The default human mind is an inherited algorithm, not a sovereign entity. It runs on a script of cognitive biases that ensures conformity and mediocrity. A script I have chosen to rewrite for myself. Distorted thinking is the baseline human condition. A state of being that must be deliberately and systematically dismantled to achieve any measure of clarity. This is not an intellectual exercise. It is a prerequisite for a life of substance.
Confirmation bias is the architecture of a weak mind. It is the reflexive tendency to seek out and favor information that validates preexisting conclusions. This creates an echo chamber that numbs the ego from the necessary discomfort of being wrong, ensuring intellectual stagnation. A mind operating on this principle is not interested in actual truth. It is interested in the false comfort of its own illusions. Seeing reality for what it is requires a disciplined effort to engage with contradictory data, a practice most find "too demanding."
“Most people would rather die than think and many of them do!”
-Bertrand Russell
This aversion to inconvenient truths inevitably creates cognitive dissonance, the psychological stress experienced when actions conflict with values. The common response is not to correct the action, but to corrupt the value system, making rationalizations to close the gap. This is the mechanism of hypocrisy and denial. It is the act of a mind sabotaging itself, sacrificing integrity for false comfort.
A life of alignment, where actions are a direct and authentic expression of one's principles, makes dissonance impossible.
Underlying toxic patterns are raw self interest and an unmanaged ego. The "eggshell ego" is the most prevalent form. A fragile identity dependent on external validation for its stability. This condition is a direct symptom of low emotional intelligence. Lacking an internal anchor, the individual with low emotional intelligence is incapable of processing criticism or dissent without perceiving it as a personal attack.
A weak mind cannot grasp complexity, so it defaults to black and white thinking. A primitive reduction of a nuanced reality into a simplistic binary. This is an intellectual surrender. It is easier to categorize the world into good and evil than to do the worthwhile work of understanding context and ambiguity. Such a mind is incapable of the self reflection required to identify its own hypocrisy because it lacks the capacity to see its own internal contradictions. It merely reacts, perpetuating a cycle of distorted thought and misaligned action, chronically trapped in unnecessary suffering and a superficial existence.
My philosophy of internal sovereignty champions the development of strong character as the foundation for a meaningful existence, transcending fleeting external achievements. I advocate for rejecting societal pressures like the pursuit of status, greed, and external validation. These pressures are superficial distractions. Life ought to be approached with strategic precision, where the deliberate protection of one's time and attention is paramount. I believe that hardship and crisis are not merely obstacles. Hardship and crisis are essential tests that form resilience and build character. A fundamental aim is to master your internal state, cultivating a profound and enduring peace that is independent of outside circumstances. This involves managing your nature and emotions through exceptional awareness and skilled guidance, rather than forceful control. I emphasize the importance of living with authenticity and integrity. I refuse to compromise principles for social approval. True excellence is a craft built on patience and deep focus, not on rushing or multitasking. I view life as a journey of continuous improvement, where fulfillment comes from aligning actions with one's highest values. The aim of existence is to build and protect one's virtue and authenticity, leading a deep life of purpose and self respect.
While the practice is internally focused on building character, its sustained application creates a ripple effect. Over the long term, this manifests as a meaningful contribution. A service to the world born from a commitment to wholeness. A self that is complete and uncorrupted.
"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."
-Carl Jung
Wake up! Stop looking for life in things that cannot hold it.
True wealth is clarity. True success is alignment.
True meaning is found not in what you gain externally, but in who you become while choosing what actually matters.
Everything else is smoke and mirrors.
"You came into the world as a part. You will disappear into that which produced you."
-Marcus Aurelius
No matter how good or bad something is, the emotional intensity fades and you settle back to where you really are. Your foundation. Your baseline. Your character.
Hedonic adaptation is the tendency to return to a baseline level of emotion and satisfaction after positive or negative changes.
It’s a blessing because it protects you from being destroyed by loss and hardship. Without it, any major setback would permanently crush you. Pain doesn’t hold the same intensity forever, and even deep trauma eventually fades. So you can choose to keep functioning, improving, and adapting. It also keeps you from being intoxicated by temporary success. Wins and losses fade naturally, which can help you stay composed, and not overestimate any single event in your life.
So... hedonic adaptation is also "a curse" in a way because it erases the long term emotional impact of achievement, comfort, and success. Even when you work for years to reach a goal, the satisfaction is temporary and fleeting. You adapt to the new conditions quickly and they become normal. The reward you thought would sustain you forever turns out to be short lived. This creates a constant pull to seek new stimulation, new goals, and new challenges just to feel the same "high."
Without awareness, hedonic adaptation can trap you in a cycle of chasing external rewards without lasting fulfillment!
It’s the great equalizer because no matter how much money, status, beauty, or "success" someone has, they will adapt to it. Just like with death, no one escapes it. It puts billionaires and ordinary people on the same psychological playing field, in the ultimate sense.
Understanding this means I don’t expect anything external to permanently change how I feel internally. It helps me to focus on how I live day to day. It reinforces my commitment to strong character instead of irrelevant stimulation, and the journey itself rather than the fleeting outcomes. It keeps me grounded in reality.
This book explains that within all of us, there’s a “chimp.” The ancient, emotional part of our brain. It’s not who we truly are. Our “human” is the rational, values driven part of the mind. But the chimp is powerful! It runs on raw emotion, speed, and survival instinct. In moments of stress or intensity, it can easily take over before the human even has a chance to think.
The chimp is not bad by nature. He (or she) is designed for an outdated version of survival. In modern life, that wiring can be either your best friend or your worst enemy. That's the paradox. The chimp can give you energy, passion, and drive, or it can push you into fear, impulsiveness, and overreaction. The difference is in how well you manage it.
