The SAF 8 core values are! Loyalty to country! Fighting spirit!
No, this is not about that. It just somehow felt nostalgic, hah.
Today, I’m going to write about the 8 core values to face the future based on cognitive functions. I’ll try to use only the more basic terminology, though.
Without ado, I’ll begin. What is this post going on about? Ok, so just imagine that a crisis is going to erupt in society. How should we face and handle this challenging situation? Or like generally, what sort of attitude should we take in life?
Si
The value for Si is preparedness! We should always keep an eye out and a ear open for information on stuff that our future counts on. Otherwise, we will be utterly taken by surprise when things do happen later on. Meanwhile, when a crisis strikes and its nature is elusive to us, information gathering is of the utmost importance. What weapon is the zombie vulnerable to? Where’s their weak points? And stuff like that. In all seriousness, knowledge is an invaluable thing to grasp because it helps with contingencies.
Fi
The value for Fi is belonging! As social creatures, human beings most crave a sense of belonging someplace. When a crisis strikes, a person may choose to fight to protect the place they belong, which consists of the people who are precious to them. The opposite of belonging is nihilism, where nothing means anything to someone. This results in them not caring one way or the other about their fates. A shared sense of intertwined fates causes one to strive additionally hard for something.
Se
The value for Se is strength! Cliched though it may seem, strength is actually a core deciding factor in the face of challenges. Imagine… a monster attack. If you lack the offensive ability to even pierce the skin of the monster, you probably won’t be able to defeat it. Mental resilience is also an example of strength. Facing hardships and adversity, are you still able to soldier on or do you topple right away? Something especially relevant is that people are sometimes prone to relying fully on instinct and strength, which they hold a certain degree of pride in. However, only their physical abilities alone, sadly, are insufficient as bitter failure results. Intelligence is necessary to complement the brute strength that one holds, or else one may find that they’re just stupidly throwing themselves at a wall.
Fe
The value for Fe is empathy! Do you know why the heart is called the moral compass? That’s because we humans are inherently good (善) and oriented towards universal love. Ideally, this should be what guides our rationality, but tragically some people get corrupted and sees others as means rather than ends in themselves. The epitome of empathy is opening up to a deep, authentic communion of souls with others. Even the most basic acts of taking interest in and showing concern to others already seem to be sorely lacking in modern societies, however. Just two simple observations that are admittedly generalisations and not applicable to all. In Western societies, competition and one-upping one another are prized as people tend to be more selfish and care less about one another. In Eastern (Asian) societies, people tend to care about face and how other people look at them, leading to heavy self-consciousness which distances people from one another. This quashes empathy. Still, the very least one can do, really, is give others the emotional validation they need rather than ignore them or even throw sarcasm or biting, critical remarks at them. Hey, that hurts others AND doesn’t benefit you (即损人又不利己), so why do it??
Ti
The value for Ti is logicality! In the face of challenges, we need to maintain a thread of logic to guide our actions, however unsettled and perturbed we may be. Logic, I believe, is basically about breaking down problems. One aspect of this involves linking connected things together while unlinking non-connected things from each other. The other aspect involves working on the problem part by part. At the individual level, it is like a series of steps you take to work out the answer. At the group level, it is possible to draw an analogy to delegating responsibility for tasks. This relies on the power of co-operation as empowered by communication. Human beings are physically weaker than many animals. However, we are able to combine our diverse strengths to become greater than the sum of our parts. Hence, human beings are able to surmount problems through an agility of mind rather than through pushing ahead with brute force. It relates to and complements the value of strength as mentioned earlier.
Ni
The value for Ni is clarity! When unexpected situations happen and we are forced to respond to them, we should maintain a clear vision of what our core motives are. Thus, we are able to remain fixated on these ultimate goals and not be sidetracked into side channels. Of course, this does not mean that we should resemble machines in being all impartial and logical. This clarity of mind can never circumvent our values as our values are what make us us. This clarity informs us what to do in situations in light of all circumstances that have come to bear.
Ne
The value for Ne is flexibility! Even as we recognise common patterns in the world around us, we should never automatically assume that something falls under a certain category. If we do, something good which could have happened will never happen because you assumed that it was something bad. When you spot someone in a zombie apocalypse who could be a potential ally? Be willing to give them a chance while not fully removing your vigilance. Remain open-minded whilst not naive. That is the way you can spot the opportunities coming your way. Otherwise, you’re really hiding under a blanket in closing off your own possibilities. And when a situation happens, it’ll be too late for you to regret it then!
Te
The value for Te is decisiveness! Sometimes, you’ll only have a short window of time to make a decision. At that time, you must be decisive for otherwise, that window of opportunity will be gone. As opposed to that, you should use the earlier clarity of mind and judge for yourself whether you should really hang onto said opportunity in order to fulfil your purpose. Rather than be afraid of making a mistake, accept your rationale against the potential implications and do not regret the decisions you make. Seek that better future, and accept the entirety of such an important decision’s consequence come what may. 成大事者不过如此。(There’s no greater secret than that for people who accomplish great things, is what I feel.)
Okay, and with that, we have a list of the 8 core values:
Preparedness
Belonging
Strength
Empathy
Logicality
Clarity
Flexibility
Decisiveness
Um, I could definitely come up with one of those first letter things here…
Please Be Strong. Exercise Logic Coolly. Future Depends (on it).
Or what about:
Please Be Safe. Every Life Counts. For Demacia!
Lol. Or maybe:
Properly Being Super. Ever Looking Cool. From Daimon.
Whatever.
Anyway, this is the end of my post that’s based on cognitive functions! I may come back with some photos later to make it nicer or I may not.