Jason Lawrence Duncan
November 2025
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For her daughter — carrier of the fire.
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The Capybara Doctrine is more than a philosophy — it is a practical framework for ethical living, designed to guide action in a world full of complexity, uncertainty, and unintended consequences. Its goal is to reduce suffering, cultivate cooperation, and act with mindful humility, not through abstract ideals alone, but through concrete, iterative practice.
While the manifesto presents the core principles — Radical Humility, Necessary Restraint, and Shared Space — this guide shows how to bring them into daily life, alongside essential companion practices: exercising nuance, applying tools responsibly, and integrating all principles into cohesive ethical action.
Here, you will find practical exercises, reflective prompts, and experimental strategies that encourage observation, iteration, and conscious ethical engagement. These practices emphasize that morality is not a set of static rules but a living process: one that requires discernment, responsibility, and responsiveness to context.
This guide is not a rulebook. It is an invitation to experiment: to notice the effects of your choices, to recalibrate when harm occurs, and to continuously refine your approach to living gently, questioning deeply, reducing unnecessary suffering, and collaborating across boundaries.
Whether you are exploring personal ethics, professional responsibility, or community engagement, these exercises are designed to help you translate philosophy into tangible practice — building ethical skill, insight, and moral resilience one choice at a time.
Radical Humility is not self-erasure. It is not meekness or indecision. It is the disciplined recognition that we are fallible, situated, and capable of causing harm without intention. Radical Humility does not demand self-deprecation or paralysis. It demands clarity about the limits of your knowledge and the effects of your actions.
It emerges from the refutation of assumed moral supremacy, and stands as the antidote to the dangers of unexamined authority — internal or external.
Across history, unchallenged certainty — whether religious, political, or personal — has produced avoidable suffering. Radical Humility is a safeguard against repeating these mistakes on personal, institutional, and societal levels. It reminds us that intelligence, power, or intention alone do not guarantee ethical action. Only reflection, accountability, and iterative self-correction do.
What does it mean to live gently and question deeply? To act ethically not out of fear or awe, but out of conscious choice? The first principle of the Capybara Doctrine — Radical Humility — invites us to start with ourselves.
Radical Humility is more than a philosophical idea. It’s a practical lens for everyday action. It asks us to confront our assumptions, our authority, and the invisible ways our choices may cause harm. In practice, it is the disciplined practice of skepticism as a moral duty: questioning power, questioning norms, and, crucially, questioning our own decisions.
Here are a few concrete ways to bring Radical Humility into daily life:
Before making decisions — big or small — take a moment to ask yourself:
Am I assuming moral infallibility?
Could this choice cause unnecessary harm?
Whose perspectives am I missing?
Even a brief pause cultivates awareness and prevents reflexive action rooted in ego or habit.
Set aside 10–15 minutes weekly to review key decisions you made over the past week. Ask:
What went as intended?
Where did I unintentionally create suffering?
What could I do differently next time?
This is not about guilt — it’s about learning, recalibrating, and practicing accountability to yourself and others.
Actively seek out viewpoints that challenge your assumptions.
Read or listen to sources outside your usual circles.
Engage in conversations with people who think differently.
Reflect on how new insights shift your understanding or actions.
Perspective broadening is an exercise in humility itself — it reminds us that our understanding is always partial and provisional.
The Capybara Doctrine is recursive by design. This means you regularly evaluate not just your choices, but the principles themselves:
Are your methods of reflection effective?
Is your practice reducing suffering?
Could the framework itself be adjusted to better meet its purpose?
Humility is not passive — it is active, iterative, and self-correcting.
You receive an email at work that frustrates you. Your reflex is to respond sharply. Radical Humility invites you to pause, ask whether you might be misinterpreting tone, and consider how a gentler inquiry might reduce unnecessary harm.
In the next part of this series, we will explore Necessary Restraint, learning how to minimize unnecessary harm in our daily actions while still participating fully in life.
Necessary Restraint is not withdrawal, fragility, or self-denial. It is the disciplined choice to avoid causing preventable suffering — not by abstaining from life, but by participating in it mindfully. Living ethically does not require grand gestures or radical retreat. Often, the greatest impact comes from what we choose not to do.
Just as the capybara moves gently through its environment, we cultivate awareness of the effects of our actions — choosing restraint over reflexive force, patience over aggression, and prevention over reaction.
Suffering is unavoidable, but unnecessary suffering is an ethical failure. Our ability to create, innovate, and influence comes with the responsibility to avoid multiplying harm. Every unexamined action, unconsidered word, or impulsive decision carries the potential to hurt — even unintentionally.
Necessary Restraint is the conscious practice of identifying where harm is preventable, and taking deliberate steps to mitigate it. It turns awareness into gentleness, and gentleness into ethical precision.
