Ali Reza Hayati wrote:
> I really believe my new blog post is related to what is happening to the
> free software world today.
> Boxer syndrome
> https://alirezahayati.com/2021/05/09/boxer-syndrome/
There is a well-known verse in "The Analects of Confucius" which
succinctly describes the condition described in this blog post.
https://ctext.org/analects/tai-bo
Verse 2
The English translation provided by this site, by James Legge:
"Respectfulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes laborious bustle."
"Obedience" is probably more accurate than "respectfulness" in this
context.
The character for "laborious bustle" is the one for "work." There
is consensus that the "work" here is of the gruesome or futile sort,
probably both at once.
"Rules of propriety" is a key concept which appears very often in
books by Confucius and his followers. It has many meanings.
Observation of the character itself reveals that it originally meant
"gratitude toward God." Through the years the character acquired
several derivative meanings: "politeness," "ceremony," "social norms,"
"proper conduct."
It appears Confucius frequently had something like what we would call
"basic human rights" (appropriate for his time) and an associated
"code of conduct" in mind when using this term. He believed that with
people understanding what the "basic rights" were and acting
accordingly many of the problems that plagued society in his days
would disappear. He opposed the use of external prodding in the form
of rewards and punishments to make the masses behave well.
