Danger of Drowning

Posted on by James Ashley

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Habit is often considered a bad thing these days.  It is associated with “bad” things such as smoking cigarettes, chewing nails and eating too much candy.  There are also “good” habits, of course, such as flossing and rebooting your computer regularly.

Aristotle based his ethical system on the notion of forming good habits.  In order to achieve something difficult like “virtue”, he felt, we have to train ourselves to have “good” habits.  This is best achieved by having good mentors and good friends (and it doesn’t hurt to belong to a good city-state) who reinforce the habits we ought to have.

Perhaps too much is made of the distinction, but we currently live in a zeitgeist dominated by Kantian rather than Aristotelian ethics.  In a Kantian system (ours) we judge not good people but rather good deeds.  Moreover a deed is good based not on its results (baby saved from drowning, people can fish for themselves) but rather by the attitude in which it was done.  If an action is done out of a sense of obligation to do good in general, then it is truly good.  If it is done out of a sense of accomplishment – then not so good.

I am making these broad-brush statements about ethics mainly because I am breaking some habits.  I recently moved from my trusted web-host of 5+ years, discountasp.net, to orcsweb.  I have also switched my blog engine from dasBlog to BlogEngine.NET. 

While I firmly believe in the importance of cultivating good habits and am a fervent admirer of the Nichomachean Ethics, I nevertheless sometimes feel the need for a change.

Discountasp.net is great (especially for developers) but I couldn’t beat free hosting orcsweb was offering for Microsoft MVPs.  Similarly, dasBlog has been very nice over the years (though I’m certain I had it configured incorrectly) but it hasn’t been developed on for a while.  Perhaps everything is perfect with dasBlog the way it is.  All the same, I like the idea of a blog engine that is still being worked on and still has room for improvement.  The last update to BlogEngine.NET was three months ago.  We might say that BlogEngine.net is still trying to inculcate good habits into its code-base. 

One of my personal habits is an occasional desire to jump into the abyss.  I call this a habit because, when the notion hits me to try out something new, I immediately get a sick feeling in my stomach.  This is when the habit comes into play.  When this vertiginous feeling overcomes me, long-established habit tells me to leap forward rather than fall back.

It is a small thing and reveals itself in small ways.  Nevertheless, I feel it is a good habit and one worth cultivating.

26 thoughts on “Danger of Drowning”

  1. Like the persuasive standpoint drafted in Danger of Drowning. I was considering all these comments and noted that many of them are actually exclusively for the links. I guessed about skipping over your blog because of it but resolved instead to actually join in. Keep the items being published. As Arnie stated I will be back.

  2. Agreed, we can definitely become too comfortable or complacent in our lives, that’s for sure.

    It’s good every once in a while to take stock of everything. Are we doing certain things because it’s the best way? Or are we being complacent, too lazy to change things we know we should?

    Good article, thanks for posting.

  3. I am also moving from my 6 years old host and it is really a pain but it’s life we have to move on.

    I reallt liked your post. You are an Amazing writer. I really liked these lines "If an action is done out of a sense of obligation to do good in general, then it is truly good. If it is done out of a sense of accomplishment – then not so good."

    Keep up the good work. Best of Luck 🙂

  5. To find a good hoster with acceptable prices gets harder and harder. I think there is always a big danger to lose a site. I am glad that in Switzerland all the domains can be hosted with the central register, so there is no danger in lossing the domain.

  7. Yes i am completely agree with you and want to say that one should be positive in their act and habits. He should do such acts that cannot harm others. I must say that creative writing and good sharing.

  8. Habits, whether good or bad, is definitely hard to break or stop. It is good that you’re changing for the better. Good luck.

  9. Really cool article. I just stumbled upon your blog and i thought i’d say that I have really really liked reading your blog writes.Anyways Ill be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.

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  11. For far to long I have had bad habits trying to move away from people who are a bad influence on me and think more posotive ,thanks for your blog.

  12. Really cool article. I just stumbled upon your blog and i thought i’d say that I have really really liked reading your blog writes.Anyways Ill be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.

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  17. Great stuff here. The information and the detail were just perfect.
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  20. Coming from the UK you may not think many go swimming but that is just not true. THere is a big problem with drownings here and we can do all we can to stop it!

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