Confucius' Quote 'Don't See/Hear/Speak/Act Unritually' Powers Modern AI Content Moderation & Neuroethical Tech Design
非礼勿视，非礼勿听，非礼勿言，非礼勿动。——孔子(fēi lǐ wù shì, fēi lǐ wù tīng, fēi lǐ wù yán, fēi lǐ wù dòng — Kǒngzǐ) Translation: “What’s unritual—don’t see, hear, speak, or act.” Explanation: Confucius’ sensory-ethical framework “非礼勿视(fēi lǐ wù shì), 非礼勿听(fēi lǐ wù tīng), 非礼勿言(fēi lǐ wù yán), 非礼勿动(fēi lǐ wù dòng)” (What’s unritual—don’t see, hear, speak, or act) establishes humanity’s earliest behavioral firewall. The quadripartite negation system predates Buddhist 正语/正业(zhèng yǔ/zhèng yè) (Right Speech/Action) by three centuries, creating Confucian mindfulness through sensory gatekeeping. The term 礼(lǐ) (ritual propriety) here transcends ceremony—it encodes real-time ethical triage across perceptual channels. Tang Dynasty 御史台(yù shǐ tái) (Censorate) officials embodied this by refusing to process petitions containing 非礼(fēi lǐ) (improper) accusations. Modern tech adaptations include iOS Screen Distance alerts...
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