Exhibit A

Going to plant a seed for you dear blogger readers.

Two words.

Very important words.

All I need are these two words, to turn your world, upside down.

And no the two words, are not upside down. Though that is clever.

No, the two words (drum roll) are…

abstract and arbitrary.

ab·stract

adjective

adjective: abstract

abˈstrakt,ˈabˌstrakt/

1.      1.

existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence.

"abstract concepts such as love or beauty"

synonyms:		theoretical, conceptual, notional, intellectual, metaphysical, ideal, philosophical, academic; rareideational "abstract concepts"
antonyms:	actual, concrete

o    dealing with ideas rather than events.

"the novel was too abstract and esoteric to sustain much attention"

o    not based on a particular instance; theoretical.

"we have been discussing the problem in a very abstract manner"

o    (of a word, especially a noun) denoting an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete object.

"abstract words like truth or equality"

o    of or relating to abstract art.

"abstract pictures that look like commercial color charts"

synonyms:		nonrepresentational, nonpictorial "abstract art"
antonyms:	representational

verb

verb: abstract; 3rd person present: abstracts; past tense: abstracted; past participle: abstracted; gerund or present participle: abstracting

abˈstrakt/

1.      1.

consider (something) theoretically or separately from something else.

"to abstract science and religion from their historical context can lead to anachronism"

2.      2.

extract or remove (something).

"applications to abstract more water from streams"

synonyms:

extract, isolate, separate, detach "he abstracted the art of tragedy from its context"

o    used euphemistically to say that someone has stolen something.

"his pockets contained all he had been able to abstract from the apartment"

o    withdraw.

"as our relationship deepened you seemed to abstract yourself"

3.      3.

make a written summary of (an article or book).

"staff who index and abstract material for an online database"

synonyms:

summarize, précis, abridge, condense, compress, shorten, cut down, abbreviate, synopsize; rareepitomize "we'll be abstracting material for an online database"

noun

noun: abstract; plural noun: abstracts; noun: the abstract

ˈabˌstrakt/

1.      1.

a summary of the contents of a book, article, or formal speech.

"an abstract of his inaugural address"

synonyms:

summary, synopsis, précis, résumé, outline, abridgment, digest, summation; wrap-up "an abstract of her speech"

2.      2.

an abstract work of art.

"a big unframed abstract"

3.      3.

that which is abstract; the theoretical consideration of something.

"the abstract must be made concrete by examples"

Origin

Middle English: from Latin abstractus, literally ‘drawn away,’ past participle of abstrahere, from ab- ‘from’ + trahere ‘draw off.’

ar·bi·trar·y

ˈärbəˌtrerē/

adjective

adjective: arbitrary

1.      based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.

"his mealtimes were entirely arbitrary"

synonyms:		capricious, whimsical, random, chance, unpredictable; More casual, wanton, unmotivated, motiveless, unreasoned, unsupported, irrational, illogical, groundless, unjustified; personal, discretionary, subjective "an arbitrary decision"
antonyms:	reasoned, rational

o    (of power or a ruling body) unrestrained and autocratic in the use of authority.

"arbitrary rule by King and bishops has been made impossible"

synonyms:		autocratic, dictatorial, autarchic, undemocratic, despotic, tyrannical, authoritarian, high-handed; More absolute, uncontrolled, unlimited, unrestrained "the arbitrary power of the prince"
antonyms:	democratic

o    Mathematics

(of a constant or other quantity) of unspecified value.

Origin

late Middle English (in the sense ‘dependent on one's will or pleasure, discretionary’): from Latin arbitrarius, from arbiter ‘judge, supreme ruler,’ perhaps influenced by French arbitraire .

Morality, like measurement, is an abstraction we kooky humans, superimpose upon the world. Feet or meters or yards or minutes or seconds don’t exist in nature. If you can’t sense it, it’s abstract and you have never, ever, yes you, sensed a yard or a second.

Ah but measurements sure are valuable to us kooky humans. Ah, quantity how we love you. Quantify this quantify that, measure this measure that…we love it.

But, can we say the same about morality?

Not so much. History is nothing if not Exhibit A for the trial of moral objectivity. Right and wrong are as relative as Uncle Chester, and none of us like Uncle Chester, but dammit he’s kin, so we keep him around.

Morality is arbitrary, another whim we superimpose upon the world but without the value of measurement.

In fact, it might be time to jettison this arbitrary, relative, nonsense in favor of some good old cogitatin’.

Who’s with me?!