Regarding Truth & Deception

            A father once told his son that society, as experienced today, is all smoke and mirrors.  That deception is everywhere, what is seen is not what is real, and not many care to stand outside the circle of smoke and mirrors to see the truth.  This father’s instruction was so that the son may not commit to believe in anything he cannot himself prove true.  Harboring such a cynical notion may perhaps be too extreme for most, yet it provides a potentially useful lesson.  That lesson is awareness.  Awareness that truth may not be what is considered true, and reality may in fact be fantasy. 

            A man must know what truth itself really is.  Consider the happenings of what is within earshot at this time.  If one was to recite what just happened (or didn’t happen) at a later time, the truth of what happened (or didn’t happen) would be known by the person(s) present.  If by telling of what happened to another person (who was not present in the past moment) would result in a statement that was anything but what occurred exactly, then truth was not conveyed in its fullest sense.  Truth, as many know, is what is real in its simplest sense.  Of course man's perceptions of the natural world may present different natures regarding truth, the simplest sense of truth must first be observed. 

The loss of truth happens when a person believes something happened that did not, or that something is that is not.  This can happen through deceptive conversation (consider various forms of conversation), or this can happen through misinterpretation.  The former is the main issue a man must face, the latter can be both innocent, despite the fault in interpreting a fact, or deliberately deceptive.  A man who utilizes deception in conversation or interpretation can never be an ideal man.  This is because an ideal man realizes deception as a means of corrupting what is real, and the truth of that reality promotes the proper growth of humanity.  Therefore, promoting deceptive methods eventually leads to the benefit of no one in the long run.

It can be said that certain types of deception can be arguably beneficial in some fashion.  This may prove correct in extraordinary circumstances.  However, the mere act of deception cannot promote any long-term benefits to the larger population.  Misinformation demotes true progress and the lack of true progress promotes a lack of true achievement, and subsequently a lack of widespread happiness.  If a man would find himself in a situation where deceptive acts would prove beneficial, it would be best for that man to remain silent and mute.  The eventual negative backlash of deceptive acts will outweigh the immediate positive benefits had by it every time.

The proper method for avoiding being deceived is to listen to everything, yet admit only factual truths provided by reliable evidence.  If a statement is not validated by evidence deemed reliable, it can hardly be accepted as true.  This may end up leaving a man with an incomplete picture of what is true.  But an ideal man would rather hold an incomplete picture based on truth than a complete picture harboring falsehood.  An ideal man knows his actions must benefit humanity to remain in his ideal state.  Therefore he accepts only truth, and resists both being deceived and committing deception in every way. 

Concluding Thoughts

This topic could be argued further, and perhaps more will be added later.  However the same premise will always remain the same for a man wanting to become more ideal.  The imperfections of the human mind, the pliable nature of weak faculties, may make the goals towards reaching this ideal very difficult to attain.  Nevertheless, a man must attempt to reach this goal, if this goal is really what a man desires, to reach a more ideal version of manhood.  Truth can help get men where they want to go if they use it.  Truth regarding limitations, and truth regarding what is possible.  Truth is man’s ally in all things.  It must be known.    

Introductory Considerations

            It can be said that every proceeding concept of an ideal man has fallen short of grasping the whole meaning of the idea.  There are two obvious reasons why it is hard to convey what exactly an ideal man is: first the concept is very broad, and second because the concept may lose traction when crossing cultural lines.  This incarnation of the concept will probably be no exception.  Universal ideas of what an archetypical man is may be studied, but still fall short when matched with certain cultures that may not accept some or most of the concept.  The goal here is to simply lay ground to a universally specific concept, so any aspiring gentleman may look to undertake the project himself by aspiring to become ideal, no matter his background of individual perspective.

            Before considering the individual characteristics an ideal man may possess, knowing the importance of such study must first lay the groundwork.  Knowing the reasons why will go a long way in providing motivation for men who undertake this life project.  The importance of such study rests in not the individual man, but on the collective body of humanity.  Society and the world can always use one more righteous inhabitant.  A goal that is generally universal to every person is to live in happiness.  To ensure the collective happiness of people, individuals must work for the collective good.  This task begins with men, who have always been tasked with protective and provisionary duties.

