Accumulated worth

When I first started this blog, it was supposed to be named Accumulated Worth (as might be seen in the url). I chose something a bit lighter, but I've felt I should explain both the namesakes, because there's a rather interesting thought (atleast to me) behind them both.

The name of the blog, Vesinokkaeläimen Viinakaappi, translates to the Platypus' Booze Cabinet. This actually spawned largely from the want of an alliterative name and the need to think of something funny. I like platypi, I find the conjointment of different qualities charming.

You know, like this.

And Booze Cabinet's are the place you go to for ideas, relief, oblivion... Kind of what I use this place for, only the other way around. In the subtitle (or ingress, maybe) there used to be more of the platypus' flat mentioned, other places that this blog might be. And it's true, this place is a bit of a hodge-podge, a place where I come to vent, think and comment. This place isn't really aimed on some specific audience, nor is it a theme blog. It just is, and you kind of have to accept it for what it is or skim most of the stuff.

The url, accumulated worth, comes from Terry Pratchett's book, The Unseen Academicals. According to the cover, the book is about football and life in general, and while I don't so much care about football, I was very interested in what Sir Terry might have to say about life in general. I'll try to avoid spoilers, but if you intend to read the book and don't want to spoil the fun, you might want to to leave this for later.

The protagonist -  or atleast one of them - is Mr. Nutt, a (probably) goblin working in the candle vats of the Unseen University. The workers of the candle vats are, all in all, an odd bunch, basically refuse and lost souls from the world above. Amongst them is the hard-working, well-mannered Mr. Nutt, who is kept at arm's length mostly for what he is - a goblin.

Mr. Nutt can be seen as a commentary on many things, as can most things that Sir Terry puts on paper. What struck me the most about the character, though, is the dogma he lives by. There's a question that Mr. Nutt keeps on asking, especially towards the end of the book, when he believes himself to be a burden, a hindrance or a problem. "Have I accumulated worth?" All of Mr. Nutt's relationships are based on this little question, "Have I accumulated worth?" In Mr. Nutt's world, worth is something you must accumulate. You must be useful, helpful, skillful and able. If you aren't you don't have worth. Worth isn't inherent, it isn't handed out freely. Worth must be gained, and it must be stocked, because, like from a badly seamed flask, it will pour out eventually.

It's not a very happy view of the world, and it's not one that I would like to see people live by, not fully. But I can see worth in it, and I can see it in myself and the people around me. I think it is good, from time to time, to ask if you have accumulated worth to other people. Have you been useful, or helpful? I think everyone should be, whenever they can, but not because of worth - because it's the right thing to do. But this is a good way to try to keep measure of it.

What is worse, however, is that I see this around be a lot. It's mostly subconscious, something that's been hardwired into us so deep that we don't even notice it anymore. Ask someone about their weekend, for example. "Oh, I did nothing, I just sat at home." Now, if it was the first weekend in months that the person did this, the follow-up might be "and it was nice and relaxing for a change." But if it's the second, or third weekend of this in a row, the follow-up will much more probably be "I really feel like I should have done something" or "I'm so lazy all the time, it's horrible" or something along those lines.

We've been taught to think that worth is doing stuff, being busy. And, by model and teaching, we've been taught that we should be busy all the time, lest we lose worth. If we're not productive, we're not just neutral. We're a hindrance, a load on everyone else. We can't possibly take time for ourselves, for we would seize to accumulate worth for that time.

I think everyone should think about accumulating worth - it's good to think of someone else from time to time - but we should also think about ourselves. When it starts to get too hairy, ask yourselves: is worth all there is to it?