

Commandment I

Thou shalt maintain deference for the Holy One of GodStone,
Who are infinitely greater than mere mortals.

— Corollary 1 —
Knowledge of the Holy One is unattainable by the limited intelligence and character of mortals.
Dogmatic assertions of knowledge of the Will of the Holy One demonstrate this truth.

— Sub-Corollary A —
The Holy One are unknowably many, for She resides with Her Paramore for the Completion of Sameness,
and the Paramore is that which is All – Beginning, Eternity, and Ending – for the Holy One.

— Sub-Corollary B —
Understanding of each and all Commandments, including Commandment I, is subject to Commandment I.

— Corollary 2 —
In worship, mortals presume to have knowledge of the Holy One
and Their relationship to deities greater than mere mortals.
Hence, they may not worship any other than Holy One of GodStone,
nor may they disparage the forms of worship by those who do not worship Them.

— Corollary 3 —
No mortal can truly know Her will or act as Their proxy, hence,
claims on, from, or to the Authority of the Holy One, are void.

— Sub-Corollary A —
Judgement is Theirs, sayeth the Holy One; judge only as you have judged yourself.

 Commandment II

Thou shalt not damage anything indiscriminately,
that thine emotional energy may be directed toward productive ends.

— Corollary 1 —
Usurpation is arrogance, so do not damage anything which isn’t yours.

— Sub-Corollary A —
Do not damage anything at the behest of the owner,
lest you become a proxy for their violation of Commandment II.

— Sub-Corollary B —
That which has no owner is owned by all mortals, so do not damage it.

— Corollary 2 —
The value of your fellow mortals is never less than your own, so you may not kill or damage them.

— Sub-Corollary A —
You have value to the Holy One, so do not damage yourself.

 Commandment III

Thou shalt devote some small time to the Holy One,
and a much greater time to one’s own pleasure and improvement,
and a still greater time to that which benefits other mortals,
for only in this manner may the Holy One be granted eminence.

Commandment IV

Thou shalt be productive,
for the needs of mortals are many and great, and the time granted to serve those needs is transient.

Commandment V

Thou shalt have affection for thy mortal family and for steadfast friends,
for mortals will die like flowers in a desert without giving and receiving from each other.

— Corollary 1 —
Those who reared you from infancy have freely given you that which you could not have given yourself,
so reserve greatest affection for them.

 Commandment VI

Thou shalt not steal.

— Corollary 1 —
Theft damages others and yourself and diverts others and yourself from productive pursuits.
Do not take another mortal’s possession by stealth or by subterfuge,
nor usurp their relationship with another.

 Commandment VII

Thou shalt not contemplate the theft of another mortal’s possession,
for neither the Holy One nor thine own self is deceived.

Commandment VIII

Thou shalt not be hypocritical.

— Corollary 1 —
The Commandments are One.
You may not persist in the presumed observation of a Commandment by the violation of another Commandment.

— Corollary 2 —
It is easy to rationalize contradictions to the direct meaning of the Commandments.
You may not grant the observation of rituals a priority over serving the Holy One, or oneself, or other mortals.

— Sub-Corollary A —
Such rationalisation and self-delusion is the inherent and errant guide of mortals,
from which all violations of the Commandments devolve.
You will learn and practice critical and skeptical thought.

— Corollary 3 —
Truth destroys hypocrisy.
You must candidly and unequivocably acknowledge your deficiencies and errors.

 Commandment IX

Thou shalt establish means by which thou may adhere to these Commandments,
for obedience is the harvest from a planting of deliberate self-control.

Commandment X

Thou shalt not be invariably literal.

— Corollary 1 —
Dogma is the converse of critical thought and skepticism.
You may not be dogmatic, except in observing Commandment VIII.

— Sub-corollary A —
These Commandments are an exemplar of a contradiction,
so you may not regard the Ten Commandments of GodStone
as being immutably or incontrovertibly ten in number.
They are all One.

 

Premise: A viable religion may be formed from the gaps, either overt or effective, in existing religions.
A viable religion may seek to establish directly those things which existing religions indirectly establish
or to which they merely allude.

~ ~ ~ Copyright 2009-2010 James R. Stone ~ ~ ~