We live on a planet where, every day, thousands of innocent newborns are thrust… … purely by accident of birth, into circumstances not of their choosing—segregated into the healthy and not, wealthy and not, beautiful and not, gifted and not, sheltered and not, privileged and not, and everything in between. We live on a planet where millions of human beings, through no fault of their own, have no hope of enjoying the many conveniences and opportunities that other millions take for granted; where millions would trade everything they owned to have the scraps of food that other millions routinely throw away; where millions are condemned to preventable poverty, disease, and violence while millions of others bask in comfort, safety, and luxury. And here you are, uniquely blessed and burdened, living somewhere between poverty and affluence and somewhere between helplessness and omnipotence. Struggling to find meaning, peace, and happiness somewhere between self-indulgence and self-sacrifice—and never sure that you are doing the right thing, no matter how honorable, generous, and courageous your actions might be.

Any claim of freedom and dignity extends only as far, wide, and deep as the capacity to direct your own attention… Easier said than done in a world full of opportunistic salesmen clamoring for market share—everyday and everywhere bombarding you with empty promises of happiness and salvation… with rousing propaganda and superstitious nonsense that have you fearing monsters that don’t exist… with titillating sounds and images exquisitely designed to make you salivate for things that are neither true nor good nor beautiful. And so, the world turns… readily preying upon your greed and anxieties… luring you from one hypnotic amusement to the next… separating you from your heart, mind, and hard-earned money… distracting you away from anything that really matters… reducing you to a chaser of cheap thrills, easy answers, and booby prizes… and virtually guaranteeing that you will never question why… because you’re far too “busy” being flattered and entertained to death. Whose fault is all this insanity? Well, it’s YOUR fault, of course. The preachers, politicians, and other snake oil salesmen are giving you exactly what you want.

Even if blessed with a hundred healthy years on this planet… … my time here is miniscule compared to the boundless time that preceded my birth and the boundless time that will follow my passing. This stark realization in no way invites a life of resignation, despair, and meaninglessness. Quite the contrary. It renders my painfully short existence infinitely precious–and I must make the most of it. And so, I choose to embrace my mortality by living with such audacity, passion, and courage that once is enough.

DEATH–that vicious constraint that awaits us all–transforms life into a very serious business… … but NOT for the reason that terrorized me as a child… namely, the fear of what might happen to me after I die. To be clear, I have no fear of being dead. (The physically and emotionally painful process of dying is a whole other matter) And I have no fear of being dead for at least two reasons… First, if indeed this life is all there is, I have no more reason to fear my infinite non-existence in “the afterlife” than I had to fear my infinite non-existence in “the beforelife”. And second, if there really is something waiting for me beyond this world, so be it. But I have no heartbeats to waste searching for, quibbling about, or wagering on the unknown and unknowable.

It’s quite possible that I’m taking life way too seriously… … and making myself (and sometimes others) miserable in the process. Perhaps I ask too many questions. Perhaps I have too much faith in human potential. Perhaps I have too much concern for the well-being of my fellow creatures. Perhaps all talk of freedom, responsibility, virtue, character, love, power, and justice is hogwash. Perhaps I’m not as special as I think I am. Perhaps I’m trying to make too much sense of an absurd existence. Perhaps I should just enjoy myself as much as I can before death takes it all away. Despite these reservations, I have no choice but to err on the side of hope and seriousness. I cannot respect myself any other way.

Thinking is NOT the highest function of a sentient mind… Thinking is merely one of its servants. There’s something far more powerful and consequential than mere cognition… something called ATTITUDE–the moral stance towards existence you carry with you everywhere you go… so deeply embedded in your psyche that you don’t even know it’s there… so all-consuming that you don’t have an attitude as much as your attitude has you. No matter your intellectual endowment, this moral stance is master over all… with the power to direct and focus your eyes and ears… to animate your hands, feet, and vocal cords… to impassion your hopes and dreams… to filter and amplify your perceptions and expectations of everyone and everything around you, for better or worse. And so your attitude sweeps you this way or that… towards pessimism or optimism, cynicism or trust, despair or hope, judgment or curiosity, resignation or engagement, scarcity or abundance, competition or collaboration, victimhood or empowerment, resentment or forgiveness, entitlement or gratitude, to name but a few… each with the absolute power to choose what lives and what dies. So, in which direction is your attitude leaning today? In which direction would you like it to lean?

