On Pride…

Pride is necessary to an individual, and there are benevolent, and even beneficial forms that pride can take.
Pride is the device of individuality. As pride flourishes, so does self-awareness; the ability to see yourself as separate from your surroundings. Pride is also a good motivation and point of inspiration. Any activity, idea, or interest a semi-reasonable person places their pride upon tends to flourish. Obviously, if the pride is placed on an interest that is harmful to human life in some way, or that goes against the local social fiber, then the individual will decline correspondingly. Humans are defined by their natural and social environment, and thought patterns become part of the environment due to human memory retention and their tendency for past/present reality correlation; defining their world around them by combining their current circumstances with their memories. Because of this, positive and negative states of mind are apart of the environment and affect the development of the individual as a whole. Placing your pride in a negative interest will lead you to either be a person who is either harmful to life, or against the social grain. In the case of the former, as a living person who is interested in promoting life I would be against you; in the case of the latter I would have to let reason be the judge.