Necessary Restraint is about mindful action, not fear. It is not passive or weak; it is deliberate and intentional. By pausing, auditing, and reflecting, we reduce unnecessary suffering — for ourselves and for those around us — while still engaging meaningfully in the world.
In the next part of this series, we will explore Shared Space, learning how to foster cooperation, empathy, and mutually beneficial outcomes across human and non-human lives.
Here are practical ways to integrate this principle into daily life:
At the start of each day, briefly assess your upcoming actions:
Which interactions might cause preventable suffering?
Which creations (projects, work, ideas) could have unintended consequences?
Where is restraint possible without sacrificing integrity or engagement?
This daily habit builds awareness and shifts focus from impulse to intention.
Before reacting to conflict — verbally, socially, or digitally — pause and ask:
Is this response necessary?
Will asserting my point multiply harm?
Can I address this with gentleness and clarity instead?
Even small pauses can prevent unnecessary suffering and model restraint for others.
Whether coding, designing, writing, or organizing, evaluate:
How could this action create harm?
Are there ways to achieve the goal while reducing suffering?
Is it ethically justifiable to move forward as-is, or should I adjust my approach?
Necessary Restraint encourages ethical precision, not avoidance of responsibility.
Track moments when you successfully exercised restraint, as well as moments when you failed. Reflect on:
What worked?
What could be improved?
How did restraint affect outcomes for others?
This cultivates both self-awareness and accountability, reinforcing the principle through experience.
You notice a colleague struggling with a task that you could easily take over. Your impulse is to intervene immediately and “fix” it for them. Necessary Restraint invites you to pause, ask whether stepping in might disempower them or create dependency, and consider whether guiding them gently or offering resources would reduce harm more effectively. Acting with restraint does not mean inaction — it means choosing the path that minimizes unnecessary suffering while still supporting growth and engagement.
Practicing restraint naturally raises awareness of how your actions ripple outward. Once you understand the consequences of inaction or impulsivity, you see that ethical responsibility extends to others. This leads directly to Shared Space, where collaboration and consideration of wider impact are essential.
Shared Space is the recognition that ethics is never a solitary endeavor. To reduce suffering meaningfully, we must consider the world beyond ourselves — the people, animals, systems, and environments woven into our daily experience. The third principle of the Capybara Doctrine invites us to cultivate empathy, collaboration, and mutually beneficial outcomes.
Shared Space means seeing others not as obstacles, competitors, or tools, but as participants in an interconnected web of sentient life. Cooperation becomes not only practical, but a moral imperative.
Humanity often assumes dominance — over ideas, species, and systems — and confuses power with authority. This mindset generates competition, exclusion, and unnecessary suffering. Shared Space counters this by recognizing intrinsic value in all beings and perspectives, emphasizing that ethical action requires engagement, not isolation; understanding, not conquest.
Shared Space also grounds the idea of a Cosmic Nash Equilibrium — a state where diverse stakeholders coexist with minimal friction and maximal fairness. Cooperation is not idealistic; it is the structural foundation of a world that reduces suffering rather than amplifying it.
Shared Space is ethical engagement made tangible. It transforms individual values into social and ecological practice. By seeking cooperation, recognizing the value of other perspectives, and acting with empathy and accountability, we reduce suffering beyond the boundaries of the self — creating a wider field of gentleness, understanding, and shared flourishing.
With this, the three principles of the Capybara Doctrine — Radical Humility, Necessary Restraint, and Shared Space — come together as a living framework for continuous ethical reflection and action.
Here are practical ways to integrate cooperation into daily life:
Before decisions or interactions, map out the stakeholders:
Humans, animals, systems, and communities affected
Their likely needs, perspectives, and vulnerabilities
Possible unintended consequences
This practice trains attention toward others’ experiences and highlights where cooperative solutions are possible.
Seek or create opportunities that benefit multiple parties:
Community initiatives, open-source projects, creative collaborations
Inclusion of voices often excluded or marginalized
Consensus-seeking rather than dominance-seeking approaches
Even small cooperative acts reinforce a culture of shared responsibility.
When disagreements arise, apply deliberate cooperative thinking:
Identify common ground before asserting a position
Explore solutions that respect multiple interests
Prioritize long-term coexistence over short-term victory
Cooperation often begins where ego ends.
Experiment with mutually tolerable outcomes in everyday contexts:
Family dynamics, workplace interactions, social groups
Observe how cooperative adjustments reduce friction
Reflect on what these results reveal about broader systems
Small-scale experiments build intuition for large-scale cooperation.
