Shouldn’t morals reveal it to us? How are you saying it is revealed?
Earlier you were asking about the donkey and the carrot. When I was a kid, I tried that trick on a horse, as I imagine a lot of kids with horses have done. My brother and I were skylarking and so I held out a carrot on a stick over the horses head. We had a good laugh. However, all I manged to do was tease the poor horse. It didn’t move forward, or attempt to go faster to get to the carrot. It simply craned and stretched its neck and even moved around in circles trying to get that little bit of pleasure. Now a horse is not a dumb creature. After a short while it stopped attempting to get the carrot because, of course, the carrot just stayed out of reach every time the horse moved, so instead it just stood and stared at the carrot, unable to concentrate or look at anything else. I suppose the horse could smell that carrot too, which would add to the sense of frustration. Once I removed the carrot and the stick, it kept turning to look at me, wondering where the carrot was. I gave the horse the carrot and we both moved on. The horse stayed a horse and did exactly what it was supposed to and we got along just fine. The horse was trained, you see and wasn’t just a wild, uncontrolled beast that couldn’t get along with anyone and because it was a trained, well mannered animal, it was trusted. You see, a horse that can’t be trusted has a very uncomfortable existence and is eventually consigned to the knackery and turned into dog meat and glue. A horse that only moves forward because it can see a carrot out in front of its head is an inconvenience because you always have to have a carrot in plain view to make the horse a trustworthy animal and to ensure it acts like a horse simply because there’s a carrot to be had. In fact, that method, that is, dangling a carrot in plain view all the time, is compromising the true nature of the horse. The horse is so busy craning its head, struggling so much to reach that carrot, that it is not actually acting like a horse. Horses like to do things with people, like go exploring, galloping and seeing new things, saying hello to other horses, to enjoy being themselves and even rubbing their heads against you for a bit of affection. All that goes out the window when you dangle a carrot in plain view of the horses eyes, but just out of reach. Why, they become so enamoured of the carrot, even if for just a short time, so engrossed in obtaining that bit of satisfaction, I swear you could lead them over a cliff and they wouldn’t notice. Of course, if you give the horse the carrot, it comes to expect even more carrots and before you know it, they act like spoilt brats and maybe even bite you if they don’t get their carrot. You end up with a horse that will only behave according to its mood at the time and that makes it unpredictable, untrustworthy and even downright dangerous. Now without the carrot, the horse acts like a horse should act, because that’s a comfortable way to act, life is pleasing and the horse is trusted and even loved. The horse knows he’ll get a good feed at the end of the day and be well rugged up against the cold and that’s good enough for him. And even if there’s a shortage of grain and he goes hungry at the end of the day, at least the day was kind to him and he acted just like a horse should act.
It’s all a bit like people, don’t you think?
