1a) I set up tests for myself to prove that I am human and not an automaton. I accept that I am imperfect and that outside influences will be a factor in my decision making. By fasting from food, drugs, sex, alcohol, cigarettes, media, media advertising, physical and mental laziness, unnecessary objects and any other influences that may affect my decisions, I prove to myself that in the end I have complete control over them. I have control over these because I put myself in a situation where I am deprived of said influences, distractions, and pleasures by sheer force of will. I am not ever vigilant, although I wish myself to be: knowing this, I enter decisions of reason aware that I am able to be influenced but without the fear that they hold an unalterable control over my actions.
1b) All beings desire happiness and satisfaction (even if such is only of instinct) and all actions are caused by it. One should be wary of happiness and satisfaction of desires because they mean the lessening of suffering and because most objects of happiness and desire are owned solely by the self or shared by a group. If a relationship outside oneself or one’s convention is sought, then these objects are not necessary and merely distractions. Universal relationships (empathy) arise only from those objects to which all living beings can relate. Therefore, only two things are absolutely necessary: firstly, those objects of desire that fulfill basic needs, such as food, shelter, companionship, etc., and secondly, to not simply possess a disdain for, but also an understanding and appreciation of, suffering, which is a general concept applicable to all beings.