The science of human behavior is not as soft as its detractors would have you believe… Because the experiments of the behavioral sciences repeatably demonstrate that most human beings… are easily distracted by events outside themselves. are readily hypnotized by the superficial and conspicuous. respond quite predictably to all manner of rewards and punishments. tend to over-value immediate pleasures and disregard future consequences. are quick to overgeneralize based on very limited experience. readily jump to self-serving conclusions. are inclined to accept the first easy answer–even if it’s the wrong answer. are swift to accept the data that validates their preconceptions and swift to ignore, reject, or deny the data that doesn’t. easily stereotype others based on their most visible characteristics. readily stigmatize and scapegoat the innocent and defenseless in order to justify their own shortcomings. greatly underestimate the ways and degrees to which the presence of others affects their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. tend to mimic the behaviors of the herd that engulfs them. look first to others, not to themselves, for cues about right and wrong. easily relinquish the responsibility to act when others are present. tend to behave themselves only when they think they are being watched. are more apt to base their self-worth on what others think of them, not what they think of themselves. over-estimate their own competence and under-estimate the competence of others. attribute their accomplishments to hard work and virtue and the accomplishments of others to good fortune. judge themselves by their best intentions while judging others by the worst they have done. are quick to blame their mistakes and failures on bad luck or injustice while blaming the mistakes and failures of others on their dysfunctional characters. over-estimate the role they play in their successes and under-estimate the role they play in their failures. are more inclined to do something immoral or stupid than to disobey “authority”. and are more inclined to do something immoral or stupid than to risk becoming unpopular.

No matter how impeccable my logic, and no matter how clever my arguments, I’ve never been able to reason my way to a meaningful life… But if the thinker in me is wise enough, honest enough, humble enough, and courageous enough, his repeated failures to think his way to meaning will teach him many priceless lessons: He will discover that thinking is NOT the highest function of a sentient mind. …that thinking and consciousness are not synonyms. …that getting the “right” answers will do him no good if he is asking the wrong questions. …that intellect alone is too narrow, shallow, and crude to answer the most important questions in life. …that his compulsive need to explain everything renders him blind and deaf to the simple truths that are right before his eyes and ears. …that true knowledge and profound wisdom are the fruit of superior experience, not superior intellect. …that knowledge without action is a pointless self-indulgence. …that life doesn’t have to make sense, but it still needs to be lived. …that he need not solve the mystery of life in order to live the mystery of life–with passion and purpose. … and that certain secrets of the universe will be revealed to him only after he’s had the courage to leave the convenient, comfortable, safe, and predictable behind–secrets that logic cannot deduce, words cannot express, and thoughts cannot think.

Sincere DOUBT is more than just a right… Sincere DOUBT is a sacred responsibility… and the only thing that makes sincere belief even possible. So beware any “authority”, creed, or enterprise that denies you the freedom to doubt. And be even more wary of any “authority”, creed, or enterprise that bestows upon you the “freedom” from doubt.

My first act of faith is to commit myself to FREEDOM… I commit myself to FREEDOM not on logical, but on moral grounds. I commit myself to FREEDOM because I refuse to be a mere effect in an indifferent universe. I commit myself to FREEDOM because, without it, all talk of character, virtue, ethics, and love is nonsense. I commit myself to FREEDOM because rejecting it relinquishes my dignity and power. I commit myself to FREEDOM because every attempt to escape from freedom causes me pain