ABSTRACT
The world is too complex and sloppy for such uncompromising attitudes. This chapter discusses the messier "hypothetical imperatives" that invoke desire, negotiation, and reciprocity Of these "lesser," but altogether wiser and deeper principles, one has stood out for its independent derivation, with different words but to the same effect, in culture after culture. Christians call this principle the "golden rule"; Plato, Daniel Hillel, and Confucius knew the same maxim by other names. Patience of this magnitude usually involves a deep understanding of a fundamental principle, central to profession of geology but all too rarely grasped in daily life—the effects of scale. Phenomena unfold on their own appropriate scales of space and time and may be invisible in our myopic world of dimensions assessed by comparison with human height and times metered by human lifespans. On geological scales, our planet will take good care of itself and let time clear the impact of any human malfeasance.
