The principle of charity

I recently finished up my traversal of Jonathan's Haidt's oeuvre with The Coddling of the American Mind (which Haidt co-wrote with First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff). While I was disappointed that his latest work did not involve fart spray in any way, shape, or form, the book did cover a wide variety of interesting topics, including the philosophical "principle of charity." As Haidt and Lukianoff explain, the principle of charity holds that "one should interpret other people's statements in their best, most reasonable form, not in the worst or most offensive way possible." In other words, we must give others "the benefit of the doubt, rather than trying to twist their words to support the ugliest possible implications."[1]

The principle of charity leapt out at me because it is, of course, the exact opposite of the family's infamous "evil intent" gene, which ascribes the worst possible motive to other people's words and actions. The evil intent gene is contrary not only to the principle of charity but to Mister Rogers' first, second, and third paths to ultimate success in this world, each of which is to "be kind." Or, to change the formula ever so slightly in the words of another great philosopher,[2] "be good."

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[1] The second quote is from Haidt's article "True Diversity Requires Generosity of Spirit" (Nov. 18, 2015).
[2] That’d be yours fucking truly, to flatter myself with the New York honorific.

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Yours F. Truly's quest to improve some existing UaKS recipes continues with this dish. I haven't been 100% convinced by the prior recipe for sesame noodles, so I've gone through another few iterations since then. I'm still not sure this yielded the ideal sesame noodles either, but everyone agreed they were a vast improvement over my first effort, and Cassie definitely wanted these posted, so here is take two.

Sesame Noodles 2.0

Time: ~20 minutes

Mom and I like cucumber in sesame noodles, but Brad and Cass aren't big fans. Feel free to substitute something else that'll add some crunch to the noodles (cubed raw bell pepper?). If you use spaghetti rather than rice noodles, you might want to add some extra water when making the sauce, as the pasta will probably absorb more of it.

Sauce
118 grams (½ cup) warm water (see note)
65 grams (¼ cup) tahini, stirred well
50 grams (3 tablespoons) tamari or soy sauce
30 grams (2 tablespoons) rice vinegar
15 grams (1 tablespoon) chili garlic sauce such as Huy Fong (you can substitute sriracha if necessary)
10 grams (2 teaspoons) hoisin sauce
8 grams (2 teaspoons) sugar

Noodles
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1 pound rice noodles such as A Taste of Thai (you can substitute 1 pound spaghetti)
28 grams (2 tablespoons) toasted sesame oil

Assembly
1 medium carrot (~75 grams), peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater
1 medium cucumber (~8 ounces/227 grams), peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded with a spoon, and cut crosswise into ¼-inch (or less) half moons (see note)
3 or 4 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
sesame seeds, toasted if you like

    1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a roiling boil in a large, covered stockpot over high heat.
    2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk all of the sauce ingredients together.
    3. When the water boils, stir in the salt until dissolved. Add the rice noodles and stir a few times during the first minute or two to keep them from sticking. Cook until fully tender (beyond al dente). Drain well and return to the pot. Toss the noodles with the sesame oil until coated.
    4. Add the sauce, carrot, cucumber, and scallions, and toss until well combined. Serve, sprinkling with sesame seeds at the table. Serves 4.