Non-thinking is an act of annihilation

[Anti Federalist]

The suicide of the west in three paragraphs.


Man’s mind is his basic tool of survival. Life is given to him, survival is not. His body is given to him, its content is not. To remain alive, he must act, and before he can act he must know the nature and purpose of his action. He cannot obtain his food without a knowledge of food, and the way to obtain it. He cannot dig a ditch – or build a cyclotron – without a knowledge of his aim and of the means to achieve it. To remain alive, he must think.

But to think is an act of choice . . . Reason does not work automatically; thinking is not a mechanical process; the connections of logic are not made by instinct. The function of your stomach, lungs, or heart is automatic; the function of your mind is not. In any hour and issue of your life, you are free to escape from your nature, from the fact that reason is your means of survival – so that for you, who are a human being, the question ‘to be or not to be’ is the question ‘to think or not to think.’

Thinking is man’s only basic virtue, from which all the others proceed. And his basic vice, the source of all his evils, is that nameless act which all of you practice, but struggle never to admit: the act of blanking out, the willful suspension of one’s consciousness, the refusal to think – not blindness, but the refusal to see; not ignorance, but the refusal to know. It is the act of unfocusing your mind and inducing an inner fog to escape the responsibility of judgment . . . Non-thinking is an act of annihilation, a wish to negate existence, an attempt to wipe out reality.

Ayn Rand - For the New Intellectual.

[Brian4Liberty]

Who needs to think when you can feel. Others can do the thinking. They can tell you what to love, what to hate, and most importantly, who to hate.

[timosman]

HR departments worldwide disagree.

[Krugminator2]

People say they want the freedom to think, but they don't really want that freedom. It's hard work. Freedom means being accountable for your mistakes. People don't want to manage their own retirements. Study after study shows what horrible decisions people make with their 401ks whether it is not taking advantage of matches or taking enough risk to meet goals. Instead they want Social Security and pensions. People don't want the hard work of buying their own insurance and setting up an HSA. They want and employer to make that decision for them. Or Medicare For All. Or stick it to the emergency room.

People take out loans to get degrees in the humanities and then are upset that they are stuck with these loans that they struggle to pay off. They want loan forgiveness. People wanted bailouts when they bought houses they couldn't afford. Even Ron Paul refused to blame the people who bought houses they couldn't afford. The Fed may have fueled the bubble, but no rational person who was taking responsibility for their own actions would have ever put themselves in a situation of buying a large house that was dependent on appreciation to be able to pay the mortgage payment when rates adjusted on it. They took on too much risk and should take full responsibility and learn from that mistake.

People act as though they have agency, but they don't. The average person I talk to is so $#@!ing stupid and so irresponsible. Women as a group (not Ayn Rand) are the ultimate non-thinkers. Single women want government protection. Married women are by and large dependent on a husband to make decisions. I have no idea how pure libertarianism will work. I get more cynical the older I get, which is why I more interested in efficient government solutions that do the least damage as opposed to pure libertarian solution. I would guess even only 20% of people who supported Ron Paul really wanted freedom in their lives.

[Anti Federalist]

People say they want the freedom to think, but they don't really want that freedom. It's hard work. Freedom means being accountable for your mistakes. People don't want to manage their own retirements. Study after study shows what horrible decisions people make with their 401ks whether it is not taking advantage of matches or taking enough risk to meet goals. Instead they want Social Security and pensions. People don't want the hard work of buying their own insurance and setting up an HSA. They want and employer to make that decision for them. Or Medicare For All. Or stick it to the emergency room.

People take out loans to get degrees in the humanities and then are upset that they are stuck with these loans that they struggle to pay off. They want loan forgiveness. People wanted bailouts when they bought houses they couldn't afford. Even Ron Paul refused to blame the people who bought houses they couldn't afford. The Fed may have fueled the bubble, but no rational person who was taking responsibility for their own actions would have ever put themselves in a situation of buying a large house that was dependent on appreciation to be able to pay the mortgage payment when rates adjusted on it. They took on too much risk and should take full responsibility and learn from that mistake.

People act as though they have agency, but they don't. The average person I talk to is so $#@!ing stupid and so irresponsible. Women as a group (not Ayn Rand) are the ultimate non-thinkers. Single women want government protection. Married women are by and large dependent on a husband to make decisions. I have no idea how pure libertarianism will work. I get more cynical the older I get, which is why I more interested in efficient government solutions that do the least damage as opposed to pure libertarian solution. I would guess even only 20% of people who supported Ron Paul really wanted freedom in their lives.

Hear hear.

Been guilty of a couple of those things myself.

I took my lumps and never a government check, dusted myself off and considered it a valuable lesson learned.

[TheTexan]

I think sometimes but it makes my head hurt

[Jamesiv1]

I drink, therefore I spam.

[timosman]

I think sometimes but it makes my head hurt

You sound like somebody we would like to hire. Do you have an updated resume?

[Krugminator2]

Hear hear.

Been guilty of a couple of those things myself.

I took my lumps and never a government check, dusted myself off and considered it a valuable lesson learned.

My first 10 years out of college I was constantly on the verge of broke. I had a zillion 2 am walks around the block wondering what I was doing. I probably made below the poverty line 5 of my first 10 years out of college. I put my hand on the hot stove constantly and had to relearn lessons. Not once did it ever occur to me to ask the government or my even parents for help. I made my choices and I viewed the struggle as a consequence of my choices. I personally wanted that freedom. I would rather fail making my own choices than have a life of mediocrity with someone else making the decisions for me. I don't think most people want that. I took my lumps and learned from them. I lived like the poorest person on the planet. Now I am in the top tax bracket after over a decade of swimming through human $#@! and get to be told by the Democrats how lucky I am and get shamed into paying my fair share for people who don't deserve it.

[Danke]

My first 10 years out of college I was constantly on the verge of broke. I had a zillion 2 am walks around the block wondering what I was doing. I probably made below the poverty line 5 of my first 10 years out of college. I put my hand on the hot stove constantly and had to relearn lessons. Not once did it ever occur to me to ask the government or my even parents for help. I made my choices and I viewed the struggle as a consequence of my choices. I personally wanted that freedom. I would rather fail making my own choices than have a life of mediocrity with someone else making the decisions for me. I don't think most people want that. I took my lumps and learned from them. I lived like the poorest person on the planet. Now I am in the top tax bracket after over a decade of swimming through human $#@! and get to be told by the Democrats how lucky I am and get shamed into paying my fair share for people who don't deserve it.