Intellectual Renegade

"The creator is the man who disagrees." -- Ayn Rand
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  • Randall Chester Saunders

Child Independence Oct 21, 2017

There is an amazing article, in, of all places, The New Yorker, "How People Learn to Become Resilient," by Maria Konnikova. I have very little use for psychologists, but this article is truly an exception. The title is a bit misleading and the term, "resilient," is not quite the right one; nevertheless it is a wonderful illustration of a fact about children and all human nature—independence is at the heart of all human success. The story is about some long-standing research by psychologists attempting to discover why some so-called "at-risk" children seem to defy the accepted view of why children...

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote0 0

There Are No Shortcuts: On The Path To Success and Happiness Oct 16, 2017

The purpose of your life is to enjoy it!

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote7 2

No Subconscious Oct 11, 2017

The false concept of a subconscious (or unconscious) was originated by the psychology charlatan's, Anna and Sigmund Freud.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote4 0

Magic Thinking: Disastrous Substitutes For Correct Thinking Oct 5, 2017

I call it, "magic thinking," which is any of a multitude of things people believe or teach as substitutes for clear correct thinking.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote4 2

Correct Thinking: Basic Principles Of Clear Reasoning Sep 26, 2017

Your life is yours to live as you choose to live it. Assuming you don't want to live a life of misery and failure, you must choose to live your life in a way that will achieve success and happiness. To do that, however, you have to know how to live that kind of life and how to choose to do what is necessary to achieve that success. The faculty of your, "Mind," you must use to make the right choices necessary to true human success is your ability to think (formally called reason or rationality).

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote7 0

Two Moral Principles: Knowledge and Reason Sep 18, 2017

Since the purpose of moral principles, or ethics, is to guide human choice and behavior that will lead to success and happiness, rather than human failure and misery, it is important to understand why such principles are needed and the foundation of such principles.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote3 0

Jamaica Jul 29, 2017

Jamaica had just run out of her house to keep from crying, and she would have cried if she hadn't done it.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote6 2

Miss Libertarian’s Pets Jul 15, 2017

She kept spotted platitudes for pets

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote6 0

Religion Jul 12, 2017

All religion is absurd and much of it is dangerous. An honest and clear-headed examination of any religion demonstrates that whatever aspects of it depend exclusively on its teachings have no rational basis and fly in the face of all reason and evidence.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote14 19

An Atheist’s Defence of Christianity Feb 5, 2017

I seldom read book reviews, and would not have read the one entitled, "Suicide of the West," if it had been written by anyone other than Theodore Dalrymple. The opening paragraph explains exactly what the three books reviewed are about: "That Western Europe suffers from a state of general paralysis is a truth too universally acknowledged to require much reiteration. Slow growth and high unemployment; an aging and shrinking population; scientific and cultural irrelevance to the rest of the world; a large, unassimilated alien population much of which is hostile to the very countries into which it has immigrated—these are...

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote14 8

Hated—The Individualist In a Collectivist World Feb 3, 2017

If you choose to live your life as an independent individualist, ... you will find yourself an alien in this world.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote39 15

Dismal Economics Feb 2, 2017

Economics is not philosophy and it is certainly not science.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote5 2

Banality Verses Romanticism Jan 29, 2017

By banality I mean that view of life dominated by the prosaic and mundane, the view that sees life itself as a "problem" to be solved.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote6 6

Amoral NAP Jan 23, 2017

To any moral adult, NAP is an insult. Moral grown-ups do not need anyone to tell them, "look both ways before crossing the street," or, "never initiate the use of force against anyone."

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote6 0

Ethical Principles Jan 22, 2017

I do not like to coin new words, but the temptation is very great when the words available for identifying the concept one wishes to address are so corrupt.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote4 0

Values Jan 11, 2017

When someone asks a question like, "Are Humans More Valuable Than Animals?" it is obvious the one asking the question has no idea what values are.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote5 4

Morality and Freedom Jan 5, 2017

Only a moral society is a free society.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote10 8

The Exceptional Dec 31, 2016

It is not the common, "just like everyone else," average members of society or, "the community," that are significant in this world.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote7 3

NIP verses NAP Dec 19, 2016

I have no desire to coin a new term, as so many political theorists and activists do. My use of the acronym, NIP, is only a rhetorical device to contrast the true moral relationship between individuals to the very narrow and morally baseless concept libertarians call NAP.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote10 22

Controllers, Meddlers and Individualists Dec 5, 2016

You may think of this as a manifesto, A Declaration of Independence of Free Individuals from All Controllers and Meddlers.

By Randall Chester Saunders Vote24 26

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