For the next week or two, Reason and Capitalism will be on hold. My life is incredibly demanding as of now, leaving precious little time for writing and philosophizing. I do have some good news, though. A new laptop is in the mail, purchased with the earnings made from this site. =) Check out how to Make Money Online.
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I’ve been a fan of House, MD for roughly two months. The show is, put simply, amazing. It’s about a man who lives his life by the dictates of pure reason, who thinks little of those who are guided purely by emotion, and sarcastically insults their petty attempts at trying to conclude without proper reasoning. He’s basically an Objectivist with a sense of humor. Reason, purpose, self-esteem, and a bonus of wittiness — it’s all there.
A few quotes that stick out:
“Dying people lie too. Wish they’d worked less, been nicer, opened orphanages for kittens. If you really want to do something, you do it. You don’t save it for a sound bite.”
“The only problem with that theory is it’s based on the assumption that the universe is a just place.”
“In this universe effect follows cause. I’ve complained about it but
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It has often been explained to me that happiness is the purpose of man. For a good deal of time I frowned upon this explanation of man’s purpose as being over-simplified and outrageously dangerous, even though I had no problem with being happy myself. After all, a man could most certainly be happy while violating the rights of others — is this hypothetical man actually fulfilling his purpose? Are any actions that bring happiness moral? Is morality completely subjective to the whims of each individual?
My dislike for the idea simply came from a misinterpretation and misunderstanding of what “happiness” truly is. Overall happiness is not just an emotion, but is the mental recognition of the achievement of a value. Happiness is often seen as nothing but a fluffy emotion, but self-satisfaction is the greatest form of happiness theoretically possible, and one which every non-suicidal* individual pursues, consciously or not.
Disclaimer: This post will be more of an explanation for my reasoning rather than a case for it, hence the small number of arguments. At a later time, I will most certainly present a case for my belief in satisfaction — I’ll just need to consider it for a bit longer.
Satisfaction
Happiness is often seen as a fluffy emotion. If this is true, happiness can be achieved through a drug. However, happiness is not the greatest feeling (or belief) regarding oneself. Definitionally speaking, the greatest self-belief is much deeper. Self-satisfaction is what occurs when a man sees himself as being the best and most that he can possibly be. Perfection is not possible, but “greatest” self-satisfaction, of course, is.
Every time a person takes an action, they are acting under the assumption that they are making the best choice — even the person who attempts to do away with them self thinks that their decision is the best one. If someone has any mechanism for determining what to do, then their actions are the reflections of an attempt to meet their mechanism — it’s impossible for someone to voluntarily do what they completely don’t want to do.
Our mechanism — our code — dictates how we act.
Value Code
The foundation of every action a person takes is that person’s code. This code is their value system that dictates our every response. If a man decides to go to church rather than watch football on Sunday, his moral code places the attendance of church over the watching of a football game. The code does not necessarily reflect the reasoning for its existence — just that it exists.
Every man, whether he wills it or not, takes action for the sake of satisfying this value code. This value code is a part of his mind, and cannot be escaped — even if the code says that the code is unjustified.** However, once there is this self-contradiction in the code, complete self-satisfaction is instantly unachievable. If a man values being selfishness and selflessness at the same time, there will be mental and emotional warfare within his mind. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Reason
As explained above, complete satisfaction is the inherent goal of every man, whether he recognizes it or not. Also explained above is that satisfaction is still dictated by the laws of reality — you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
The only way one can determine what increases one’s satisfaction is reason. Incoherency is inefficiency. Reason is the greatest system in regards to production. Google has risen to it’s Internet super-star status not by incoherent policies and decisions, but through well-reasoned algorithms and stylistical decisions — reason was used at every stage. The moment a business or individual decides to reject reason for an alternative system of thought, the incoherency instantly impacts their lives, and its impacts bring with chaos.
As explained above, if one values something and its opposite, then one is not achieving the greatest level of satisfaction possible — reason is necessary to understand which of the two conflicting values is illegitimate. Ayn Rand explained, “Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.”
