Which came first – no, not the
chicken or the egg – vice, or the human nature that seems so prone to it?
Did the apple convey to Adam the
desire he was feeling towards it, or was the emotion already inside him seeking
an object for its affection?
The Greek myths offer us the tale
of Pandora’s Box. The nefarious Zeus essentially had enclosed within this
exquisite package the Seven Deadly Sins. The crafty king of the gods then
delivered this time-bomb to Pandora and the slow-witted Epimetheus as a wedding
gift. The inevitable raising of the lid would and did foist its contents upon
mortal man.
But hold up a second there,
Syllogism-breath!
Did not the wily Zeus greatly
enhance the odds of this little scheme’s success by making Pandora the most
attractive and alluring creature ever, the better to entice the interest of an
eligible bachelor?
Was not the Box itself elaborately
bejeweled and bedazzled?
And have not chauvinists ever
after made poor Pandora the archetype of an overly curious gender?
Seems as if there was some
capacity for sinnin’ prior to the Grande Opening, wouldn’t you say?
I’ve been prompted to these
esoterically ethical musings, perhaps ironically, by the relish with which
media entities like Fox Sports and ESPN are incorporating fantasy line-ups,
point spreads, et al into the content of their programming nowadays.
Let’s not be naïve, sports betting
is nothing new – indeed more likely just another “Which Came First?” enigma.
But that ol’ Black Sox Scandal in baseball a century ago kinda gave it a bad name and
sent it underground.
As sports radio (perfected if not
invented by Eddie Andelman and the Sports Huddle gang in Boston 40+ years ago)
grew wide-spread, the lingo of gambling began to work its way back into the
discussion – enveloped in a smoke screen of comparative analysis, in order not
to cross some rather fuzzy lines.
And now … OverUnder.com sponsors
Outside the Lines.
Fate was kind to me when it comes
to this particular human vice – well-grounded, Depression-era parents not the
least of those kindnesses … also learned a lesson or two in Wonderland, the old
greyhound track in Revere.
A moral dilemma always seems less
confounding in hindsight. In the moment, everything is “situational,” i.e.
subject to the circumstances and involving some unknowns. Hindsight’s advantage
has always been less about clarity/20-20 vision and more about a fuller awareness
of the situation and its ramifications.
On the level of instinct, we are
designed to seek gratification, whether it be a hungry toddler hollering to be
fed or an old body succumbing to an afternoon snooze.
On the intellectual level, we come
to understand and appreciate such notions as delayed gratification and a
greater good.
Out of this oxymoron, society
evolved.
The interplay of these contrasting
impulses that steer decision-making creates the panorama that is the full range
of human behavior, replete with both virtue and vice.
For example, my instincts are
telling me that it's time to wrap up this diatribe, that a bell – more like a buzzer, actually (we live across the street
from a high school; I can’t seem to escape that “sound”) – is supposed to ring
about now.
Another waste of valuable
instructional time. Tsk, tsk.
I guess we’ll just have to defer
that ever-so-vital BenchMark Assessment for Objective 14.63, huh?
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