            What makes this study even more important is the age in which men now find themselves.  Public principles of equality and freedom are frequently addressed but are still never completely met in American society.  One could argue the reasons, but the issues that have once plagued past times continue to plague this one.  To deny this would be to remain blind.  Collective change is needed, and it starts with the individual.

(Before proceeding further, let it be known that these writings address men, are written by a man, who studies both humanity and nature.  But women may find some useful information the same way a man might.  Let it be known that these writings are in no way sexist – despite being gender specific.  The writing is so in response to the lack of manly qualities demonstrated by modern time and seeks to address the issues by targeting a direct audience.)

Perspective

The most powerful tool a man may wield is his brain and its capacity to reason.  The capacity to reason is quite obviously a major factor in the rise of humanity as a dominant species.  Reason enables man to rise above his primitive past, and elevates him to better circumstances.  That is the way in which society has progressed, and that is how its growth must come.  Before considering what it takes to become ideal, one must first adopt the added perspective that disciplined reasoning is the key to personal growth.  In short, the process of becoming a version of the ideal man cannot adequately begin or finish if the right perspective qualities are not adopted. 

One need not change perspective in order to adopt this idea.  Since individuals are limited in their perceptions of the world to only their own unique perspective, the proper thing to do is to keep the individual perspective while adding to it with a new idea.  This new idea should be the method of disciplined reasoning.  Always consider new data, but never commit to its adoption into individual perspective without running it through reason.  Allow reason to be the filter in which all things are to be run through.  Keeping an open mind, while remaining skeptical, provides an added safeguard against defective thoughts.  Only the individuals may decide what is added to their own unique perspective. 

 Corruptibility

While adding reasoned additions to an individual perspective, it’s important to consider corruption.  Corruption of the mind is why reason must be in place to filter.  Corruption happens when the individual stops considering his own thoughts but blindly adopts the ideas of others.  It is perhaps easiest to think of this as similar to how a good court judge considers his judgments without being influenced by anything but written law.  An ideal man would never allow his mind to become corrupted by someone else.  An ideal man would not even corrupt himself with too much or too hard of thought.

The reasoning against corruption of the mind is quite simple, to guard against biased or prejudicial ideas.  There is arguably no larger threat to reasoned thinking than a bias.  Harboring a biased belief suggests emotions (not reason) are at the helm of thought.  Prejudicial beliefs are no different, because leaning to any particular side of an argument by anything other than logic is detrimental to mental purity.  One may keep individual perspective in-check, but its impossible to do so for others who may not be as disciplined.  One must constantly be aware of outside influences on individual position. 

Conclusion

            After understanding these first two considerations, its necessary to close with a few notable points.  First, in order for a man to become a better version of himself, he must truly want to be better.  Better, as in the sense of more righteous, more correct in moral and ethical behavior.  Also, a man need not change his personality (unless his personality is geared towards the destructive ends of others) but merely mend his habits.  This mending need not be sterile of pleasure.  The process towards becoming more like an ideal man should provide satisfaction in knowing such improvement makes a man more desirable to the world.  Others should immediately appreciate the efforts of becoming a more valuable person to society.  However, it’s most important to remember that the pursuit of becoming more ideal a man should be motivated by nothing other than the need to do well to others.  Let that need fuel the progress.  

The Inaugural Post

The purpose of starting this blog is to rediscover classic virtues, particularly as those virtues relate to masculinity.   There already exists countless blogs that seek to do the same, however all seem to come short to fulfilling the encouragement of true righteousness.  Explored will be the concept of an ideal man: A man who values both wisdom and technical knowledge, though preferring the former - A man who is utterly incorruptible by any and all means, even from himself - A man who respects women, and does all in his power to both protect and provide – A man who never ceases to attain a more perfect version of himself, and makes himself, more than anything else, the true project of his life.

This is all in response to a culture that is becoming increasingly hostile towards traditional virtue, chivalric values, honorable traits, and morality in men.  The best defense against anything and everything is a well-informed and well-directed mind.  The author of this blog hopes to provide both reflections to himself and to others who may feel the need for the same.  More to come…