The purpose of man’s life is satisfaction, which may or may not include drastically large amounts of emotion-based “happiness”. Satisfaction is the end result of a man achieving his value code. His value code can only be maximized if founded upon reason.
Reason is required for maximum satisfaction.
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*It could even be argued that suicide is an attempt at self-satisfaction, at least that it’s means are based upon self-satisfaction, whereas the result is simply absence.
**This is not nearly as outlandish at it may sound. I know of many people who live a life of self-sacrifice, meaning that part of their code is to ignore their code. These people are living a life of self-torture.
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I once met a man who danced on the clouds and liked to paint his face across the sky. The people all told me he was the crazy one, but I think they just might have been wrong. He’d dance and laugh and feel and live and they would shut their eyes and die, everyday they’d die, and say that he’s the crazy one, he’s alive, they’d say that he’s the crazy one.
They tried to make him their slave, but all they could do was stuff him in a cage. So, I asked how he was doing. He propped himself up on top of his bed, and he laughed like a young child. He asked,
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The two greatest books of the 20th Century were, by far, 1984 and Atlas Shrugged. The political and philosophical insight that each book presented is simply mesmerizing. Objective reality, reason, ethics and morality, government — it’s all covered.
Below are the quotations that either explicitly or implicitly explain what I believe about the listed topics. The quotations will not be sourced — if you want to know where they are found, simply read the books again (or for the first time?). =)
Objective Reality
It was curious to think that the sky was the same for everybody, in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here. And the people under the sky were also very much the same
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As the frequent viewers here know, I support allowing the US troops currently fighting in Iraq to come home to their families and friends. In other words, I think we should end the war in Iraq. Two days ago I compiled some pictures and put them together for a 4 minute video explaining why our children shouldn’t be sacrificed for the sake of the pride of some politicians.
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Today is the day that blogs are encouraged to write something about the environment. So I will. I support market anarchy so we can turn trees into lumber and fish into meat and cows into hamburgers. I feel so green.
Capitalism increases technology through healthy competition. Competition increases technology. Advanced technology nearly always increases greeness of the environmental impact. Freedom breeds green things, be it a nice environment or green dollars.
So save a cow and eat a burger.
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There is a type of man that is the worst of all. He is the man who pretends to valiantly support a cause while he attempts to blend in with its heroes — all for social gain. He is the man who fights only for the applause. He is the man who lives only for the faulty opinions of the cowards, rather than the justified trust of one who does right. He is the one who stands “alone” only when he sees many others doing the same.
He is the man who has no honor.
William Wallace is seen as the greatest defenders of freedom in the history of the world. He died an individual, without a friend present, not a person to confide in. He may have died physically a slave in the hands of his tyrants, but mentally and spiritually, Wallace died the most free man on earth.
Jesus the Christ is heralded as the Savior of the world. But in order to accomplish His purpose, he was required to bear his cross in front of a mocking world, no one save the Father to listen, and even the Father turned His back on Him. The same occurred to John the Baptist, the apostle Paul, Moses and most of twelve disciples. The story of Christianity is the story of those who are not afraid to stand alone. “We must obey God rather than man.”
Hans and Sophie Scholl took on a nation, just the two of them. They traded a life of ease for a few short years of speaking for what they knew to be right, for calling out for those who had no defense. They were both beheaded.
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I am completely convinced that Ron Paul is the best candidate for the presidency of the United States. Ron Paul is the only person running who remotely reflects the libertarian philosophy and policies. Dr. No is a breath of fresh air. The other candidates and politicians speak of “freedom” and mean “restriction.”
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One of the greatest passions of my life is the theory of liberty. The idea that violence is rarely justified, and that people ought to resolve their differences through reason and discussion, rather than violence and coercion.
A few days ago I decided to give a relatively simple explanation regarding the theory and it’s implications. Here is the result:
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