You are part of a cross-functional team planning a project that will impact multiple departments and external users. Your first instinct is to push your own agenda, assuming you know what’s best. Shared Space invites you to pause, map the stakeholders affected, and actively seek their perspectives. Consider how your decisions ripple outward, and explore solutions that create mutually beneficial outcomes. By engaging collaboratively, you reduce friction, prevent harm, and cultivate a culture of empathy and cooperation.
Engaging with others highlights both the limits of your knowledge and the complexity of moral ecosystems. This reflection returns you to Radical Humility, reinforcing skepticism and self-awareness — creating a continuous ethical cycle.
Tools are neutral. They do not contain morality — they amplify it. A hammer can build a shelter or inflict harm; a story can inspire or manipulate; an algorithm can illuminate or dominate. The third dimension of ethical practice — Right Use of Tools — teaches us to distinguish tools from truths and to act intentionally, ensuring that our creations and instruments reduce suffering rather than multiply it.
This section builds directly on the three core principles:
Radical Humility: Question assumptions embedded in the tool.
Necessary Restraint: Consider where the tool might cause preventable harm.
Shared Space: Account for all stakeholders affected by the tool.
Humans often mistake tools for authority, believing that algorithms, metrics, rituals, or models carry inherent truth. This illusion can obscure responsibility and amplify unintended harm. Recognizing the neutrality of tools is a safeguard: it prevents our instruments — including the Capybara Doctrine itself — from becoming unexamined sources of influence.
Using tools without reflection is like steering a powerful vehicle blindfolded: the capacity for creation grows, but so does the potential for suffering.
Right Use of Tools is a discipline of reflection and accountability. It transforms the way we interact with the instruments of life — physical, intellectual, technological, or social — ensuring that our power amplifies care, clarity, and cooperation rather than ignorance, harm, or dominance.
Here are concrete practices to integrate intentionality into your use of tools:
Before using any tool, ask:
What suffering might this reduce?
What suffering might it create?
What biases or desires are influencing my use of it?
Reflection prevents automatic amplification of harm.
A tool should support judgment, not compel it. Never let a device, system, or methodology override your ethical evaluation. Seek clarity, explain your use, and invite scrutiny.
Tools are instruments, not doctrines. If a tool ceases to reduce suffering or begins to amplify harm, modify it or abandon it. Continuous iteration is essential.
Notice when a tool begins to feel unquestionable. Ask yourself:
Am I assuming this tool is correct by default?
Have I stopped critically evaluating its impact?
Elevate your skepticism to maintain ethical control.
The Intersubjective Suffering Scale is a practical guide:
How does this tool affect the suffering of those involved?
Are the consequences proportional to the intended benefit?
This step anchors abstract instruments in observable outcomes.
With every tool comes expanded capability — and expanded responsibility. Power grows; so does the moral burden of the choices it enables. Use your abilities deliberately, ethically, and with humility.
You are about to deploy a new algorithm that recommends content to users. Your first instinct is to trust that it is neutral and efficient. Right Use of Tools invites you to pause, ask how this tool might unintentionally amplify harm, bias, or suffering, and consider whether additional safeguards or transparency are needed. Using the tool responsibly means not assuming authority resides in the instrument itself, but in your careful, ethical judgment of its effects.
Nuance is the bridge between intention and wisdom. Without it, even the most compassionate principles risk collapsing into rigidity, inaction, or unintended harm. Practicing the Capybara Doctrine means evaluating context carefully — who is involved, what is at stake, what suffering exists, and which actions actually reduce harm.
Nuance is what transforms ethical principles from abstract ideals into actionable, reliable guidance.
Nuance is what turns good intentions into effective ethical action. Without it, even carefully considered principles can become rigid, misapplied, or harmful. Ethical decisions rarely exist in isolation — context, perspective, and unintended consequences shape their real-world impact. Practicing nuance ensures that our choices are proportionate, informed, and sensitive to complexity, allowing us to reduce suffering, foster cooperation, and navigate morally ambiguous situations with clarity and compassion.
Nuance is not moral fog — it is moral
precision.
It is the skill that turns principles into actionable wisdom, ensuring
that our ethical choices remain adaptive, context-sensitive, and
genuinely compassionate. Practicing nuance is how the Capybara Doctrine
becomes real, embodied, and effective in daily
life.
Living gently is the default, not an absolute mandate.
If someone threatens your safety, the compassionate response may be
self-defense, not surrender. Harm that prevents far
greater suffering is not a moral failure — it is an ethical
necessity.
Practice prompt:
Ask: “What is the minimum force or intervention required to prevent
greater suffering?”
Assuming good intentions fosters empathy and reduces unnecessary conflict. Yet some individuals act with malice or exploitation. Compassion must coexist with clarity.
