Vance Teaches Ronin To Think Deeper About Subconscious Influences

Having conversations with your old self is weird, and now I’m about to discuss parts of an essay I had been particularly proud of. It was titled Who Is Your Master/Bow To None. I had even had it copyrighted. It was about our subconscious influences and while good, it had gaps.

The Conversation Continues…

Vance: The first two paragraphs are good, especially about identifying ‘masters’. I caution you that you risk becoming nihilistic.

Ronin: Nihilistic?

Vance: So jaded that you believe nothing.

Ronin: Why not? We’re limited by our tech, so scientific fact today can be disproven tomorrow. History is written by the victors. Textbooks are written by committees so who knows what’s left out.

Remember when we went from Sheridan School District back to Prattsville? We were ahead of the class.

Vance: This is why you need to learn the First Principles and laws of logic to add to your reasoning skills. There’s a lot you don’t know that you don’t even know is out there. At your age…well, Dunning Krueger was in full effect with us, maybe still is.

A favorite line in one paragraph is, “Some look at an author as a ‘speaker of truth’ and they have to live their life exactly how the author says and quotes them. Because it’s the ‘truth’. Not to bash writers, it’s all in how you absorb what you read.”

Ronin: Okay. Where are you going with this?

Vance: Ask yourself, what is the idea behind all the big movements in history? The cultural shifts, pop culture, and so on?

The breaking the chains section is good. The part on religion I’d like to expand on.

Ronin: The part on how religions teach their worldview, and it doesn’t mean they’re right? That you have to question, look at other religions if you’re interested in picking one?

Vance: Yeah. Since then I’ve looked at it evidentially. Go where the evidence leads, use the First Principles to reason through them. A religion of preference is in a sense worshipping your desires.

Ronin: What are these First Principles again?

Vance: I really need to write about them…by the way, look for the motive behind why people tell you things and what they hope to gain from it.

Ronin: Why are you telling me this then?

Vance: Touche. Because your ego is going to go wild and I want this to simmer deep inside when you go off the rails. By the way kid, we are more programmed than you realize. Look into Rory Miller’s Conflict Communication, J. Warner Wallace’s work, and William Lane Craig.

I’m off to the future again to post about those First Principles.

Back In 2017

I get out of my DeLorean. Look around…”Why are there dinosaurs roaming my city!?”