Have you encountered a Moriarty? Moriarty, if you recall, is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s clever and ruthless villain in two of his stories about Sherlock Holmes. Moriarty is an opponent equal in abilities but opposite in intention to the famous detective. His existence is independent of Holmes’s profession. That is, Holmes bears no responsibility for the rise of Moriarty. The bad guy just appears on the scene, and Holmes has to deal with him.
Sometimes a Moriarty just appears in our lives. We do nothing to enhance the villain’s rise to power. We just happen to be there when Moriarty comes along and in some way invades our space. The frequent intrusion of a Moriarty has pretty much been the way of the world for the past, hmmmm, 200,000 years. While minding their own business for millennia, innocent people have found and still find their lives disrupted when a stray Moriarty crosses their paths.
The reality is that over those 200,000 years, humans have had little success in predicting the intrusion of a Moriarty. And today, we have, as our ancestors had, the same intrusion into our peace and security. I know, that’s not an encouraging thought; it doesn’t breed hope. So, try this: There’s no reason for any guilt on the part of the innocents. They did not then nor do not now bear any responsibility for the rise of a Moriarty. What innocent people do is not a cause of evil. But, like Holmes, once a Moriarty disrupts life, the innocent have to deal with him.
The trick is not to deal with our Moriarty the way Holmes dealt with his. In “The Final Problem,” Holmes and Moriarty lock in mortal combat above the gorge of Reichenbach Falls, where both fall to their deaths.
Want some advice? No one can anticipate every possibility, but through some foresight, everyone can have a set of plans for an encounter with Moriarty. One requisite for safety: No plan should include a conflict that casts an inordinate risk on the innocent. In short, get Moriarty to fall off the cliff by himself.
Sometimes a Moriarty just appears in our lives. We do nothing to enhance the villain’s rise to power. We just happen to be there when Moriarty comes along and in some way invades our space. The frequent intrusion of a Moriarty has pretty much been the way of the world for the past, hmmmm, 200,000 years. While minding their own business for millennia, innocent people have found and still find their lives disrupted when a stray Moriarty crosses their paths.
The reality is that over those 200,000 years, humans have had little success in predicting the intrusion of a Moriarty. And today, we have, as our ancestors had, the same intrusion into our peace and security. I know, that’s not an encouraging thought; it doesn’t breed hope. So, try this: There’s no reason for any guilt on the part of the innocents. They did not then nor do not now bear any responsibility for the rise of a Moriarty. What innocent people do is not a cause of evil. But, like Holmes, once a Moriarty disrupts life, the innocent have to deal with him.
The trick is not to deal with our Moriarty the way Holmes dealt with his. In “The Final Problem,” Holmes and Moriarty lock in mortal combat above the gorge of Reichenbach Falls, where both fall to their deaths.
Want some advice? No one can anticipate every possibility, but through some foresight, everyone can have a set of plans for an encounter with Moriarty. One requisite for safety: No plan should include a conflict that casts an inordinate risk on the innocent. In short, get Moriarty to fall off the cliff by himself.
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