It may seem old fashioned to have a code of honor but what get’s measured gets improved. How can you claim to have integrity if you do not have a rubric to assess it?

We have lost this focus in todays society. From chivalry, to Benjamin’s Franklin’s rubric — a code of honor is a compass to advance a better self, and therefore world, across the decades of your life.

As an Entropist I believe we are all playing the game of life together — an infinite game we want to keep going. The one line intent of this code then is the advancement our collective mission by maximizing individual potential for the cause of collective potential.

The Code

Live to Better Humanity.

• Pull others up through demonstration. Be the example for others to follow. Be the paragon.
• Hold Trust Sacred. Trust makes the world go round. Trust makes a bright future. Treat others as you wish to be treated. Keep your promises.
• Select for Long Term Incentives. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Many charities fail to be net useful because they are not self-sustaining. Often a profit making vehicle like a business is the net better vehicle.
• Avoid “Nice”, Instead Practice Long Term Kindness. Tell the truth. Candor with caring is the ultimate form of love. Do not spare the truth today to save yourself discomfort in the moment at the expense of the future. Avoiding confrontation is cowardice.
• Produce net value. If another must takes a loss for you to take a gain you have created no net value. Do not participate in zero sum games. Be on the same team as humanity and life as a whole.
• Continuously Renew Relationships. Sunset or Change Agreements when they Sour. Sometimes this means putting yourself out of business rather than creating harm. Sometimes this means divorce. Sometimes this means changing a relationship or deal.
• Clarify your relationships. Define how both parties will benefit. For your marriage, for you business, for you friends, for your children, for you pets.
• Comply with the spirit of the rules, not the letter.
• Honor the time of others. That is their life on the line. Show up. Be punctual. Do not keep them on the hook.
• Play long term games with long term people. Life is an infinite game we all play together.

Live to Better Yourself.

• Rise to your potential. Continually improve and grow. Be open. When confronted by facts and reason, be willing to sacrifice who you are and what you know today, to become who you could be tomorrow.
• Be authentic to your mission. State your mission and follow through with your actions.
• Honor your one life. Momento Viveri. Remember to live. Live with a sense of urgency executing each day and week.
• Plan for your inevitable death. Momento Mori. Remember you will die. Calculate an expected time of death and plan accordingly. Take the long view of life and assess your plans across the decades.
• Practice Courage. When you feel scared don’t let it linger into fear. Take action to be uncomfortable. This can be as simple as doing an exercise you find embarrassing in the gym. Admitting you failed.
• Keep your promises. Do what you say you will. If you cannot succeed, then tell others as soon as you know.
• Lead Yourself. Make your own decisions. Do not blame your feelings on others.

Initiate with honor. Building a society of honor is our goal but do not mortgage the good to the benefit of the bad.

• Liars and cheats do not deserve honor. When bad actors cheat, discard honor in favor of swift and expedient punishment. Case in point, if a bandit attacks you and yours then use any means to protect you and yours including deception and force.
• Practice tit for tat. Tit for tat has shown itself, through billions of years of evolution to be the most effective way to build empathy and to punish bad actors. Grudges and memory have their place.
• Allowing transgressions is approval. Even a dog knows to correct bad behavior swiftly and decisively. Suffering a bully, a liar, a cheat, or any other bad actor is to endorse it. Even by observation. Truncate propagation. Act immediately and decisively.

Hold Life to be Sacred.

• Destroying life, be it animal, or insect should be avoided. If not for the vagaries of chance we could be the lesser species. Treat our cousins with respect.