1) Preamble:
What follows are some general guidelines to keep in mind when doing rigorous logical reasoning for the sake of finding the truth. Consider them to be ‘Realism Principles’.
Realism and IQ are 2 entirely separate things.
IQ measures cognitive processing power. Realism is a person’s propensity to look at objective reality as it is, rather than as their emotions or sensibilities color it.
You will encounter plenty of people with high IQs who will say things like “IQ isn’t real”, because the fact that some individuals are smarter than others offends their egalitarian sensibilities. Their deficit is not a lack of IQ points; it’s a lack of realism.
People with high IQs and low realism are the most foolish people on the planet. They have immense cognitive processing power, and instead of using it to find the truth, they use it to rationalize lies that appeal to their sensibilities.
Instead of using their genius to find objective reality, they use it to rationalize garbage.
2) Objective Reality Exists:
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” -Phillip Dick
There is an objective reality that does exist. There are many different perceptions of reality, but there is only one version of reality actually in existence.
For almost all questions, there is a correct answer. Very few questions are really a matter of preference/opinion. There is a right answer, and there may be one or many wrong answers.
Those who say “It’s just a matter of opinion” are almost always fools.
3) Beliefs, Ego Investment:
Most people are ego invested in their opinions and beliefs being true. As such, if you express any disagreement with the opinion they currently hold they will feel personally insulted.
Ensure that you yourself are not cursed by this; you should not be ego invested in any opinions or beliefs you hold.
If evidence is presented that contradicts the opinion you currently hold, you should not feel offended or insulted; you should be willing to change your opinion at a moment’s notice.
4) Offensiveness Conflated with Falsehood:
“No one is hated more than he who speaks the truth.” –Plato
Most people will assume that if a statement offends their sensibilities it indicates that the statement is false, and that if a statement makes them feel good it indicates that the statement is true.
Essentially, people have a bias of believing things that make them happy and disbelieving things that make them unhappy, the objective amount of evidence supporting the thing being all but irrelevant.
Of course, this is insanity; there are many things that are true that will offend your sensibilities. Indeed, it is almost always the case that the truth regarding an important matter is offensive and unpleasant.
As such, in your search for truth you should not reject statements or pieces of information simply because they offend your sensibilities. Indeed, if the conclusion you ultimately reach doesn’t offend your sensibilities, it indicates that your conclusion is probably wrong.
Thinkers are rare, feelers are common.
In dealing with others, you will find that virtually all women and almost all men prioritize feelings over facts and their sensibilities over finding reality. They will reject a statement if it offends their sensibilities, without bothering to investigate the veracity of the statement.
Logical people, those who prioritize facts over feelings and finding reality over not having their sensibilities offended, are rare. There’s a tiny minority of men who fall into this category. Generally, they are high IQ and high testosterone. Many are at least somewhat autistic.
5) Deception, Weaving Truth and Lies:
The most effective deceptions are those that weave truth and lies together until one is indistinguishable from the other.
It becomes difficult to know where the fact ends and the fiction begins. Don’t assume that just because part of what a person said has been verified as true, that all of it was true.
Very often the first 80% of the story they sell will be true, but the last 20% will be false; what the deceiver counts on is that by the time the 80% mark is hit, you will have stopped bothering with paying attention or investigating the veracity of their claims.
6) Distrust Narratives:
You should be distrustful of narratives. Why? Because reality is complicated and rarely fits neatly into a simple narrative.
When those in power are selling a narrative, they will dismiss any facts that don’t fit the narrative, and desire that anyone who presents facts that contradict the narrative be punished.
When people believe a narrative, they tend to pay close attention to facts that support the narrative, while dismissing facts that contradict the narrative. Journalism is the reporting of objective facts. Propaganda is the pushing of a certain narrative.
Journalism is rare. Propaganda is common. Most ‘journalists’ would more accurately be called ‘propagandists’.
7) Distrust Those Who Suppress Speech:
“For every forbidden question, there’s something its gatekeepers value more than the truth.” -James Damore
7A) Censorship
If you see a person or a group of people suppressing speech or trying to shut down inquiry, or who forbid certain questions being asked, distrust them; they do not want the truth to be discovered.
