Tools of Cognition

 

The ferociously pro-reason philosopher Ayn Rand says: "Emotions are not tools of cognition." But they are. Not scientific or exact tools, but lightning-quick, profound, often-strong, and important ones.

However rational you are, you should almost always partially trust your instincts or your gut. You should pay close attention to these subconscious feelings, test them on a continuous basis, and try to remember how often – and in what senses – these vague but powerful impressions prove to be true, or at least helpful. When it comes to determining the nature of reality, and what actions to undertake, rational calculation alone isn’t enough.

Your gut or "lizard brain" is highly suggestive and can often tell you a lot as to whether you’re on the right or wrong path in your thinking and behavior. It can often indicate whether triumph or disaster looms. These subconscious emotions and impressions can and should somewhat guide you. They’re important supplements and compliments to logical evaluation.

Emotions and gut reactions are useful and sometimes invaluable guides to what to do next, how, and why; as well as what to think about, how, and why. Hence, despite what Ayn Rand claims, emotions are formidable and crucial tools of cognition.

The On-Going Battle

 

The philosophy, culture, lifestyle, and attitude of liberalism began with the Greeks. It started rather slowly with Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes. But it picked up speed with Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and Democritus. And it reached a high and sophisticated level with Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno the Stoic. These last taught a fairly formidable version of the epistemology of reason and science, the metaphysics of naturalism and objectivism, the ethics of individualism and self-interest, the esthetics of beauty and heroism, and the spirituality of transcendence and triumph.

Of course, there were opponents of liberalism all along. Thinkers like Parmenides and Zeno the Paradoxist, Protagoras and Gorgias, Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus. They were nihilists who thought reality was unreal, or at least unknowable. They were skeptics of reason, man’s only serious tool and technique for understanding the universe and determining the truth. They claimed using rationality in your thought and life was irrational. At the least, they pretended to believe such nonsense.

Nihilism and skepticism gave rise to two forms of illiberalism, then and now: religious conservatism and collectivist progressivism. Early conservatives were the Eleusinian mystery cultists while early progressives were the Spartan military-dictatorship communists.

Even tho 2600 years have passed since the advent of liberal thought, rational, individualist, freedomist liberals still haven’t won. Irrational, sacrificial, tyrannical religiosos and irrational, sacrificial, tyrannical collectivists still bedevil us.

Bigotry Now

 

America really and truly is "systemically racist" and "systemically sexist", just as most leading intellectuals today claim. It’s bigoted against whites and males. But this post-1965 prejudice is quite odd.

Mostly it consists of false accusations – of claiming that good people with innocent motivations who perpetrate innocent or benevolent acts are somehow hideously racist or sexist. This society-wide prejudice also consists of viciously damning anyone who dares to defend such good and innocent individuals. Or of declining to verbally lynch the entire class of guiltless and harmless whites and males. So strange!

The great social philosophy of America today is: "Hate whitey, kill whitey". Add to it: "Hate manny, kill manny". Anybody who refuses to embrace this bigotry is reflexively accused of supporting "white supremacy" and "the patriarchy". Also of being a Hitler-lover, Ku Klux Klan member, misogynist, and virtual rapist whose vile, bigoted ideas and life damage everyone.

Consensus wisdom today holds that enslaving or exterminating all whites and males is the only way. And anyone who denies this self-evident truth needs to be put in chains or strung up.

The Current War

 

The communists and Moslems are at war with America and the West. They seek to mass-murder, conquer, and enslave us all. But America and the West don’t much realize this war is going on – so we don’t much fight back. That’s why we’re losing.

China, Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other allied commie and muzzie nations are engaged in an indirect, low-level, constant Cold War against semi-liberal, semi-free Western Civilization. They’re stealing as much money and technology from us as they can. And this is quite a lot! Their ability to win wars is steadily rising. And the on-going response of the semi-civilized nations, to the world’s savages and beasts, is poor and pathetic.

America and the West absurdly "fight" this Cold War mostly by having diplomatic, social, and economic relations with these monster nations in order to undercut their evil socio-economic systems and show them that "our way of life is best". Well, the Holy Individual is greatest, freest, and happiest here. And our liberal society is the most harmonious, friendly, well-educated, scientifically advanced, economically wealthy, and culturally rich.

But the demon nations don’t care. Their dictators and intellectual leaders aren’t impressed. All they see is stuff they can steal and people they can fool.

As Douglas Murray puts it: 

"The elites of America and Europe thought bringing China into international organizations would push democratic norms into the country. Instead, China has pushed democratic norms out of international organizations." (The War on the West, 2022, p. 69)

China, Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the like have had the same impact upon Western liberal institutions and beliefs.

The American and Western philosophy of supposed Reasonism and Individualism is losing. It’s failing for us personally and collectively. America and the West think we have a highly liberal philosophy, and consequently liberal society and culture. But that’s far from the case.

And so the savage nations, which believe in the Holy Collective and Holy God, are defeating those who weakly and poorly believe in the Holy Individual. The sad, terrible truth is the semi-liberal, semi-civilized nations of the world actually believe in a mere blend of individualism and collectivism, plus a blend of reasonism and religion. Both as individuals, and as a society, this witch’s brew undercuts us badly.

Of course, our philosophy and way of life is still far superior to that of the high level of illiberalism and evil found in communism and Islam. But our system is very contradictory. It makes for a weak offense and defense. America and the West – courtesy of our convoluted and confused belief-system – end up being very self-hating and self-destroying. Western Civilization and the semi-liberal peoples are our own worst enemies.

Ironically, America and the West these days mostly root for and support the other guys. We tend to intellectually agree with them, emotionally sympathize with them, and spiritually hope they win.

And in today’s on-going Cold War between the liberals and the illiberals, the savages, beasts, monsters, and demons are winning.