Hello lost wanderer!
You've come a long way!
I've come to show you the way.
Back to reason and rationality.
I'll be your guide
Out of the madness.
Fear not.
We shall start with what we can know for certain.
The one thing I know for certain is that I am having this experience right now. That is it! The only thing I know is that I'm having this experience. In this case, it's the experience of typing words onto a computer word processor. This is the only thing I am aware of that I can be absolutely certain of. You cannot deny it. I am having this experience. Whether or not the experience itself is true, I cannot know. But what I do know with absolute certainty is that I am having this experience. I challenge the reader to find anything else one can be absolutely certain of.
I believe it's important in tracing our steps back to sanity, to reality, to begin taking stock of what we really can know for sure. Maybe there's nothing, maybe there's something. We should try to figure out what that might be.
Say however that we can't be sure of anything, or at least of most things. In that case, we can at least try to evaluate possibilities of the way things are. We can evaluate some possibilities as likely, and others as unlikely.
But why, the reader may ask, should we even do that? What is the purpose of this epistemology? Why not simply believe what you want to believe? If it makes you feel good, or “gets you through the night,” then why not believe it?
It's a question of reason versus intuition.
Perhaps I were an energy healer. I told you I could cure you of your disease by manipulating the energy in your body using my hands and spirit. Your disease is caused by a blockage in the flow of energy, and my job is the remove the blockage. Perhaps I'll also be using crystals with healing properties. I'll call on my spirit guides for assistance. I'll recommend to you a holistic, healthy, whole foods diet, and supplements.
What's the problem with this? It feels right, doesn't it?
The body has a natural ability to heal itself, I tell you. The problem is that living in the modern world and eating modern, processed foods has given your body inadequate materials to take care of itself. Stress has weakened your immune system.
The problem is that we are attempting to live a lifestyle that we did not evolve for. We need to turn back the clock, I tell you. We need to eat the way our ancestors did, namely, raw. And, most importantly, we need to stop taking those nasty prescription drugs, with all their odious, horrific side effects.
What is the problem here?
It all makes sense, doesn't it?
You must be pretty fucking close-minded not to buy into this shit, aren't you? When you use prescription drugs, you're buying into the System, controlled by the Man. And the Man is evil. He's suppressing what we're trying to do here. He doesn't want you to get better. He just wants your money, and your obedience. You work for him! Makes sense, doesn't it? He gives you drugs that keep you sick, so that you keep taking his drugs. Capitalism pure and simple really.
If you believe this, you've been had. You've bought into the paranoia. You've gone off the deep end.
This is why you need me.
