The Rules of Wizards

Note: I know that most, if not all, of my regular readers are already familiar with at least the Wizards First Rule. But for anyone else that may have wandered into my domain and been confused by the last entry, here's an explanation. -M

During my visit to Curtis a few weeks ago, we talked a little about Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I've read all eight books (so far) and enjoyed them a great deal. He has read only the first, having been bitten by Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. He didn't want to get into the Goodkind until the series was complete. Considering that Goodkind is writing a World War, heaven only knows how long that's going to be.

One of the things I really enjoy about Goodkind's books is that each book includes a Wizards Rule, a bit of philosophy that can be applied to real life. There are, so far, eight Wizards Rules, with which I agree and to which I relate in differing degrees.

Here are the Rules, and my own thoughts on them. (I'll try to keep this spoiler-free for those who haven't read all the books yet.)

Wizards First Rule: People are stupid. People will believe any lie if they want it to be true, or if they're afraid that it might be true.
This is one of the most profound things I've read in a long time. It seems that much of what goes on in business, politics, education, or whatever is based on lies. If you deal in falsehoods, the key is knowing which lies you can get people to believe. (For Latter-day Saints, the episode of Korihor {Alma 30} revolves around this principle, in my opinion.) As consumers of information, we have to be able to ask ourselves objectively, "Is this really true, or do I just want it to be true? Or am I just afraid that it's true?"

Wizards Second Rule: The greatest harm can result from the best intentions.
To me, the lesson here is that we can't really make judgments about people without knowing their true intentions. Those who cause us pain, difficulty, or inconvenience may not intend to do so.

Wizards Third Rule: Passion rules reason.
In other words, if we're not careful we can let our feelings get in the way of our better judgment. We have to be careful to think rationally about our decisions (but see also the Sixth Rule, below).

Wizards Fourth Rule: There is magic in sincere forgiveness, magic to heal - in the forgiveness you grant, and more so in the forgiveness that you receive.
I agree with the principle, but not the implementation. There is real healing in being forgiven. It's one of the central foci of Christianity. But the true magic of forgiveness is in the granting of it. There is a sublime, profound change in us when we choose to forgive - and it is a choice. Whether or not the one who offended us deserves forgiveness, or whether or not they even seek forgiveness, is irrelevant. Forgiveness is ultimately more for us than for them. Forgiveness takes a heavy burden off the shoulders of the one who forgives. Nothing is as hard to carry as a grudge.¹

Wizards Fifth Rule: Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie.
People will say whatever they're going to say. Sometimes they'll mean it, and sometimes they won't. You just have to take your chances. But your chances are better if you observe their behavior, not just their words.

Wizards Sixth Rule: The only sovereign we can allow to rule us is reason.
This is the rule with which I disagree the most. Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of reason, and frankly, I wish more people would exercise it more often. But even the best of us are limited in our reasoning capacities. Even with the best available information, the best of us will sometimes come up with the wrong answers. And that doesn't even account for the GIGO² problem. More importantly, though, there are things that reason just doesn't cover. Curiosity, intuition, inspiration - these are independent of reason but still vital. So what is the role of reason? I say that it is better to be served by reason than to be ruled by it.

Wizards Seventh Rule: Life is the future, not the past.
All of us have done stupid things, and all of us have things in our past that we'd rather not have. But life is full of fresh starts. In most cases, the important thing is not what we may have done once upon a time, but the direction we're going now.

Wizards Eighth Rule: Deserve victory.
This is basically another way of saying, "It's not whether you win or lose; it's how you play the game."³ I agree with this idea. You play hard, but you play fairly. It is more important to deserve victory than to win undeservingly.

So, there are the Eight Wizards Rules. Now go forth and use them to make the world a better place!

--

(I found a compilation of the Wizards Rules at Kings Row Sword of Truth Database. That author's interpretations differ from mine, of course, but I find the material basically sound.)

¹Yes, that is the voice of experience you hear.
²GIGO: Garbage in, garbage out.
³Coincidentally, I have Queen singing "Play the Game" on my stereo at this moment. Strange.