The following is an article I wrote for another blog, and rightfully re-posted here:
Axiom #1: That which is True DOES NOT CONTRADICT.
CONTRADICTIONS can be physical (evidence) or psychological (broken logic), but they are CONTRADICTIONS none the less. What remains after working through CONTRADICTIONS is thus NON-CONTRADICTORY, and thus MUST IN FACT BE TRUE/TRUTH relative to the context of any situation, circumstance, or given set(s) of information. Why? Again, remember: whatever IS TRUE, by definition, NEVER CONTRADICTS. This process is analogous to panning for GOLD: you sift away the excess "NOT GOLD" (I.E the sand, dirt, glass, and other assorted bullshit), and what remains can only be GOLD (True/Truth).
What Tools Are You Using?
Most people's minds are like sifts that have way too big of holes. Thus all the gold - that which is actually TRUE for any given set of information, situations, circumstances, and/or contexts - slips through with the rest of the sand ("Throwing the baby out with the bathwater"). The difference between True and not-True is impossible to perceive, because the gaps in your sift (or net, etc.) are too big to capture anything new or useful. It makes discerning anything True indistinguishable from not-True.
Some people fall for the opposite trap and have too tight/small of holes in their sift. They trap the gold, sure...but they also still retain most, if not all, of the sand. Any gold retained is obscured by CONTRADICTION (bullshit), and is thus effectively useless for personal progress. This is the same thing as letting the gold escape. You still can't tell the actual difference between what's sand and what's gold without "digging deeper" to uncover your "nuggets of wisdom". The reason for the "These hole are too big/too small" phenomena is entirely due to the presence of CONTRADICTION - I.E. not-Truth - SOMEWHERE IN THE PERSON'S CURRENT CHAIN OF REASONING.
To ignore, marginalize, or outright double-down against this fact is to compound one's own ignorance with massive error.
Your Ability to REASON is Your Ultimate Tool for Knowledge & Personal Growth
Reason = conceptual consistency.
Your access to Truth - whatever the hell that may be for any given context, circumstance, or given set(s) of information - is an ABSOLUTE function of the QUALITY OF YOUR ABILITY TO REASON.
The only thing actually preventing you from receiving the raw data of reality, as truthfully as you can possibly understand, relate to, and use it, is your ability to use REASON.
TL;DR: the stronger your ability to reason, the less susceptible you are to bullshit, lies, and manipulation.
Until you have a proper "filter" - I.E. A SOLID EPISTEMOLOGY (How do we know what we know, and how do we know what we know is valid and useful?) in place, you'll never have the correct size holes in your sift to access Truth, and thus understand its genuine efficacy (actual usefulness and application) in your life.
Before you can even logic something, you have to have a reason for trying to combine those two things into a logical statement or claim.
The process starts on the level of REASON, and if you have flawed REASONING, all of your logic will likewise be flawed.
Why? Again, because any extension of an absolute is also itself an absolute.
Thus, the ability to understand Truth, as it could ever exist or be applicably useful to make positive changes in your life, is a function of your ability to REASON.
Fashion your sift, and prepare to uncover the treasures within and around you.Until you have a proper "filter" - I.E. A SOLID EPISTEMOLOGY (How do we know what we know, and how do we know what we know is valid and useful?) in place, you'll never have the correct size holes in your sift to access Truth, and thus understand its genuine efficacy (actual usefulness and application) in your life.
People in positions of authority, whom are bullshitting you, won't set off your bullshit detector because you foolishly equate authority = integrity = truth.
You've been fooled into letting anyone and everyone whom ISN'T YOU act as your "filter" or "sift", instead of genuinely understanding how to think for yourself, and thus PROGRESS YOURSELF.
This is analogous to trying to have a phone conversation with a third party in between you and your guest, relaying what each of you is saying to the other.
It's not a clear-cut path to what's actually going on; there's a "filter" in the way of the raw data attempting to come through.
That "third party" is your pre-programmed epistemology: your unconscious assumption that any knowledge uncovered by other people, especially in positions of perceived authority (I.E. "Scientists have measured this and proved it, it's a non-discussion", "The government wouldn't plan to sabotage its own citizens) is infallible and trustworthy. It is the extremely dangerous assumption that other people's knowledge is not only accurate, but also more accurate than your present capability of understanding what may or may not actually be going on with and in this crazy world. Compound this with the fallacy of group consensus (experts all agree claim X is true, despite being riddled with contradiction), and you have a veritable clusterfuck of psychological and spiritual smoke and mirrors.
You're Stuck Because You've Been Conditioned to Operate Unreasonably (Inconsistently)
Until you learn how to properly REASON with information and claims - how to sort what's bullshit from what's valid - all personal development, mind hacks, business tricks, and relationship help in the world will not save you. You are stuck because you require a fundamental shift in your root assumptions, of which are presently analogous to writing philosophical checks that reality can't actually cash...because they contain CONTRADICTIONS. These CONTRADICTIONS cause seemingly-random anxiety that can manifest as stress, procrastination, etc. You have internal blocks which are CONTRADICTORY, and the part of you that matters the most knows this. Try driving your car while hitting the gas and the brakes at the same time. This is why you're actually stuck/experiencing resistance in life.
The purpose of this site is to help you figure out the optimal size holes for your gold-panning (Personal Growth) endeavors. To have the presence of a single false hood (I.E. CONTRADICTION) in your reasoning is to poison the proceeding logic, and thus poison the entire thing. Any extension of an absolute is also itself an absolute.
There are no "degrees of Truth".
It either CONTRADICTS itself, or it doesn't.
No combination of Truth with CONTRADICTION (Not-Truth) will ever yield raw Truth.
Too much sugar spoils the entire batch.That "third party" is your pre-programmed epistemology: your unconscious assumption that any knowledge uncovered by other people, especially in positions of perceived authority (I.E. "Scientists have measured this and proved it, it's a non-discussion", "The government wouldn't plan to sabotage its own citizens) is infallible and trustworthy. It is the extremely dangerous assumption that other people's knowledge is not only accurate, but also more accurate than your present capability of understanding what may or may not actually be going on with and in this crazy world. Compound this with the fallacy of group consensus (experts all agree claim X is true, despite being riddled with contradiction), and you have a veritable clusterfuck of psychological and spiritual smoke and mirrors.
You're Stuck Because You've Been Conditioned to Operate Unreasonably (Inconsistently)
Until you learn how to properly REASON with information and claims - how to sort what's bullshit from what's valid - all personal development, mind hacks, business tricks, and relationship help in the world will not save you. You are stuck because you require a fundamental shift in your root assumptions, of which are presently analogous to writing philosophical checks that reality can't actually cash...because they contain CONTRADICTIONS. These CONTRADICTIONS cause seemingly-random anxiety that can manifest as stress, procrastination, etc. You have internal blocks which are CONTRADICTORY, and the part of you that matters the most knows this. Try driving your car while hitting the gas and the brakes at the same time. This is why you're actually stuck/experiencing resistance in life.
The purpose of this site is to help you figure out the optimal size holes for your gold-panning (Personal Growth) endeavors. To have the presence of a single false hood (I.E. CONTRADICTION) in your reasoning is to poison the proceeding logic, and thus poison the entire thing. Any extension of an absolute is also itself an absolute.
Stay rational, stay sane.
-Loaded Shaman
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