The side that is telling the truth is rarely for censorship, if ever.
The Catholic Church prosecuted Galileo for saying that the Earth orbits the Sun; they insisted that the Sun orbits the Earth.
Stalin and Mao imprisoned and executed people for saying free market capitalism is a better economic system than communism.
Google fired James Damore for saying that men and women are psychologically different, due to their biology and genetics.
In hindsight, it is clear that the Earth does in fact orbit the Sun, free market capitalism is far better at creating wealth than communism, and men and women are indeed psychologically different due to their biology and genetics.
In every case those who were for censorship were wrong, those who were censored were correct.
7B) Forbidden Ideas:
Forbidden ideas are not always true, but the truth is always forbidden, or almost always forbidden.
It is almost always the case that the truth is outside the current Overton Window.
What are things polite society will ostracize or punish you for saying?
Write out all the ideas polite society cherishes. Then list out their opposites, the things mainstream society considers blasphemy.
Look there; that’s often where the truth will be found.
8) Authority & Social Proof:
“You have been lied to…all your life, disregard what you think you know because it’s probably wrong. Ignore the top-down preaching that society espouses, reconstruct your understanding from the bottom-up.” -Illimitable Man
Most people are sheep who engage in zero independent critical thinking. They decide what to believe on the basis of Authority and Social Proof (both are detailed by Robert Cialdini in his book ‘Influence’).
Essentially, most people believe whatever those in power tell them is true, and assume that if others (the masses) believe a thing is true, then it must be true. Tragically, both of these heuristics for finding the truth will very often almost always lead you to conclusions that do not reflect reality.
What those in power tell you is true is not the truth, and what the masses believe is true is not the truth. Those in power will lie to you, and the masses are delusional.
If those in power and the masses tell you one thing, and your real world experiences tell you another, listen to what your real world experiences indicate.
9) Distrust The Mainstream:
“In individuals, insanity is rare…in groups, parties, nations and epochs it is the rule” – Nietzsche
In the search for truth, distrust the mainstream of whatever society you are living in. The mainstream is always wrong.
If the masses agree with your beliefs about the nature of reality, you are certainly wrong. If the masses disagree with your beliefs about the nature of reality, then perhaps you are right and perhaps you are wrong.
Need proof that the masses are always wrong?
In ancient Egypt, the masses believed the Pharaoh was the Sun God.
In modern Saudi Arabia, the population thinks there is a god in the sky named ‘Allah’.
In modern America, the Rightwing half of the population thinks there is a god in the sky with a son named Jesus. The Leftwing half of the population thinks there are no psychological differences between men and women driven by genetics.
In every case, the beliefs of the masses have zero evidence to support them.
If you start from the baseline assumption that everything the masses and the mainstream have ever told you is false, you are off to a good start.
10) Credibility Testing:
If a source says things that you can easily verify are false, you know they are not a trustworthy source of information.
When using someone or something as a source of information, do credibility testing.
Ask questions that you already know the correct answer to, and if they give answers that are incorrect, you know they are an untrustworthy source of information; either they are intentionally lying to you, or they are simply a fool.
By way of example, in modern America the mainstream media tells you that Charles Murray is an evil racist and that racial disparities in IQ don’t exist, and also that James Damore is a misogynist and that there are no psychological differences between men and women driven by genetics.
Even a cursory read through the research done on IQ will tell you that racial disparities do exist. A cursory read through the research showing the impacts of testosterone and estrogen on psychology will tell you that there are psychological differences between men and women driven by biology/genetics.
As such, one can easily verify that the mainstream media is not a trustworthy source of information.
11) Examine All Evidence Before Passing Judgment:
“Anyone who has made up their mind before they’ve even heard the issue, is a fool.” -Chris Rock
Be sure to examine all the available evidence before passing judgment. This sounds obvious, yet people routinely ignore this.
Many will pass judgment having only seen part of the evidence, or before having seen any evidence at all.
Most people are fools; they will formulate an opinion, and then look at the facts, and cherry pick facts that support their preconceived notion, while ignoring any facts that contradict it.
