# Stock values

These are the stock-standard tropes that persist throughout many, many [stories](stories.md).

- These stories are conventional wisdom for [almost all humanity](humanity-universals.md), with each [culture](culture.md) having different emphasis and priority on each.
- Without considering time and place, these values often contradict.
- Some of these values are also utterly wrong.

* * * * *

The [Natural World](reality.md):

- [Civilization](technology.md) threatens nature, so we must protect it.
- The natural wilderness is harsh, hostile, and indifferent to who suffers and dies in it.
- We must be cautious and respectful of wild animals, even if they seem docile.
- Proper hygiene and sanitation helps [avoid infection](body-firstaid.md).
- Don't skip [meals](cooking.md).
- Eat the [right food](body-4_health.md) (i.e., not junk food).
- [Drive](autos.md) safely.
- Get enough [sleep](sleep.md).

[Religion](religion.md) and [trust](trust.md):

- [God](religion.md) is good.
- [Beliefs](understanding-certainty.md) make people stupid.
- [Hope](trust.md) can change [reality](reality.md).
- Drinking [alcohol](fun-alcohol.md) or consuming recreational drugs can destroy your life.
- Anti-drug propaganda is overstating the problem.

[Feelings](mind-feelings.md):

- Feelings are better than thinking.
- Always trust your first impressions.
- First impressions are misleading.

[Understanding](understanding.md), [values](values.md), and [science](science.md):

- Curiosity is dangerous.
- Curiosity is good.
- Curiosity has risks and rewards.
- Keep an open mind to trying new things.
- Knowing some things will sacrifice our sanity and [happiness](happiness-1_why.md).
- Education is overrated.
- Knowledge is power.
- Science isn't always good for the world.
- Science doesn't give any [meaningful](meaning.md) answers.
- Science without morality makes us [evil](morality-evil.md).
- Every scientific discovery is inherently good.
- To help someone is equipping them for today, but teaching them to help themselves equips them for life.

[Appearance](image.md):

- [Beautiful people](people-2_image.md) are good (or inverted where beautiful people are bad).
- [Evil](morality-evil.md) people are ugly (or inverted where evil people are attractive).
- [Clothes and hygiene](people-2_image.md) define who a person is, so they should take pride in it.
- Good people dress modestly.
- Appearance [isn't everything](values.md).
- It's not good to be vain.
- Don't be *completely* honest.
- Honesty is always the best policy.

[Purpose](purpose.md) and [Identity](identity.md):

- Accept who you are.
- Don't be shy with others or about what you want.
- Don't take on tasks that are too large.
- Have fun like you were dying.

[Decisions](decisions.md) and [Meaning](meaning.md):

- [Living well](thegoodlife.md) is more than surviving.
- Focus on [today](awareness.md), since you [might not live tomorrow](imagination.md).
- The [journey](success-5_persevering.md) matters more than the destination.
- Learn [satisfaction](happiness-1_why.md) with your lot in life.
- Do everything in moderation.
- Rushing into things is foolish.
- Hesitating means you'll miss out.

[The Unknown](unknown.md):

- [Prevention](riskmgmt.md) is better than curing.
- It's good to [work hard for better things](success-1_why.md).
- You will regret [opportunities you don't take](socialrisk.md).
- Life is awful, but we can improve it.
- You're bound to fail, but should still try.
- Even in peril, keep a positive attitude.
- Cynicism is bad.
- Idealism is bad.

[Power](power.md):

- Not everything that [seems to have value](image.md) is valuable.
- Not everything that seems to have no value is worthless.
- Desiring things is better than getting them.
- Giving is better than receiving.
- [Success](success-1_why.md) can be [lonely](people-4_friends.md).
- Don't play [God](religion.md).
- [Capitalism](economics.md) is bad.
- Fools lose their money quickly.
- Saving money is as good as earning it.
- The more power, the more [responsibility](meaning.md).
- More power [corrupts](morality-evil.md) more.
- Unrestrained ambition leads to [evil](morality-evil.md).
- True strength isn't about measurable force.

[Planning](success-3_goals.md):

- [Plan](imagination.md) carefully.
- Your [plans](imagination.md) might not go the way you want.
- You may not like what you think you [want](purpose.md).
- Conceit comes before destruction.
- You must be willing to compromise.
- Stick to what you believe in.

[Results](creations.md):

- Anything worth doing is worth doing right.
- Failing is better than doing nothing.
- Never give up.
- Sometimes you have to give up.
- Quality is better than quantity.
- Cheaters will eventually get caught.
- Something is only fun to win when it's challenging.
- All talent only matters if you [refine it](success-5_persevering.md).
- Failure is the greatest teacher, and mistakes aren't as bad as they appear.
- Turn your failures into success.
- Patience will be rewarded.
- Time marches on.

[Changing](changes.md):

- Some [suffering](hardship.md) is good for us.

[Language](language.md), [Stories](stories.md), and [Communication](people-conversation.md):

- Language has [power](power.md).
- Actions are more important than words.
- Words are more important than actions.
- Stories have inherent value.
- Old stories are bad.
- New stories are bad.
- Reading is fun and useful.
- If you lie about danger too frequently, nobody will believe you later.
- [Reality](reality.md) is better than fiction.
- It's wrong to download media without paying for it.
- It's fine to download media without paying for it.
- Social media is bad.

[Conflicts](people-conflicts.md):

- Accept people for who they are.
- It's sometimes okay to agree to disagree.
- Two unlikely people *can* [agree](people-conflicts.md) on something.
- You should always agree with your friends.
- Having enemies is good for us.
- Treat others with acceptance and tolerance.
- You should [forgive](happiness-2_recovering.md) people who hurt you.
- Never forget what people who wronged you have done.

