| Development of Reason |
The development of a rational mind and thought process is an incredible occurrence in nature. The history of the universe and the evolution of Mankind is discussed briefly in "Appendix B: The Evolution of Mankind."
The immediate advantage of rationality in evolutionary selection was the development of tools.
The later advantages were spurred by language which is a tool of the mind and
used to expand knowledge. Defying physiological limitations, an
organism that could develop and use tools would have a survival advantage.
Beginning with the sharp stick that
inadvertently stabbed a fish, during a clubbing; this ability of rational thought and tool development is one of the key adaptations of the
hominid that separates it from the pongid and other lesser
developed forms of life. What does it take to invent, create, and use
tools? It takes the ability to imagine the result of
one's actions. It requires conceptualization of causality, which requires
an awareness of time. With the awareness of time, comes the awareness of
reality. This seems fairly basic, but the consequences are the
most incredible development of nature; an
objective and rational mind, with the ability to reason. To properly develop tools, the rational mind must not only become aware of
time, but it must begin to
predict future outcomes. It must conceive the causal effects of action. I am convinced that the essence of intelligence is
time awareness, and its consequence is the
ability to predict the future through imagination. The awareness of time allows mastery of the
"cause and effect" concept, known as the concept of causality, resulting in Mankind's
ability to overcome much of the randomness in nature, as he shapes and orders
his environment. Remember that Man is a carnivore without fang and
claw. I am often told that Man is an herbivore, "just look at his
teeth!" My response is, "Man is a carnivore, just look at his
mind!" It takes little intelligence to hunt down, kill, and eat a plant. It takes
intelligence to create a tool and a strategy, allowing a weak animal with
omnivore dentition, to hunt down, kill, and eat an animal. Man must alter the world about him to survive. It is
Man's nature.
Imagine that an early hominid
suddenly develops a rational mind and an awareness of time. Realizing its position in such a
savage world, it understands its helpless and defenseless
position. The mounting certainty of death would traumatize
it. Its imagination of the future would trigger the instinctual hormonal responses to threat, sending huge amounts
of epinephrine and other hormones into the bloodstream; causing the "fight or flight"
response and terror. The animal would die of shock! The ability to predict the
future, and to see the truth of reality, had to have occurred subtly and concurrently with the ability to selectively ignore portions of the truth that
were shocking enough to cause trauma. Hunters are well aware that a
wounded deer can run miles before succumbing to the hemorrhage. A human being can die from the shock of being
wounded, with little blood loss or damage to the body. They simply die of shock. They die of imagination. They become unable to disengage their rational mind
from creating the instinctual hormonal activity which starves the mind of blood.
The reality and proximity of death, is vexing to many humans even today.
Early humans not only had the ability to see the truth, but the talent
to ignore it. This then is the definition of ignorance; to ignore the
truth. To this day, many in our society still believe in
spirits, magic, superstitions, and gods. These beliefs help in denying the
certainty of death, but cripple the mind. It is a volitional effort that
overcomes this tendency and allows the mind to focus upon reality and clearly view it.
Truth is reality. It exists outside of human consciousness and is
there for the mind to discover. The philosophy departments, in almost
every U. S. establishment of higher learning, teach a form of philosophy that does not
consider reality to exist outside of human consciousness. They teach
ignorance. Evading or ignoring the truth and reality is as old as seeking
knowledge of reality. Intelligence is the ability to see the truth, but not
the act of using that ability through the focus of ones mind upon
reality. Volition is required to focus ones mind upon
reality. Mankind is normally in a state of ignorance with the conscious
mind in a blur. Focusing of the conscious mind is the primary lesson to
teach young individuals with developing minds. In the United States at the turn of the
Twenty-First Century, the education systems do not teach children how to focus
their minds. Thanks to Dewey and others of the "Progressive"
education movement, the schools are actively engaged in the destruction of a
child's ability to focus the mind. Schools must require the constant
volitional focus of the child's mind. The primary acquired from education
should come de facto from the lessons. It is the practice of focusing the
mind on the fundamentals, which builds a mind filled with motivation, awe,
self-esteem, and the ability to teach one's self anything; through reason and
focus of the mind. The volition required to focus ones mind
becomes lessened with experience and knowledge. The focusing of the
conscious mind becomes habit. The human mind then is normally in ignorance until a human uses
volition to look at the truth. If the truth is unsettling, the mind may
simply choose ignorance. This is the mechanism that allowed our primitive
ancestors to develop intelligence without being physically crippled by it.
Ignorance though is not a way in which a human being can survive.
Mankind's only tool of survival is the volitional focus of his mind. Ignorance could be a dangerous endeavor when important items
are ignored, or a homonid is imagining a concept or reality other than that which
exists. There had to be a
mechanism to discriminate and impart value to the data imported to the internal
mind. This would keep the hominid focused and allow him to know when he may be avoiding a
truth that is essential to his well being. This mechanism had to develop
concomitantly with intelligence and ignorance. The human being has very few instinctual
behaviors compared to other animals. He lives by one instinct alone.
An instinct of the mind. The instinct that drives man to view and value the truth.
We know this instinct as the human conscience. It is human nature to value
the truth.
Atavistic instincts exist in men, but our minds routinely override any action based upon
the these instincts alone. Having remnant instincts, which controlled the behavior of his
primitive ancestors, Mankind's primitive instincts express themselves as emotions.
