> the fact that it's not strictly necessary to have supportive tools to develop these skills doesn't mean that supportive tooling wouldn't help a lot of people.

> the fact that it's not strictly necessary to have supportive tools to develop these skills doesn't mean that supportive tooling wouldn't help a lot of people. I would posit that the only faculty developed in wielding such supportive tooling, is skill at using those tools; when the real goal is the cultivation of character, the construction of a "virtual engine" [0] that governs action. Consider analogously that brain training apps' claims to improve general intelligence are specious at best, and don't seem to develop anything other than the ability to use the app. Since, in the case of the earring, this virtual governor has already been outsourced to an external entity, there is no need to cultivate one for one's self. Not only does this miss out on the personal development attained in said process, it also risks enthralling you to a construct of someone else's design; and one should choose carefully at which pantheon they pour libations, for its value systems might not always align with one's own. [0] https://www.meaningcrisis.co/episode-6-aristotle-kant-and-evolution/ https://www.meaningcrisis.co/episode-6-aristotle-kant-and-ev...