I am a business owner in Riverside, CA with my girlfriend and two other roommates/employees (one of them is Xomniverse on these forums and on Youtube, and my girlfriend is Rose0883 on Youtube). I also blog for The School Sucks Project, which is a pretty cool site. I have been strongly influenced by Ayn Rand, John Holt, Alfie Kohn, Harry Browne, Aristotle, and Stefan Molyneux although I tend to strongly stray from all of them in different parts of their philosophies. While I am well versed in economics and politics, I tend to be more interested in the psychological and epistemological realms of philosophy. I have also taught voice, piano, and theater fairly extensively. First as an occasional teacher in the public system, and later as a teacher in voluntary private institutions. Within 5-10 years my girlfriend and I have intentions of starting a free school and performing arts studio. I most commonly express my ideas on Youtube with the screen name Aaron0883
Posted on 2010 Jun 20 by Aaron
I was thinking about going several different directions with this blog, but I had a problem talking about a lot of different topics without addressing what motivates man, and his relationship with truth.
Man’s relationship with truth:
Several years ago I read a book called ’How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World” by Harry Browne. There were a lot of brilliant insights in the book, and it is still one of my favorites today. However, one particular thought challenged my conception of the world at the time, and took several years to sort out. He made the argument that truth is only a means towards happiness.
At first that concept made me feel uncomfortable, but with time I grew to understand it and I thought I would share my discovery here since it has a huge relevance in understanding human relationships, and human motivation.
All biological organisms are highly evolved to live and reproduce in the environment they primarily live in, and humans are no exception. Our emotions and motivations were developed in such a way that best propagated our genes to a new generation. This doesn’t mean that we primarily think about sex, as some people infer, because in order to even have sex there are higher values we must satisfy; clothing, companionship, food, etc. There is much more subtlety in understanding human nature, but that is for a different blog.
Truth is only a secondary value to man. He only values truth as much as it is able to provide the necessary means of achieving his desires. If he desires food, he will need truth in order to attain an apple. If he desires shelter, he will need truth in order to build a house. However, here is something that can throw a wrench in things: What if the truth about something will overall cause less desires to be attained?
If 1000 years ago I told people in my town that I am a Voluntaryist-atheist who rejects slavery and child abuse, and then proceeded to tell others why they were wrong, I would likely have a very short life span. Even if I wasn’t killed, it would be incredibly unlikely for me to find a wife, raise a family, and participate in the market. This seems like a pretty big reason we didn’t see any people like this back then.
Some might point out that we are in a different world today, and therefore there is no longer an excuse. However, the same exact forces exist today that existed back then. I will give you a personal example.
I grew up Christian. I was active in church, I was in the leadership of the Christian club, and in college I actually because the music minister of my church. At about 20 years old I discovered libertarianism and Ayn Rand, and after a short period of time came upon some of Rand’s arguments against religion. Upon discovery I knew I felt frustration and defensiveness, and I told myself it was because Ayn Rand was wrong. I told myself that I love god … and I remember that night playing hymns on piano and praying. In hindsight, I now realize I was creating a story in my head. What I told myself was happening was very different than what was really happening.
What swirled through my brain was a series of questions: If Ayn Rand is right, how will I find a sweet girlfriend? How will I have a community of people for support and companionship? Where will I find a choir to direct? Who will I make friends with? The consequence of these questions became very scary for me. Oddly, I had little attachment to an afterlife or the concept of someone watching over me.
After about a year from first questioning my religion I was able to weigh it out. Subconsciously, I reorganized my future, and my self-respect weighed in and said that I can’t follow something I don’t really believe in- Christianity evaporated, and I felt comfortable calling myself an atheist.
This same sort of mental gymnastics happens for all children. They develop ‘love’ for their state, school, family, religion, tribe, etc. This love isn’t so much a true-self appreciation of values, but rather conforming in order to get the resources that the tribe only offers upon submission. The truth behind the supposed virtues of these organizations is never truly analyzed. These people have a developed emotional attachment to anti-human cults because that was the only way to get the resources that they needed.
When you debate someone, you are rarely debating their points. You are debating their justification for their continued association with anti-human cults. You are debating with the Stockholm Syndrome that they have grown towards their abusers.
One of the things I have encouraged most is establishing companionship and forming communities with self-respecting people. One of the most important things to offer is an alternative to cults. Offer the resources of approval, companionship, understanding, entertainment, employment, and education without having to submit yourself to the corrupt power of people who wish to control you (I wish I could go to Porcfest… maybe next year, but that’s beside the point).
Humans are built to live and reproduce. There is no greater plan exterior to human values. We are given a purpose by our genes, which is to attain happiness. Truth will often get us the resources we need to attain happiness, but often truth can have the opposite effect. If we want to help children, and if we want to inspire any sort of change, it will be by offering a better alternative. We have to offer resources and trade value for value without expecting submission. This is the way for people to see the truth.