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Certainty as a Substitute for Truth

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Deductive rigidity refers to the strict application of fixed premises to reach conclusions, often stifling inquiry by treating those premises as unchallengeable, leading to inflexible and potentially flawed outcomes. In contrast, abductive reasoning offers flexibility by inferring the best explanation from observed facts, adapting to new evidence and context to align further with truth. The maxim “You can be dead sure and dead wrong” exposes a fundamental flaw in human cognition: the tendency to […] Read more »

Abductive Reasoning and the Pursuit of a Moral Life

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A rational process is a moral process. You may make an error at any step of it, with nothing to protect you but your own severity, or you may try to cheat, to fake the evidence and evade the effort of the quest – but if devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality, then there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of […] Read more »

The Transcendence of Law & the Path to a Non-Transactional Agape-Based Existence

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Law is the shadow of reason; whereas children require rules from their parents to navigate life, adults instead use reason to guide their morality and decision making. ~Nathan Martin Laws are only meant to be an age appropriate way to communicate reason, and what is reasonable, to small children. Spiritually and psychologically mature adults do not need laws then, as they have reason to guide their morality and ethical decision […] Read more »

Prolonged Childhood: How Schooling and Laws Cause Dependency

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The word “authority” derives from the Latin “auctoritas,” originally meaning “growth,” “influence,” and, crucially, “authorship” – referring to someone who originates or brings something into being. This etymological root reveals how attributing authority to another implies granting them the power to “author” our actions, beliefs, or even our life’s direction, essentially ceding control over our own narrative to their will or judgment. The concept of prolonged childhood has become a […] Read more »

Law as a Type and Shadow of Reason

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John Locke’s “law of reason” refers to the natural capacity of human beings to use rational thought to discern moral and ethical principles that govern just interactions, independent of external authority. It is an internal guide, accessible through reflection, that aligns individual actions with objective truths about reality and human rights. Law, at its core, represents a fundamental failure to trust in individual reason. While proponents often frame it as […] Read more »

The Morality of Negotiation vs “My Way or the Highway’s” Deductive Rigidity

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Deductive rigidity refers to the strict application of fixed premises to reach conclusions, often stifling inquiry by treating those premises as unchallengeable, leading to inflexible and potentially flawed outcomes. In contrast, abductive reasoning offers flexibility by inferring the best explanation from observed facts, adapting to new evidence and context to align further with truth. Transactional Love is a conditional exchange where affection or care is offered with the expectation of receiving something in return, […] Read more »

Prometheus, Epimetheus, Stolen Fire, & Pandora’s Box

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The mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. There is no such thing as a collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. It is a secondary consequence. The primary act—the process of reason—must be performed by each man alone. We can divide a meal among many […] Read more »

Pride, Arrogance, and Grammatical Fallacies

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Pride, in a virtuous sense, is the rational recognition and celebration of one’s earned achievements and self-worth, grounded in personal integrity and effort. It fosters confidence and resilience, enabling individuals to stand firm in their convictions without veering into arrogance. Socratic humility is the intellectual virtue of recognizing and embracing the limits of one’s knowledge, fostering openness to learning and growth. It counters arrogance by encouraging a continuous quest for […] Read more »

The Mob Mentality as a Means of Escaping Karmic Debt (Cause and Effect)

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Karma, as a universal principle of cause and effect, posits that every action—whether physical, mental, or emotional—generates a corresponding consequence that inevitably returns to the individual, shaping their present and future experiences. This metaphysical law operates impartially across all beings and contexts, transcending time and space to ensure a balanced return of energy based on the intent and nature of one’s deeds, a concept recognized in one way or another […] Read more »

The Interplay of Deduction, Abduction, and the Metaphor of Jesus as the Inner King

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Deductive rigidity refers to the strict application of fixed premises to reach conclusions, often stifling inquiry by treating those premises as unchallengeable, leading to inflexible and potentially flawed outcomes. In contrast, abductive reasoning offers flexibility by inferring the best explanation from observed facts, adapting to new evidence and context to align further with truth. Human reasoning shapes our worldviews, moral frameworks, and spiritual lives through two primary modes: deductive and […] Read more »

Creativity vs. Productivity: The Role of Reasoning in Creating and Producing Value

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*Note: the examples in this article aren’t necessarily based in our experience with CPS and ex-partner, but they’re there to help understand and clarify the problems and patterns that I am exploring here. Ideation is the process of generating, developing, and refining new ideas or creative solutions to address needs or problems, often relying on imaginative thinking to envision possibilities. In personal relationships and family law, the interplay between creativity […] Read more »

The Illusion of Moral Authority: the Government’s Monopoly on Force

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In contemporary society, many ideologues and agents of the state anchor their moral positions in the government’s framework of policies, procedures, and fiat laws, particularly within the family law system. This reliance on the state’s moral authority, however, is not grounded in consent but in force, coercion, and the implicit threat of violence—symbolized by “guns.” This article explores how this coercive foundation disincentivizes deep thought, reflection, and empathetic dialogue, especially […] Read more »

The Straw Man Fallacy: Reducing Depth to Shallowness

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The straw man logical fallacy—where an argument or character is distorted into a weaker, oversimplified version to be easily attacked—serves as a potent tool for misrepresenting individuals of depth and complexity. A person of depth, marked by nuanced ideas, emotional richness, and intricate reasoning, becomes a target for those with agendas or those too biased or dimwitted to grasp such complexity. Whether driven by malice or ignorance, these critics erect […] Read more »

Shallowness, Depth, Truth, and the Purpose of Force

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The angry mob, fueled by ignorance and prejudice, stormed the castle, their shallow understanding of the world reduced to simplistic labels and stereotypes, as they sought to destroy the monster, which they called “Depth” – a symbol of complexity and nuance that threatened to shatter their comfortable illusions. With each blow, they struck not at the monster’s heart, but at their own limitations, attempting to silence the whispers of doubt […] Read more »

Connecting the Character Traits of Pride, Humility, and Dignity Together

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Pride, humility, and dignity emerge as authentic virtues when they arise from an internal locus of identity, shaped by self-awareness and rational integrity. These internalized traits stand in sharp contrast to their externalized distortions—arrogance, pretentiousness, and a superficial mimicry of dignity—which depend on an external locus of control or identity for validation. Ayn Rand, the creator of Objectivism, extolled pride as a moral summit, while rejecting humility as a flaw. […] Read more »