[Claude holds up his hands in surrender.] I didn't want a debate about it, really, Felix. Like you said, I don't even know enough to have one! I just figured this is a pretty sensitive topic for you...and I also know that, especially when you're angry, you tend to jump to conclusions. So I just wanted to make sure you'd looked at things from more than one point of view, all right?
But if you have, and you're still certain that the distinction is there and you know on what side of it they fall, I'm not going to contradict you. I can't, really. You know way more about this than me.
I'm just...sorry you have to deal with that. Knighthood isn't really worth anything by itself - its only value is in the ideals behind it. Things like loyalty, and compassion, and protecting the vulnerable. And those ideals can be practiced by anyone, not just knights. So glorifying knighthood itself as though it's synonymous with or somehow the source of those ideals...it's pretty ridiculous.
In a way, it kind of reminds me of Lorenz. He was always so proud of his nobility, talking it up, going on about his duties because of what he'd decided being a noble means and requires...as though there aren't plenty of selfish, cowardly nobles out there who don't exhibit a single quality he always said 'defines' nobility. As though he only did good things himself because he's a noble and that's what he's decided is required of nobles. He was just romanticizing his own station. And what you're describing...it's basically just people romanticizing a job. A job you know can end in some pretty horrific and tragic consequences that aren't at all romantic or glorious. It's just people seeing what they want to see, not what's really there.
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Date: 2020-12-26 08:06 am (UTC)But if you have, and you're still certain that the distinction is there and you know on what side of it they fall, I'm not going to contradict you. I can't, really. You know way more about this than me.
I'm just...sorry you have to deal with that. Knighthood isn't really worth anything by itself - its only value is in the ideals behind it. Things like loyalty, and compassion, and protecting the vulnerable. And those ideals can be practiced by anyone, not just knights. So glorifying knighthood itself as though it's synonymous with or somehow the source of those ideals...it's pretty ridiculous.
In a way, it kind of reminds me of Lorenz. He was always so proud of his nobility, talking it up, going on about his duties because of what he'd decided being a noble means and requires...as though there aren't plenty of selfish, cowardly nobles out there who don't exhibit a single quality he always said 'defines' nobility. As though he only did good things himself because he's a noble and that's what he's decided is required of nobles. He was just romanticizing his own station. And what you're describing...it's basically just people romanticizing a job. A job you know can end in some pretty horrific and tragic consequences that aren't at all romantic or glorious. It's just people seeing what they want to see, not what's really there.