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In Episode 132 of the Podcast I am joined by Patrik Holmqvist to discuss the most essential insight for the truth-seeker. namely that mysticism is the BIGGEST duff steer of method. It amounts to the scuppering of your mind and its ability to achieve certainty on any issue.
Mysticism is the tool of the deceiver and the spanner in the works of a functioning mind. Yet it is increasingly widespread in our culture and increasingly dominant in the minds of many who would call themselves truth seekers. Mysticism has changed its clothes and now masquerades as reasoned argument. yet it can easily be spotted by the savvy investigator with just a little bit of conscious awareness and an in-built mental alert system to any assertion without argument.
What is wrong with Mysticism?
Mysticism is the antithesis of reason. It is the belief that reasons are not necessary It is belief in things without reasons, evidence, proof, logical demonstration or rational argument. Furthermore, it is belief in things that are contradicted by evidence reason logic and proof! These things are the tools of thinking and the method of the human mind in identifying the facts of reality. To be a mystic is to reject the mind and thus to reject life. Yes, it really is that serious!
Mysticism is demonstrated by any of the major organised religions. In fact any religion espousing a supernatural deity is mysticism. But it goes much deeper than this. Most people believe that since church attendance has been in decline for many decades that mysticism is also in decline. If only it were so. Scientism along with unquestioning belief in government (statism) are both mysticism. Scientism makes assertions in the name of science that are contradicted by the evidence and the facts of reality. Belief in government as a necessary institution enabling human life is also contradicted by the available evidence.
Once you equip yourself with a mental operating system committed to identifying the facts of objective reality your truth seeking really beings in earnest. Until you do, it cannot begin, and things you claim as knowledge can only be considered beliefs as opposed to convictions based on sound understanding of the facts.
If it is truth that you seek your only tool is reason. You must use your faculty of reason using the method of logic in the process of thinking. Emotions are not your guide to reality, they are not means of perceiving reality, they are not tools of cognition.
Resources
The base of all knowledge is necessarily philosophical in nature, and the philosophy I recommend any truth-seeker look into is Ayn Rand’s Objectivism. It is the only philosophy that explicitly recognises that reality is an objective absolute and it is the only philosophy that acknowledges man need for freedom at the fundamental level. Every other philosophy contains a morality of altruism which is fundamentally opposed to freedom, This is an important point to grasp for anyone claiming to be seeking freedom.
If you are a committed truth-seeker and wish to know more, you may wish to check out these previous posts where I explore this philosophy and its essential foundations for truth and freedom.
- The philosophy of Objectivism with Dr David Kelley – go here
- Who needs Philosophy – YOU DO! go here
- Reason is your only guide to knowledge – go here
- Exploding myths with the ideas of Ayn Rand – with Yaron Brooke – go here
Useful Web Sites: For your reference:
- https://atlassociety.org/
- https://www.aynrand.org/
- https://thecultureofreasoncenter.com/
- http://www.nathanielbranden.com/
Recommended Ayn Rand Non fiction: (These are affiliate links, I get a few pence if you buy one)
- For the New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
- The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism
- Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
- The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature
- Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology
- Philosophy: Who Needs It
- The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought
If you are interested in why Anarchy is essential to freedom and that any form of government is an affront to freedom then check out this open letter to Ayn rand by Roy A Childs, Jr.
Please feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment below. It has never been more important to be able to correctly identify the facts of reality in today’s context of the alleged pandemic and the dominance of germ theory in the current medical paradigm.
Nigel Howitt, Treehouse Farm
April 14th, 2021
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