A quick success in fusion would be nice, and we hope LPPX or any one of the other fusion groups has a breakthrough soon.  But in the meantime, we need to work on our stamina.  To this end, I’d like to see a variation of the “paradoxical commandments” written for fusion research. 

The pc’s were written by Kent M. Keith and came out of his experience as a student leader. 

One thing he learned was students didn’t know how to work through the system to bring about change. Some of them also tended to give up quickly when they faced difficulties or failures. They needed deeper, longer-lasting reasons to keep trying.

  “I saw a lot of idealistic young people go out into the world to do what they thought was right, and good, and true, only to come back a short time later, discouraged, or embittered, because they got negative feedback, or nobody appreciated them, or they failed to get the results they had hoped for.” recalls Keith. “I told them that if they were going to change the world, they had to really love people, and if they did, that love would sustain them. I also told them that they couldn’t be in it for fame or glory. I said that if they did what was right and good and true, they would find meaning and satisfaction, and that meaning and satisfaction would be enough. If they had the meaning, they didn’t need the glory.”

Here they are - you’ve probably seen them somewhere before.

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

OK!  Show us your variation!

I’d add one: Don’t be in a hurry to quit your day job

The prayer of St. Francis (13th century)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Something Shiningstar600 sent a while back:

Paradoxical Fusion Commandments - Research Anyway

People say fusion can’t be done.
Love them anyway.

If we do good, people will accuse us of selfish ulterior motives and some
of that is accurate.
We’re doing good anyway.

If fusion is successful, our enemies may use it to hurt people.
Succeed anyway.

The good that comes from fusion will not be forgotten.
Do it good.

Honesty and frankness make us vulnerable and provide our best protection.
Be honest and frank.

The biggest ideas with the biggest budgets can be beaten by the simplest
ideas with the smallest budgets.
Think Focus Fusion.

Without more water soon, we will be eating dogs.
Fight for fusion.

What we’ve spent years building may be successful overnight.
There’s always a way. Ya gotta wanta.

People really need help and we’re going to help them.
Help us help them.

Get exposed to too much radiation and you’ll get rotten teeth.
Give the world Aneutronic Fusion.

Jon Martin, Engineer
2010
Please enter these for me.

I’m thinking about the commandments because of September 11.  The 8th command is:

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.  Build anyway.

So, taking some thoughts from Jon, here’s another attempt:

When it comes to energy, people are insatiable consumers, NIMBY-ous, and take harsh “wait and see” stance towards research.
Do the research to get them fusion energy anyway.

If you do fusion research, people will accuse you of wishful thinking.
Do fusion research anyway.

If you are unsuccessful in your fusion experiments, people will ridicule you and accuse you of fraud and waste.
Do the experiments anyway.

If you are successful, people may attempt to steal or stifle your inventions.
Succeed anyway.

Fusion is “oversold” but underfunded.
Fight for fusion funding anyway.

Honesty and frankness about the uncertainties of research make you vulnerable to defunding and derision.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest scale ideas with the biggest budgets may or may not be outperformed by the simplest ideas with the smallest budgets.
Pursue a diverse range of fusion experiments.

What fusion researchers spend years building may be successful overnight.  It’s a cliff edge phenomenon. 
Keep calm and fuse on!

People really need energy breakthroughs but attack you with budget cuts and contempt if you attempt them.
Attempt fusion breakthroughs anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get swarmed by ungrateful people with pitchforks saying “what took you so long?”
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Going back to Kent Keith’s original version, I see he says:

“I told them that if they were going to change the world, they had to really love people, and if they did, that love would sustain them. I also told them that they couldn’t be in it for fame or glory.

So, what should the focus of paradoxical fusion commandments be on?  Is it really loving people (the beneficiaries of the technology), or is it really loving research/knowledge?  This makes for two different command sets. 

I like the way Jon put it (the “some of that is accurate” part):

If we do good, people will accuse us of selfish ulterior motives and some
of that is accurate.
We’re doing good anyway.

There is, indeed a healthy selfish streak running through the endeavor.

If you do fusion research,
people will say you are a dreamer, that fusion wont happen for another fifty years, that you will upset the balance of power, and that other energy companies will kill you.

do fusion research anyway

vansig - 12 September 2011 02:39 PM

If you do fusion research,
people will say you are a dreamer, that fusion wont happen for another fifty years, that you will upset the balance of power, and that other energy companies will kill you.

do fusion research anyway

This is perfectly concise - great for an inspirational poster.  Add visuals and we’ll add it to our poster collection.

awesome. perhaps this image will go with it?

if this works for you, please use it

Most of Jon’s versions are not “paradoxical”, hence not very punchy.

OK, I’ve posted the Fusion paradoxical Commandments on the site, and am now asking for help in turning them into a poster. 

For more info on the poster parameters, check out our post in sparked.com

I look forward to your designs!