Practice prompt:
Ask: “Is this person acting from confusion, pain, or predation? What
evidence supports my assessment?”
Radical Humility requires questioning both your own beliefs and claims of authority. But doubt without openness becomes corrosive. Healthy skepticism creates space for learning and correction.
Practice prompt:
Ask: “What evidence would I accept that I’m mistaken?”
Shared Space emphasizes collaboration across communities and species. But cooperation does not require self-negation or enabling harm through excessive accommodation.
Practice prompt:
Ask: “Am I participating in ways that promote mutual flourishing, or
am I enabling harm?”
As your abilities grow — physical, intellectual, economic, or technological — so does the moral weight of your decisions. Tools like the ISS measure not just suffering, but the scope of responsibility.
Practice prompt:
Ask: “What impact can I have here, and how can I minimize suffering
I create unintentionally?”
During a heated team discussion, a disagreement arises between two colleagues, and you feel pressure to choose sides quickly. Practicing Nuance invites you to pause, consider the full context, and evaluate not only the arguments but the intentions, constraints, and underlying needs of all involved. Ask: “What is the minimum intervention required to prevent unnecessary harm, while supporting mutual understanding?” Acting with nuance transforms complex situations into opportunities for ethical precision rather than reactive judgment.
With the principles and tools in place, we now turn to integrating them into a coherent daily practice. The Capybara Doctrine is more than three principles — Radical Humility, Necessary Restraint, and Shared Space. It is a living framework for ethical reflection and action, designed to guide everyday decisions in a world full of complexity and unintended consequences.
This section shows how to bring the principles together, embedding them in habits, reflections, and interactions.
Each principle on its own is powerful. Together, they form a dynamic ethical loop:
Radical Humility ensures we question our assumptions.
Necessary Restraint keeps us from multiplying suffering.
Shared Space expands our concern beyond ourselves.
Integration means applying them simultaneously, observing outcomes, and iterating. Ethics becomes a practice, not a static rulebook. By combining principles with intentional use of tools, including the ISS, we can act in ways that are deliberate, compassionate, and measurable.
At the start or end of each day, take a moment to review your decisions:
Which actions were guided by humility?
Where did I exercise restraint?
How did I cooperate or consider others?
Use a simple journal or note-taking app to record insights. This builds awareness and cultivates a habit of conscious ethical engagement.
Choose a small project, interaction, or decision and apply all three principles consciously.
Examples: collaborative work, conflict resolution, or ethical design choices.
Observe outcomes and note what reduces suffering and what might unintentionally increase it.
These experiments create a safe space to practice integration and test the principles in real-life contexts.
Reflect on your micro-experiments and daily actions:
What worked?
What caused harm?
How can principles be applied differently next time?
Iterative ethics reinforces that practice is experimental: not all actions will reduce suffering perfectly, but reflection allows continual adjustment and learning.
For those who wish, the ISS can help estimate and compare suffering caused or prevented:
Track changes over time — not as a perfection metric, but to enhance awareness and precision.
Observe patterns that reveal how integrated practice influences the wellbeing of those affected.
Measurement is a tool for clarity and responsibility, ensuring that ethical practice is grounded in observation, not abstraction.
Integration is less about perfection and more about mindful iteration. By bringing all three principles — questioning assumptions, minimizing unnecessary harm, and fostering cooperation — into daily life, we begin to reduce suffering in concrete ways.
The Capybara Doctrine is not a finished manual; it is a companion to observation, reflection, and continual adjustment. Each action, small or large, is an opportunity to practice gentleness, insight, and ethical care.
Living the Capybara Doctrine is not about perfection — it is about continuous practice, reflection, and iterative learning. Radical Humility, Necessary Restraint, and Shared Space provide the ethical scaffolding, but the real work happens in the decisions, interactions, and experiments of daily life.
As you cultivate ethical skill, remember the companion practices that make the principles actionable: practicing nuance, using tools responsibly, and integrating the principles holistically. Pause to assess context, evaluate potential consequences, and apply discernment. Treat every tool, habit, or system as a mirror for your intention, and continually ask whether your actions reduce harm and support cooperation.
Keep a journal, reflect on successes and failures, and iterate your approach. Small experiments — whether in personal interactions, creative projects, or community engagement — can gradually shift awareness, amplify cooperation, and refine moral judgment. The Capybara Doctrine is recursive and adaptable; practices evolve, insights emerge, and engagement with others — human and non-human — will reveal new opportunities for ethical growth.
This guide is a starting point, not an endpoint. The journey of reducing suffering, fostering empathy, exercising responsibility, and acting with mindful humility is lifelong, expansive, and deeply personal. Each moment offers a chance to practice gentleness, insight, and deliberate ethical action — turning principles into lived wisdom.