[Technology](technology.md):

- [Change](changes.md) and [progress](trends.md) are bad.
- We should [influence progress](power-influence.md), and opposing it is bad.
- Be cautious with powerful technology, especially if it was [designed to kill](people-conflicts-war.md) (e.g., guns).

[Morality](morality.md):

- Do to others what you want them to do to you.
- [Kindness](people-relationships-love.md) comes back to you.
- [Cruelty](morality-evil.md) comes back to you.
- We must take as well as give.
- Don't be kind to evil.
- Kindness isn't weakness.
- The honorable thing isn't always the smart thing.
- Being kind doesn't guarantee good things will happen to you.
- Immoral behavior drives entire societies to ruin.
- Follow core virtues.
- What you do when nobody else can see matters.
- Evil is easy, but doing the right thing is hard.
- [Evil](/evil/) people can't understand the value of being good, so they'll eventually fail.

[Friendship](people-4_friends.md):

- Friendship's power can conquer anything.
- [Trust](trust.md) makes people stronger.
- If you don't have friends, there's something wrong with you.
- Even when you have friends, you have to [do some things yourself](success-1_why.md).
- Don't trust strangers.
- Some people should never be trusted.
- Making friends with an enemy will [change them](power-influence.md).
- You should be a friend to all living things.
- You can't be a friend to everyone.
- People who are similar make closer friends.
- Some "friends" weren't friends to begin with.
- [Extroverted](personality.md) friends will help your social skills.
- Respect everyone's preferences.

Romantic [love](people-relationships-love.md):

- Love is more important than sex.
- Love's power can conquer anything.
- You'll fall in love at the first sight of the person you're destined to be with.
- Be careful who you fall in love with.
- Love makes you crazy and dumb.
- Love makes you do [evil](morality-evil.md) things.
- Love brings out the best in people.

[Women and Gender](gender.md):

- Treat females nicely.
- Treat females the same way as males.
- Women are at least as competent as men.
- Women have more common sense.
- Don't have casual sex, and even contraceptives are still risky.
- You're not an [adult](maturity.md) until you've had sex.
- Opposite [personalities](personality.md) are attracted to each other.

[Family](people-family.md):

- [Having children](people-parenting-2_children.md) will elevate your [marriage](people-relationships-3_marriage.md).
- Having children makes us [grow up](maturity.md).
- Children are innocent.
- Children are cruel.
- You're [responsible](meaning.md) for your children's well-being and [understanding](understanding.md), *not* any media or authority figures.
- Your relationships with relatives are stronger than any other [friends](people-4_friends.md).
- Build bonds with your children before it's too late.
- You must [prove yourself](maturity.md) to the older generation.
- Not everyone from an awful family is bad.

[Justice](people-3_respect.md):

- Justice eventually prevails.
- Your enemy may have had a terrible childhood.
- A [traumatic](ptsd.md) past doesn't justify doing [bad things](morality-evil.md) to others.
- One person doing the right thing can change society.
- Whoever is [strongest](power.md) defines what's right.
- Whoever is most [moral](morality.md) is strongest.
- We sometimes can't reason with people and must apply [force](power.md).
- The only way to stop an attacker is by being [stronger](power.md).

Justice - Revenge:

- Revenge isn't justice.
- Disproportionate revenge is wrong.
- You won't find closure in revenge.
- Getting revenge will [corrupt](morality-evil.md) you.
- Getting revenge means you become like the person you're avenging against.
- Break the cycle of revenge with mercy.

[Group association](groupsmember.md):

- Popular group thoughts are often wrong.
- You're either in the group or out of it, and there's no middle ground.
- Don't stand out in the group.
- More minds and bodies [make work easier](jobs-specialization.md).
- Too many people on a project can ruin it.

Group [expectations](imagination.md):

- Conform to [expectations](imagination.md).
- Don't conform to expectations.
- Discrimination and bigotry are wrong and stupid.
- People don't have as many differences between them as they think.

[Specialization](jobs-specialization.md):

- You can do everything, but you *must* specialize to be a master at anything.
- If you do one thing very well, you won't be able to do other things as well.
- Everyone's [personality](personality.md) is different, so they're better at their role than you realize.

[Trends](trends.md):

- Giving into materialism, peer pressure, and fashions is more trouble than it's worth.
- Not remembering history dooms people to repeat it.

[Culture](culture.md):

- Change [tradition](habits.md) to [influence](power-influence.md) others.

[Legacy](legacy.md):

- Accept what you're destined to do.
- Define your destiny for yourself.
- Nothing happens by chance, and everything is destined.
- Living forever is overrated.
- Living forever is worth the sacrifice.
- Living forever is awful.

[War](people-conflicts-war.md) and military:

- War is simply cruel and terrible, so peace is always worth it.
- War is heroic and a patriotic adventure, and pacifism is for cowards and traitors.
- Soldiers are weak-willed and mindless, and only exist to kill and destroy.
- Civilians are cowards with no sense of responsibility.

[Political and Government](groupslarge.md):

- Democracy has risks (or is outright mob rule).
- People should [trust](trust.md) authority.
- People should *not* [trust](trust.md) authority.
- Think for yourself (as stated by authority figures).
- An [idea](values.md) is more important and durable than an individual.
- It's noble to [fight](people-conflicts-war.md) for your [country](groupslarge.md) strictly on that principle alone.
- Even when simply following orders, war crimes are bad.
- There is good in [humanity](humanity.md).
- Leading through [fear](mind-feelings-fear.md) is necessary.
- Leading through fear is [wrong](morality-evil.md).
- [Leadership](mgmt-1_why.md) requires both being strict and gentle.