Metadar Manual
The Metadar Manual contains definitions of terms, explanations of practices, and other tidbits of information. Here are a few examples:
Ethics of Luck:
Metadars view the world in terms of luck. People are seen as being "lucky or unlucky" – not as "smart or stupid", not as "beautiful or ugly", not as "healthy or sick", and certainly not as "good or evil". For the Metadars, everybody is a mixed bag of "lucky and unlucky". This is a basic principle of Metadarwinism.
At the dice table, people who make unlucky rolls are never physically punished. It just wouldn't make any sense. Similarly, people who make lucky rolls are never idolized. That wouldn't make any sense either. Luck is luck.
Since lucky people are not to be idolized and unlucky people are not to be harmed, the ethical person has to chart out a new way of interacting with the world – a way in which all people are accepted as being equal regardless of their behavior. This Metadarian way of interacting with the world is known as the "Ethics of Luck".
Does this mean that everybody should be treated equally, regardless of their behavior? Does it mean that statues should be toppled and prisons should be emptied? Of course not. But it does mean that everybody, whether they're in a prison or on a pedestal, should have the chance to grow and find happiness.
The "Ethics of Luck" principle (not to be confused with the opera of the same name) is sometimes referred to as a multi-volume work with every page blank. It is "multi-volume" in the sense that the applications are endless. It is "blank" in the sense that Metadarwinism is not dogmatic - it has no laws - there's nothing to write down. Everything flows logically from the premise that everybody is a product of luck.
Emma Darwin:
Most Metadars probably understand Darwinian evolution quite well. Some of them even teach it. And so they tend to be quite appreciative of Charles Darwin and of the many years of dedication he put into his work.
However it is Emma Darwin, his wife, who is their model. Poor old Charles wasn't a very healthy man, even when he was young. But Emma took care of him. Even though she was a religious person who had a very different way of seeing the world, she took care of him. With so many kids running around, she certainly had her hands full. But she still managed to take care of Charles. Without her nurturing, without her tolerance, without her character, the story would have had a much different ending.
Metadars understand that people generally don't choose their beliefs any more than they choose the air that they breathe. It just drifts in. So it's not ethical to cause distress to people for their beliefs. The great lesson we learn from Emma is that if we accept and nurture everybody regardless of their beliefs, truly great things can happen.
Four Foundations:
There's a little rhyme that makes the Four Foundations easy to remember:
"Equal, Different, Luck and Virtue
Learn these four and life won't hurt you"
Equal: Everybody is equal. This is the bedrock of Metadar practice.
Different: Everybody is full of differences.
Luck: The differences among people are purely a matter of luck - "good luck" and "bad luck".
Virtue: Virtuous people are those who use their "good luck" differences to help balance someone else's "bad luck" differences. It is the practice of the Metadars to protect the unlucky from the scourge of the lucky.
Acceptance of Multiple Truths:
Just as an orange basketball rolling across the court might seem motionless to someone running next to it, or might seem to be a different color to someone wearing sunglasses, or might seem to be rolling left-to-right from half the stands and right-to-left from the other half, life is understood by different people in different ways. And to the people experiencing it, they're all true.
Bowling:
The word "bowling" in Metadar lingo has the same feeling attached to it as the world “prayer” does for many religions. However instead of being a thought or supplication, "bowling" is a positive action that sets into motion a chain of events that will ultimately help someone else in the future.
Living Today in a Perfect Tomorrow:
"Living Today in a Perfect Tomorrow" refers to living today as if we were already living in a perfect tomorrow. It refers to treating another person today as if he or she were already the ideal person we know they could be in the future. A related Metadar expression is: "Take care of tomorrow, and today will take care of itself".
Twisted Tree Logo:
In the opera, the Metadars would sometimes meet in the comfortable shade of an old twisted tree. The tree lives today because a century ago the loggers had rejected its twisted trunk as being useless for lumber. The image of that tree – the opera’s logo – serves as a metaphor for "the value of uselessness".
Fountain-Flush:
A "Fountain-Flush" is a tool that Metadars regularly use to effect change. It is a staged public event in which "attractive" and "unattractive" people appear together. The "attractive" people function to draw observers towards nonviolent behavior, while the "unattractive" people function to repel observers away from violent behavior. It is an effective tool and is a textbook example of memetics.