I hadn’t thought of it before your post but you are so right! The military is the ultimate in standards based living. From the first second of boot camp, the recruit is exposed to a broad and specific set of expectations of behavior and performance. There are manuals for everything, from the way to clean a rifle to the way to wear a particular uniform. Nearly everything is standardized. I can’t think of any institution remotely matching the rigor of military standards.

It makes perfect sense that this would be the case. The military is the ultimate collective entity. Every aspect needs to be standardized so that it performs in the manner expected by the leaders. This performance must take place consistently, even under mortal stress. And the members of the organization are intensely diverse, in background, in ability, in self-discipline, in initiative. Only a powerful set of standards allows the military to perform as an effective collective.

I fully understand the logic and value of such profound standardization, but operating with this level of standardization is beyond me. I have no objection, moral or otherwise. It’s not that my life wouldn’t be simpler if I was more capable of simply adhering to standards. But based on my life experience and the self-testing I’ve done (including the learning styles in this course and Myers-Briggs), I am just not designed to operate in such a fashion.