This post is about "virtue-signaling," a subject that has a long recorded history. It can go in the general greetings group, since virtue signaling is a form of greeting, and in the philosophy sub-group. I will try to post it in both.

When Marcus Aurelius became emperor of Rome in 161, ostentariousness had acquired a bad reputation among the followers of Stoicism, among whom Marcus was included. Concerned that the immense powers that came along with his position might cause him to become too self-important, he adopted a number of mesures. He engaged a slave (because at that time wage labor apparently was not considered sufficiently upright) to follow him around and to whisper at him "Marcus, you're only human" whenever he was praised for the proper exercise of his duties. He also undertook to discipline his mind by engaging in self-introspection. As a result of this introspection he produced one of the perennial best-sellers of all time, his very own "Meditations." This work is crammed with insightful comments about what it means to be human. However, Marcus did not intend this masterpiece to enter the public discourse. He was too modest for that. The way in which his mental discipline workbook achieved its final shape and reached the public is a mystery.

Was Marcus, and we should call him Marcus since that apparently was his preferred way of being addressed, was Marcus excessively modest? Was he immodestly modest? What is a proper response to excessive modesty? Would it have been better if Marcus had opened his inner and outer worlds to the eye and criticism of the public at large by disengaging from his "cut me down to size slave" and by sharing the ideas that he put down on his "Meditations"? Should he have done so? Are we any better than Marcus at discerning how we should conduct ourselves? How should we go about it?

I perceive that there are benefits to working on our mental software. There are also benefits from sharing our insights with others. And we all differentiate among the opinions we elicit. But I think that brother Marcus, and I call him brother even though it's just as likely as not that if he ever met any of my ancestors who were his contemporaries the encounter didn't end peacefully, I think that brother Marcus low-balled the value of the body and overvalued his rationality.

What should we endeavor to do when we meet others? Armani or Wrangler? Pray tell.