The wise man examines all evidence, and formulates an opinion on the basis of the evidence; pre-conceived opinions are given no real estate within his mind.
12) Confirmation Bias:
Confirmation bias is when a person pays very close attention to evidence that supports the conclusion they desire to believe is true, but little or no attention to evidence that would contradict such a conclusion.
Another way of conceptualizing confirmation bias is this; a person applies different burdens of evidence to different claims.
For the claims they desire to believe are true, they require little or no supporting evidence to believe they are true.
For the claims they do not desire to believe are true, they require immense supporting evidence to believe they are true, or perhaps they will never believe they are true no matter how much evidence is presented to support the claims.
Communists can be used as an example of people suffering from confirmation bias.
12A) Communism:
Communists believe that communism is a viable economic system; that it can generate wealth and make everyone richer on an absolute basis.
There are hundreds of millions of bodies from the 20th century that contradict this conclusion; the major countries that instituted communist economies experienced mass starvation (see Stalin’s Russia and Mao’s China).
Modern communists ignore this evidence; the catastrophes produced by communism in the 20th century don’t change their belief that communism is a viable economic system, at all.
There is no evidence that can be provided to a communist, to convince them that communism doesn’t work.
They have an intense confirmation bias; any thoughts and evidence supporting the conclusion “Communism can work” are paid attention to, while they dismiss or ignore any evidence supporting the conclusion “Communism cannot work”.
13) Scientific Studies, Real World Experience:
In terms of finding reality, scientific studies are systemically behind the curve.
Why?
In order for a scientific study to be published, it must be conducted and peer reviewed; this could take months or even years.
On the other hand, observations made based on experience in the real world can be done instantly. So far as speed is concerned in the search for truth, real world experience certainly surpasses scientific studies.
Besides the matter of speed, scientific research is only as trustworthy as the people conducting the research; many people involved with conducting studies have motives besides the search for objective reality. Many will conceal, obscure, or outright fabricate data for the sake of being able to sell a certain narrative.
The samples that make up the data used in scientific research are often inaccurate in that they are gathered and observed in the setting of a laboratory; the real world is not a laboratory. In a lab, conditions can be controlled; the reality of life is an environment that is unstable and uncontrollable. How the people used in a sample behave when in a laboratory is not necessarily the same as how they will behave when in the real world.
There are entire topics science will never delve into because the substance of such topics cannot be objectively measured. Science will only deal with things that can be concretely measured; things that can have numbers attached to them. This is not a flaw with science; it is a feature.
Scientific studies are valuable for giving an accurate view of reality, but they are not infallible, and they certainly are not comprehensive.
Generally speaking, if scientific studies tell you one thing, and your real world experiences tell you another, you should listen to your real world experiences. Real world experience won’t give a perfect view of reality, but it will give an accurate view of the aspects of reality you will need to deal with in the foreseeable future.
14) Outlier Fallacy:
Outlier fallacy is when someone presents an outlier as if it is average, normal, or common.
Often this takes the form of a person asserting that the exception to a rule invalidates the existence of the rule.
The classic example would be someone who responds to the statement “Men are on average taller than women” by saying “I know a very tall woman, and I also know a very short man, therefore your statement is false.”
It is important to be aware of the existence of outliers, however the existence of outliers does not in any way negate the existence of the average; the exception to the rule does not invalidate the existence of the rule.
Usually those who commit outlier fallacy are not doing so maliciously; they are not intentionally trying to deceive you or lead you to a false conclusion. The problem is that they are statistically illiterate; they fail to understand what a heuristic is, or what an average is.
They are foolish, not intentionally deceptive.
14A) Apex Fallacy:
Apex Fallacy is outlier fallacy, using a positive outlier.
For example, if you were to say “As a rule, being a musician is not lucrative”, and someone else were to say “Yes, but 50 Cent became a millionaire as a musician”, they are guilty of Apex Fallacy.
14B) Nadir Fallacy:
Nadir Fallacy is outlier fallacy, using a negative outlier.
