This Weakness

Just picture it.

You're lying on a beach, a light sweat struggling to form on your skin as the same breeze that's pushing a sailboat on the horizon along brushes over you.

You're inundated with an erupting crowd, standing at the free-throw line about to sink two buckets to bring your team within striking distance of the win. The net swishes once, twice. Your heart keeps pounding.

You're sitting relaxed in an office with a woman asking you questions, and you're nailing all of them. You know by the time you shake her hand and walk out, she'll be convinced that hiring you is the best option for her company.

Visualization is powerful. Within ourselves, we have a unique power to place our bodies in a different situation than the one we're presently in. We can even trick ourselves into having sense experiences that we're not having - that's how strong our imaginations are. You can smell the salt-sea air, you can hear the flash of cameras, you can hear the woman's voice.

Apparently it's also a strong tool for achieving goals. When you have a goal in mind, you're supposed to visualize yourself achieving it. Somehow, by seeing yourself doing it either 1) You believe that it is possible (or inevitable even) or 2) You become familiar with the sensual experience of achieving that goal which makes it easier to confront.

It's not uncommon to imagine what a job interview will be like. Or what taking a test will feel like. Almost every guy I know has practiced what he'll say to ask a girl out before actually getting in the same room with her. All of this gives us the most information possible so that we can go through with striving for a goal.

I wonder if we do this with ethics, though.

It seems obvious to want to see yourself achieving goals. It's a physical action, so the imagination can take over with ease. But what about envisioning yourself as the best possible ethical version of you? Do we walk through scenarios where we'll have to make a moral decision and choose the right path?

I'll take the most vivid example. Say, for a moment, that your moral code requires that you emulate another historical figure because that historical figure is the embodiment of perfection. Since emulating that person, and thus, acting ethically, is a goal (albeit an occasionally inactive one) it seems like someone would benefit from sitting down, closing their eyes, and imagining reaching that goal.

I see this breaking down into two parts - one easy and one more abstract. The first would be an active goal, like imagining yourself confronted with a lost wallet, finding the person's contact information, and returning it. By envisioning this, you should be able to recognize the situation and "repeat your actions" so to speak if and when the situation occurs in real life. You will have practiced being ethical in the imaginary world as a means to be ethical in the real one.

The second is more difficult, and that stems from imagining yourself as "being like" something or someone. Since the act of being is passive and active, imagining this is a little harder. But that, to me, seems to make it even more desirable to try to imagine. If it's more difficult a thing to imagine, wouldn't it follow that it would also be more difficult a thing to achieve in the real world? Taking the time to imagine such a thing could only help in truly emulating, truly being like an ethical figure that's worthy of striving for.

As for me, I'm headed back to the beach.