The primary motivation for developing this project was to use it as a tool to help compare different schools of thought. That is, to understand schools of thoughts, philosophies, religious orders, moral codes, priorities, preferences, perspectives, ideas, etc. more clearly and more deeply. It is one task - and a demanding one at that - to adequately understand your own belief system; and yet there is another challenge, maybe equally difficult but equally important, which is to succeed in understanding and relating to others. To help us with this often painstaking process, while we introspect, it's wise to also study the historical examples that we and others find noteworthy.

Whether they're past or present, real or made up, authentic or exaggerated, silly or strict, literal or symbolic, ideas, ideals, and inspiration - to behave and to view things a certain way - can be sparked by and passed on from one person, or character, to another. These characters can be famous or they can be practically unknown. And in another sense of the word, a person's character can refer to and be defined as 'the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual'. However, I would challenge the notion that character traits are distinctive. Instead, we would do better to consider them to be contagious. While it is true that our situational contexts, experiences, genetic makeup, and particular combination of expressions are unique, we should observe that character traits are shared, past on, and repeated throughout history. And, most importantly, I believe, character traits are to a large extent habitual and trainable.

As we study the significant chapters in the lives and stories of others - their lessons shared, the quotes that stand out to us, the wisdom that was preserved - somehow these little sparks of meaning can potentially light a fire of change inside of us. A third sense of the word, shortened now to char, as in 'charcoal', serves as a namesake for this project as it refers to what remains behind after a fire is finished burning, and the process of partially burning another object. The written and spoken word is sacred as it preserves and passes on the most important values held by individuals and communities throughout history. And, like charcoal, the quotes they leave behind can serve as material that easily catches and helps create another fire.

All the while we'd do well to remember, following the same metaphor, that while it is ideal for cooking, and adds a distinct flavor, charcoal is man made and manufactured by heating biomass in environments deprived of oxygen, while, on the other hand, coal is natural and burns longer, and has use cases such as fueling power plants and making steel. However, natural coal can also be destructive. Likewise, words - whether the written word or a word of advice - are no substitute for actual lived experience, and we should be careful that our naturally given gifts are not harmful to ourselves or to those around us.

Journaling, and in particular the practice of commonplace journaling, is the method or technique used throughout this project. There are many other names used to describe this practice, including ones recently defined in our modern, digitally integrated times, such as note-taking, knowledge graphing, and even digital gardening, but this is a well respected, multipurpose, ancient hobby and occupation. It helps serve the purpose of knowledge preservation and knowledge sharing, as mentioned earlier, but, as with the practice of writing in general, commonplace journaling helps our thoughts be made more clear, as well as our focus and interests. In yet another sense of the word, pronouncing char as 'care', in a creative play on words, helps in expressing that another purpose of this project is for it to function as a highlighter of what we value the most, what we consider at any point of time to be important, or what it is exactly that we actually care about. Where is our focus? What do we find noteworthy and most deserving of our attention? What are the characteristics or values that we want to emulate?

The hope for this project, in summary, is for it to serve us by enriching the processes of tracing and translating - either our own thoughts (though, what is our own?), or the ideas and values held and promoted by another, or by a collection of others. This app should let us more easily interrelate ideas, trace their origins, and demystify their essences, in order to discern if they would be personally helpful or harmful for our own lives. While frameworks and classical categorizations of virtues and vices are not new and have been of interest to scientists, philosophers, anthropologists, and ascetics alike, rigid, reductive rubrics depersonalize and over-intellectualize and can be overall harmful because they constrain the full, ever dynamic, ineffable truth to the steel hoops of logical syllogisms. Nevertheless, the right words, delivered in the right way and at the right time, can be genuinely life changing, and this ongoing process of shared correction and self improvement, when performed wisely, is a fundamental aspect of our social responsibility.

In conclusion, present, personal ethics, and relationships - our own actual, current situation, how we ought to react in it, and to who we are responding - is paramount. In other words, the specific context of the given situation is never fully articulable, yet it is crucial for our appropriate action and discernment. Acknowledging the limitations of reading, writing, speaking, and even understanding is significant in that it helps us to justifiably prioritize action and personal, lived experience. The essence of this project's motivation is to help us find and better understand what is good, while also helping us share the fruits of our labor with those around us. While it is clear by now that technological solutions can lead to contentiousness, isolation, distractions, and a myriad of mental illnesses, technology can also be leveraged for good, but it is a double edged sword in what is often a ruthless battle of focus and discipline. And finally, in the end, though experience may arguably be our one true teacher, it is dialogue - both written and verbal, spoken or implied - that is our primary way of teaching and learning from one another. So, like me, feel free to use this project as one of many humble instruments that help you improve your introspection and your dialogue.