Philosophy is perfectly right in saying that life must be understood backward. But then one forgets the other clause–that it must be lived forward. The more one thinks through this clause, the more one concludes that life in temporality never becomes properly understandable, simply because never at any time does one get perfect repose to take a stance–backward.
-Søren Kierkeegard
Doubt, it has been said, is simultaneously the foundation of all thought and the destruction of all logical conclusions. The most important corollary to this, that which I believe has been forgotten by humanity, is that we apply the notion not only externally, but internally as well. The world in which we live is confusing beyond comprehension. We live in a time that perpetually breaches unknown heights of complexity, and yet still we continue to clutch on to the notion that our grasps on the nature of reality are not only accurate, but are thoroughly true. And more, we boast of our faction’s dominance over the realm of logic and constantly criticize other factions on how their notions of knowledge and significance are fundamentally flawed, we fight tooth-and-nail to demote the inconsequential views of others, and we don’t a breath out of our speech to examine our own beliefs for objective accuracy.
Well, I have news. We, people of America and of the world, have fallen for the oldest lie ever told;
“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” -Genesis 3:5
This, reader, is the great sin of our times. There is no more confused and helpless individual than one that not only knows nothing, but is deluded into thinking that he does. This individual crawls through life, under the pretense of righteousness yet caught thickly under the veil of ignorance, and never knows that his world-view not only has no basis in reality, but has led him to his own inevitable destruction. We stand at the brink of a new age, and we cannot afford to waste our time with individuals who stick to tried-and-true ideologies.
The imperative preached by this blog and the message reinforced by every post hereafter, and thus, the mission statement of this work can be logically derived from the following situation.
Imagine two individuals that preach ardently held ideas, that both individuals are one-hundred percent certain of and yet are opposite. Foundations of logic tell us that there can be no contradictions in reality; not in part, nor in whole. Thus, each of these individuals must come to one, solid conclusion; one of them must be wrong. To begin to counteract his opponent’s argument (if that is indeed your goal), therefore, one must be certain of not only one’s pretenses but one’s conclusions. And this leads us to our logical nexus; a moral and logical imperative that must be considered before all other considerations on any subject can be made. Socrates once said that to know the world a man must know himself. From the depths of my own soul, then, I scream to you the same objective-to know the world-but through another, similar method;
Doubt thyself.
Now. I’m not here to philosophize; I am not to tell you that all knowledge is impossible, or that our collective condition of humanity cannot be improved by deduction and logical recourse. Only that the extent to which the average American is ignorant is grossly underestimated. Nor am I claiming that I am above said ignorance–there are many issues in the world, fraught with cognition-defying complexity that I take a stance on based on conclusions drawn from my intellectual superiors. That is why the main mechanism through which my future posts will operate will not be to construct new ideas, but rather to deconstruct existing ones through logical fallacy and unpublished (read: not on your local news station) evidence.
Furthermore, as I progress, the goal of this blog and nature of my posts may digress from this original mission. This is inevitable as I write solely on whim and will probably end up writing a significant number of posts about anything that I feel like. Watch, then, for the undercurrent which this post will set precedent; unrelenting skepticism. This is the anthem, the banner, and the mantra of these works, and until I personally go through major philosophical changes (who knows–I still haven’t thoroughly understood Kant), will remain as such.
Let us look to our past with reverence and in search of conclusions which will help us today, but realize that ours is an ever-changing world, and rigorous adherence to outdated paradigms will only hurt us in the long run. It is the charge of us forward-thinkers, us ironists, to prepare the average individual with the knowledge and analysis required to face the unknown future with a sense of confidence and hope. We are the future’s children, and we will meet it not grudgingly and regretfully but with our heads held up high.
…So.
Posted by snowblind20 