When a human being reacts instinctually to his
imagination or his perception, he reacts emotionally and his behavior becomes unstable and
possibly dangerous
to himself and those around him. Such savage and indeterminate behavior
creates an environment that is unhealthy to
humans. Once an individual realizes that emotions are instincts being triggered by perceptions and imagination,
emotions, in most cases, can be
easily controlled by volitional focus of his mind and an
acceptance of reality. Emotions do not "build up" when
ignored. The primitive hormonal flood will dissipate as soon as the
stimulus is relieved. The human mind can easily master these emotions or primitive instincts. Emotions are the basis for
all physical pleasure and joy. They are also the vehicle of anger in all of
its flavors, such as hate, envy, and jealousy. All of these
emotions are normally amenable, however the advanced instinct of man is
not. This is an instinct not possessed by other animals. It is the
instinct that evolved concomitantly with our mental abilities of intelligence and
ignorance. When a human being uses imagination or irrational thought to evade the
implications and acceptance of reality; the human body has a chemical reaction similar to our
emotions but more subtle, systemic, and long lasting. It is the feeling
that seems to exist deeply within each human being. It is the human sense of being,
the human conscience.
Evasion creates misery deep within a human. There are many names for this emotion,
the most common being "guilt". The emotion is cumulative,
meaning that it builds in strength with each evasion. The human conscience is the instinct of the
mind. The guilt or self-loathing is not an emotion. It is the human
beings sense of life, that monitors the efficacy of communication between our
conscious mind and the internal working of the mind. It is more complicated than just guilt. It is the core of the
human experience. It is a human's self-esteem; the value a human places
upon himself and his abilities to survive within reality. It is internal virtue.
Human volition is driven by a desire to discriminate reality
from the arbitrary. It attaches value to concepts, as it endeavors to
judge that which is reality or truth. It automatically assesses the virtue
of each concept. Each human being has a concept of himself that is not
created by his consciousness. When the human mind judges itself
efficacious at understanding reality and surviving; its inner sense of being is one of high esteem and an inner satisfaction or joy. The human mind knows when it evades and
ignores the truth. The human mind considers ignorance as ineffective in
survival. Evasion of reality creates an inner sense of fear, loathing, and lack of
self-esteem. This is the nature of the miserable emotion humans call
"guilt". Is
there a name for the opposite emotion? "Clear conscience", does
not impart the sense of well being and esteem; it denotes a lack of guilt.
"Pride" is the emotion. The rational concept of pride is
different from the irrational concept of pride. Destruction of the
dichotomy, between irrational pride and rational pride, is principle to the destruction
or stagnation of human culture. It is principle
to this book and will be discussed throughout in detail. For the present,
consider that "irrational pride" stems from an individual's concept of
how others view him, and not on the individual's internal sense of self-esteem,
which is "rational pride".
When humans use their volition, they
learn the importance and elegance of the human mind. Their conscious mind
operates using an objective Standard of Value. They realize that
"the good" fosters the mind, and "the bad" destroys it. There is
value in the world. Value is primary to the
evaluation of reality by the conscious mind. There is an objective
Standard of Value available to
each man. Men use this Standard of Value to discriminate and select between objects and
actions. When a man uses his volition to identify value, and behaves in a
manner consistent with a plan to obtain an item of value; he becomes confident in his
abilities with attainment of each item that is judged by the mind to be
valuable. Addressing the future and
attaining a goal, with the
volition of mind, increases self-esteem, removing guilt from a human's
conscience. As one becomes more confident, one uses volition to plan
farther and farther into the future. The humans, most capable of
predicting the future, produce the most
goods, services, and innovations. Volitional focus requires an unrelenting discipline of mind and adherence to
the truth. With this adherence to the truth, one builds self-esteem, which
in turn fosters the deep internal sense of happiness, known as pride. That too is
cumulative.
Reality simply exists. It has no value,
and must be accepted as neither "good" nor "evil". It
is only the thought and behavior of human beings that may be judged. Only
the thought and behavior of the individual. Value can only apply to an
individual or be judged by an individual that deems a specific behavior or item valuable. The nature of the human mind is to
continually discriminate and judge. Volition allows one to discover an objective
Standard of Value by which to judge. The need and definition of this standard will be
discussed in greater detail later. Honor is behavior in accordance with a
Standard of Value, which is often called an ethic. Honorable behavior results in virtue. Virtue
creates a state of high self-esteem.
Self-esteem, or rational pride, is the basis for happiness. Happiness is
confidence in one's abilities. Our conscience will not allow us to
act through ignorance and achieve happiness. Happiness is not an absolute;
it is contextual. Happiness is not where you are, but how
you got there. A stolen trophy is worthless.
It is the nature of Mankind to manipulate
nature to his purpose. Man is not born with the physical ability to survive.
He has not the strength, claws, nor fangs to live in a world without a mind that
can manipulate nature to form his tools of survival. When men care for their own
survival and live by their own objective ethic, they are able to live together
honorably with others like themselves, in freedom. This fosters each individual's
mind, and "the good" enhances survival, productivity, and happiness. As
the discussion will lead latter, Mankind only once achieved a society based on
personal volition and individual freedom, rather than ignorance and brutality. Even that crowning
achievement of freedom, has fallen into decay. The misery of tribal altruism and collectivist
traditions are growing on the fertile corpse through democracy. Misunderstanding of the conscience, and that misery called
guilt, motivates the well meaning population of the United States into sacrifice. Ironically,
it is this tribal sacrifice which is causing the guilt.
Remember that this
fear, loathing, and abject misery is cumulative.
On a television show about World War II there was an interesting dictum.
A soldier is cowering in a foxhole, paralyzed by fear. Another soldier
happens upon him and says, "The reason you are afraid is that you want to
believe you will survive this! Realize you're going to die! Give up
the hope and get back to work soldier!". The soldier's paralysis was
mental and caused by the fear of death and oblivion. Avoiding death is not
living. Many people cannot fulfill their lives
and achieve happiness because they fear death. It cripples their minds
to ignorance.
