My Anti-Jerk 12-Step Program

[epepke]

Yes, it's appropriate in this forum, because as a result of thinking about jerky behavior in the recent debacle, I came up with this. It's sort of a parody of the standard religious 12-step program for alcoholics, but a surprising amount needed little or no change.

Eric Pepke's 12-Step Program for Not Being a Jerk for Rationalists
Version 1.0

1) We admitted that our recently evolved reason alone was not powerful enough for appropriate social functioning.

2) Came to believe that emotions and drives, which are hundreds of millions of years older, were important as well.

3) Made a decision to learn about our own and others' emotions and drives and consider them, integrated with our reason, when acting with other people.

4) Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, including our least rational emotions drives.

5) Admitted to the emotional and rational parts of our brains the exact nature of our wrongs.

6) Were entirely ready to let our emotions to work together with and inform our reason to remove all these defects of character.

7) Humbly listened to and acknowledged the evolved, intuitive wisdom of our emotions and drives even when they seemed not to make rational sense.

8) Made a list of all persons and parts of our own humanity that we had wronged and became willing to make amends to them all.

9) Made direct amends to such people and parts of our own humanity wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them and others.

10) Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it to others and ourselves.

11) Sought through appropriate means, such as cognitive/emotional therapy, self-hypnosis, meditation, and self-aware rational thought, to integrate our emotions and drives with our reason.

12) Having achieved personal integration and appropriate, positive social functioning as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other jerks, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

[maiforpeace]

It does fit well.

[Alan C]

What if it's a different sort of jerk?

[AshtonBlack]

Yeah, I thought this was about not wanking.... nice list though.

[FBM]

Wow! Apart from being inspirational and thought-provoking, it strangely made me want to have a beer.



Good to see you, epepke! I didn't see a welcome thread for you, so here's my welcome:

[epepke]

Wow! Apart from being inspirational and thought-provoking, it strangely made me want to have a beer.

There could be no greater praise than that I inspired someone to want a beer.

Good to see you, epepke! I didn't see a welcome thread for you, so here's my welcome:

Thanks. Nice to see you, too.

[FBM]

Hope you like it here. It's a little too light-hearted for some, but there are pockets of serious discussion. I was always challenged by your erudition and wit.