If you were to say “As a rule, children raised by their mother and father do better at life than children raised by their mother but who have no father around”, and someone else were to say “I know someone who was raised by both their mother and father, but who became addicted to cocaine and died at 16”, they are guilty of Nadir Fallacy.
15) Obscurantists:
“They muddy the water, to make it seem deep.” -Nietzsche
A simpleton is someone who portrays a situation as being far simpler than it really is; they omit complexity and nuance. This is often a problem since it can mean critical information being omitted.
An obscurantists on the other hand is someone who makes things seem more complicated than they really are, for the sake of deception. They don’t want the truth to be found, so they make things unnecessarily complicated to prevent other people from having a clear understanding of the matter at hand.
Alternatively, they may assert that there is uncertainty regarding a matter, when in truth there is no uncertainty.
They may portray things that are a matter of fact as being a matter of opinion.
Obscurantists have a habit of talking a lot and saying nothing. If you hear someone use language that is vague and emotionally charged, words such as ‘Justice’ or ‘Freedom’, this is the type you are dealing with. Lawyers and politicians are classic examples.
16) Euphemistic Language:
Be distrustful of euphemistic language.
Euphemisms are the mechanism by which powerful people conceal their sins.
17) Religious Mindset
The religious mindset is as follows:
-There’s a certain set of things you must believe are true.
-There is no concrete evidence they are true.
-Saying anything against these beliefs is blasphemy. If you say anything against these beliefs, or if you fail to pay lip service to them convincingly enough, you will be ostracized, persecuted, or killed.
-We in the religion are a minority of people who hold these beliefs.
All those outside the religion who don’t hold these beliefs, are evil. They are ‘nonbelievers’ (Christianity), or ‘infidels’ (Islam).
Where will you find the religious mindset?
Christians, Muslims, Communists, and Blank Slate Theory Egalitarians (Social Justice Warriors and Feminists).
18) Distrust Unjustified Certainty:
Be distrustful of those who claim to be certain, about matters that nobody could possibly be certain about.
In 2012 America, Leftwingers claimed to be certain that the killing of Trayvon Martin was unjustified, while Rightwingers claimed to be certain that it was a justified homicide; a killing carried out in self defense.
The truth is that it is impossible to know for sure what happened the day Martin died; the only people who can truly be certain of what events transpired are Martin and the man who killed him.
What is most disturbing is not the violence, but the phenomenon of both sides claiming absolute certainty regarding a matter where there is an immense amount of reasonable doubt.
19) Further Reflections:
“You must train yourself to see circumstances rather than ‘good’ or ‘evil’.” -48 Laws
Wise men think in terms of realistic options and practical consequences.
Fools think in terms of ideology, principles, and grand ideals. They do not live in reality.
Given the same set of facts, different people will formulate vastly different opinions. Given the same story, different people will all form the same opinion.
As such, propagandists do not give facts; they give narratives.
Facts don’t win elections. Narratives do.
Nobody in the history of the world has ever won an election by telling the truth.
Politics is nothing more than propaganda wars.
The mainstream media is a mass distribution system for propaganda. You can predict what public opinion will be 24 hours in the future, based on what the mainstream media is saying right now. As Orwell said, “The people will believe whatever the media tells them.”
The internet is a democratized distribution system for propaganda.
Most people are terrified of thinking for themselves. They want someone else to tell them what is true. They want someone else to tell them what to think.
Truth is for the few. Delusion is for the many.
Real Critical Thinking requires 3 things:
-IQ of 130+
-High Realism. Being good at logic. Putting facts over feelings, and ugly truths over happy lies. Having high testosterone levels helps with this.
-Time & Energy. A quiet space where critical thinking can be done.
Most people have none of these 3 things. If you have all 3, you are a truly exceptional individual.
A person can see the entire world and still never see what’s right in front of them.
There are missionaries who visit 20 countries, but who haven’t figured out Jesus is about as real as Santa.
There are men who visit 20 countries, and who are married for 50 years, who never figure out their wife is unfaithful to them and their children are not biologically theirs.
A conspiracy theory is the insane idea that powerful people would have conversations with each other about how to secure their mutual interests.
