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comment by _refugee_
_refugee_  ·  3596 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What is the noblest profession?

This is not the best response I can give but I'm running chores this morning so I just wanted to pop in and offer up two thoughts, neither mine:

1.

    That is the question—

      Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
      The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
      Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
      And, by opposing, end them?
Let us take this out of the context of Hamlet considering suicide and just wonder - is it nobler to suffer what fate will hand you in your profession or is to nobler choose a profession where you can confront and slay the problems it presents? Is it nobler to simply manage to finish the job every day because it sucks (garbagemen; those people who had to squeeze used tampons for lab studies) or because you are enacting real and needed change?

2. noblesse oblige

  the inferred responsibility of privileged people to act with generosity and nobility toward those less privileged.
Is nobility and the aspiration to be noble inherently a result of privilege? Not to denigrate those that pursue nobility as a core or guiding value, but at the same time, having the ability to choose a profession because you feel it is noble is certainly a privilege. Then again, being full of a driving motivation that causes you to pursue one goal/career above all others - that can describe an individual in any societal bracket or class. And it would not be unfair to describe that person as noble, when/if they fulfill their calling.

Just $.02 to toss around.