Eric Tian

Rush hour in the city. A young boy raises a violin to his chin, and says, I’m sorry to bother you all but I just want to play a song. His apology saddens me – as if the gift of music was something to be forgiven.

He pauses, checks his microphone, and smiles to his parents holding a camera. Then he plays the first stroke and something shifts in the air. The man beside me has put down his phone, the baby has stopped crying, the birds stop their singing. His tune penetrates our skin, reminding us that there is beauty around us. We notice the magic.

As he finishes, the universe holds it breath, letting the music seep into the corners of the Earth. He lingers on the last note, sweat pouring down his face, then lowers his instrument and smiles, not knowing the cosmic shift his performance had created, and then the world speeds up and resumes its pace.

Consider these two quotes:

1) In the movie Gladiator, there is a scene where Maximus’ plan to escape Rome and unite with his legions is ruined. His plan had been leaked to the young Roman emperor Commodus, who ordered dozens of Roman soldiers to surround and attack the gladiators’ barracks at night. In one last act of treason, the gladiator trainer Proximo hands Maximus his keys that will ensure his freedom. As the soldiers barge in, Maximus says to him, “Proximo, are you in danger of being a good man?”

2) In a conversation with Jocko Willink, Jordan Peterson says, “A harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very dangerous man who has that under voluntary control.“

Both these quotes have subjects of good and danger but approach them in different ways. In the first, danger is attributed to the consequences of a good deed. Proximo’s act of freeing Maximus would likely – and in fact, did – end up with him being killed. The message is that in the face of injustice or pressure, it can be dangerous to do what is right.

Yet in Jordan Peterson’s case, we see the very nature of goodness intertwined with being dangerous. To be good is not the absence of terror or evil – rather, goodness arises with one’s capacity to cause great harm but deciding against it. This is why all the most engrossing heroes in stories have recurring motifs of overcoming themselves. We see that characters like Harry Potter, Achilles, and Batman could use their powers for evil and struggle with this. Part of what makes them a hero is fighting and overcoming this battle within themselves.

These two messages, at first glance, appear contradictory. The first warns of the danger in doing good. The second asserts that goodness is fundamentally tied to being dangerous. One cautions against danger and the other promotes it.

Yet they are two sides of the same coin. Behind each good person walks a long shadow and the expression of goodness risks inviting more shadows in. And this is a necessary state, for without being dangerous, a good person would be unable to deal with the danger that awaits. Danger and goodness, in the end, are inseparable, linked together by both nature and consequence.