A minority of wisdom is telling you something you never knew. Most valuable wisdom is telling you something you always knew, but could never articulate.
20) Illimitable Man’s Reflections:
“You can get society to accept the most fucked up things as normal and reject the most healthy things as abnormal, depending on how you frame it. The delivery and how you sell is always more important than what you’re actually selling. The master manipulators know this.”
“Doing the opposite of the masses is rarely a bad thing, in fact, I find it a useful heuristic in decision making. What do the masses want? What would they do? Deduce this, then do the contrary.”
“Masses watch TV? Read books instead. Masses don’t exercise? Do exercise.
Masses think TRT is dangerous? Do TRT”
It’s not an infallible heuristic, but if someone could never get advice ever again, & you were able to give them a single sentence of parting wisdom on how to best go about living, you wouldn’t go far wrong with: ‘Look at what everyone’s doing, now do the opposite’”
“Much wisdom cannot be understood well enough to be appreciated unless it’s been experienced. This means the inexperienced, by merit of their inexperience, will reject it.”
“Don’t argue with fools. They’re more interested in preserving their sensibilities than knowing the truth.”
“Low IQs and emotional people tend to talk in the first person, think in binaries and personalise generalisations.
High IQs tend to talk in the third person with logic, think in probabilities and speak heuristically.
Inability to grasp nuance = low IQ/low logic tell.”
“When the burden of evidence applied is not equal, bias becomes abundantly apparent.
Because if you didn’t need evidence to hold a belief, but require evidence to alter it, then it is not you who holds your belief, but rather, it is your belief that holds you.”
“How to know if you’re high-minded rather than an ideologue:
-You assess each side’s reasoning.
-You apply the burden of evidence equally.
-You do not out of hand dismiss evidence as invalid.
-You subject all evidence to the same degree of scrutiny before taking a position.”
“If you integrate a belief into your identity, you no longer possess it, but it possesses you by becoming part of you. Now if anyone attacks your belief, you feel as if they’re attacking you rather than your thinking. This prevents you from giving up false beliefs.”
“Emotional people stop listening when you say ‘I think that’
Logical people stop listening when you say ‘I feel that’
Always say ‘I feel’ when dealing with an emotional person (99.9% of women, soyboys, and dumb men)
Always say ‘I think’ when dealing with smart men.”
“People rarely get upset because what you said is wrong, but are commonly upset because what you said is right.
If something is nonsense, people can laugh at it and not care. But if something they don’t like rings true, they’ll feel the need to lash out & tell you you’re wrong.”
“Just because it makes you feel bad, doesn’t mean it’s untrue.
Just because it makes you feel good, doesn’t mean it’s true.”
“The masses are constantly manipulated through rhetoric, because they trust how words make them feel over actually examining the contents of said words. It is the hallmark of an intelligent mind to look past aesthetics and consider a
thing based on its plausibility and its merits rather than form a snap judgment based on how what you heard made you feel.”
“Tone policing is inherently feminine.
Censorship is inherently feminine.
Watching what you say and how you say it and being careful with your words as not to offend are things women do naturally. Men are direct, say what they mean, and laugh at you if you can’t handle it.”
“When you let women co-opt a movement or message, it invariably gets diluted down to fit the sensibilities of their collective groupthink. If you want to see an ideology or movement fall apart, just leave a woman in charge of it.”
“If you try to debate with someone whose mind prefers emotion to reason, you will engage in a grand exercise of futility that exhausts the patience. As such, do not argue with women. It is pointless. You cannot argue with feelings, you can only manipulate them.”
21) Additional Reflections:
21A) George Orwell:
“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” – George Orwell
21B) Gustave Le Bon:
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” -Gustave Le Bon
21C) Ed Latimore:
“The greater the gap between propaganda and reality, the more aggression is unleashed on those who point out the discrepancy.”
“The two biggest giveaways that you are being deceived: -Information that should be there isn’t. -Information that isn’t relevant is emphasized”
21D) WallStreetPlayboys:
“The most popular money making book is by definition the one that appeals the most to regular people.
Regular people aren’t successful at all. Odd are that most don’t see the logical conclusion here.”