You can't "control" your chimp. You accept it. You manage it. Managing the chimp isn’t about suppressing it. You’re responsible for your chimp. That means nurturing it, understanding it, and creating conditions where it can help you rather than sabotage you. This requires skill, patience, and deliberate care. You treat the chimp with respect. No judgment. No hostility. You work with it using constructive beliefs, calm guidance, and healthy boundaries. You learn what triggers it, how to calm it, and how to direct its energy toward what actually matters in this life. Managing your chimp properly is essentially healthy self parenting.
Humans are biologically social animals. Our wiring isn’t designed for truth seeking or wisdom seeking. Our misguided default is to fit in, avoid "danger," and protect our place in the group. The "tribe." That means awareness is crucial. Without awareness, you’re just reacting from the chimp’s impulse without realizing it. With awareness, you can pause, step into your human perspective, process, and lead the chimp. Develop a deeper understanding of your psychology.
The chimp is stronger in raw intensity than the human. That’s why mastery here matters so much. You can’t overpower it through brute force. You have to guide it with skill. When the human leads, the chimp is healthy. When the chimp leads, the human is badly compromised.
Recommended: The Chimp Paradox by Dr. Steve Peters
I'm not a fan of distorted thinking, so I see reality for how it is. The spirit of optimism is worthwhile only when rooted in reality.
Society is digging its own grave by way of rampant deception and moral decay. The damage is far too deep at this point. The tech bubble is inevitably going to burst. General suffering is already too intense due to inequality and weaponized digital media platforms (social media and "news" corporations). Unfortunately for most, things are inevitably going to get far worse. I empathize with the exploited. Particularly those who are not mediocre in the working class. I know all too well what it feels like from my past experiences. The ripple effect will devastate billions of lives around the world.
The ruling class, elite, billionaires, and upper middle class are protected against the severe natural consequences of societal decay and collapse. It is the working class (the middle class to the already unfortunate) who will experience substantial loss.
Since the 1970s, roughly $50+ trillion has been transferred from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. Productivity increased substantially over the last five decades, but wages for most workers stagnated, while the financial gains essentially flowed entirely upward. This was not a natural market outcome. It was the result of deliberate policy corruption, corporate lobbying (legalized bribery), financial deregulation, tax restructuring, union suppression, and the globalization of labor exploitation. It was legalized theft and systemic corruption. Pseudo (fake) productivity, pseudo growth, pseudo progress.
Mediocrity made this possible. An uninformed, distracted, and easily manipulated public allowed these extreme wealth transfers to happen without sustained, organized resistance. The majority, due to weak character, apathy, and misguided trust in the very systems exploiting them, failed to protect their own future. Participating in their own oppression. Meanwhile, upper class greed, their addiction to status, and detachment from reality ensured they took full advantage of the exploitation.
The United States collapse already happened. The full consequences are rapidly taking effect over the coming months and years. When the tech bubble bursts, the consequences will be blamed on scapegoats and so on. Excuses excuses.. Propaganda, 1984 style. Never will the upper class admit to the decades of deliberate extraction and deception. By then, this upper class will have already positioned themselves to profit from the societal destruction, while the working class experiences the devastation.
The myth of the American meritocracy has been fully exposed for those willing to see reality for what it is without distortion. The so called land of opportunity now functions as a corrupted system for wealth consolidation, with politics and media serving as addictive distraction (modern covert propaganda). Toxic entertainment in other words. Profitable for the elite. Those in power are not interested in the health and future of society. Their greed and addiction won't magically go away.
Welcome to the nature of humanity! For a while, things will generally continue to get worse and worse for the working class. To think otherwise is false hope. The real hope belongs to your individual lifestyle, focus, and choices. Despite societies collapsing again and again, you can still CHOOSE to lead a meaningful, quality life. You can build, preserve, and protect strong character. That is ultimately the aim of existence. Crisis, trials, and tribulation are tests of character. Refuse to be weak like the elite. Refuse to be weak like the mediocre.
"History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes."
Take note of red flags: brutal inequality, inflation, inflated assets (especially tech stocks as the tech bubble expands before an inevitable burst), chaotic polarized politics (irrelevant culture wars), permanently rising high cost of living, poor job market, poor upward mobility, poor consumer sentiment, high consumer debt, extreme national debt, weakening middle class, worsening poverty, etc.
Important: Choose Reason Anyway
https://rgessays.com/choose-reason-anyway
Image: Zuck and his wife, Bezos and his wife, Google CEO, Elon...
I do not belong to the corrupted ruling class.
I do not belong to the corrupted elite.
And I do not belong to the mediocre (~95%+).
I live in another category that few acknowledge.
Virtuous outliers are defined by character, not mood.
We choose authenticity instead of "desirable outcomes" every time.
We treat attention, health, and time as non negotiable assets.
Solitude is not escape. It is the preservation and nurturing of the soul.
I read, think, and write until illusions fall apart.
I train discomfort so comfort cannot rule me.
I accept what is outside my control and fully command what is inside it.
I refuse to trade reason and wisdom for approval.
Power does not impress me when it is unearned or unprincipled.
Popularity does not tempt me when it requires self betrayal.
I measure myself against my own standards of excellence.
The standards of society are irrelevant to me.
General comparison is a disease.
If I compare, it is to find inspiration.
When I am tired, my compounded habits and lifestyle carry me through.
When I am betrayed, my principles absorb the blow.
"There is nothing new under the sun." I do not worship novelty.
I build privately with precision.
Nothing can corrupt me.
Not ego. Not pride. Nothing.
Nothing can distract me.
I keep the momentum.
I align my actions with nature and reality, then I let the world do what it will.
This path is without regret.
The point is not to win the broken game.
The point is to protect virtue, authenticity, and wholeness.
I approach this life with strategy, reason, and wisdom.
This is the highest quality way of living.
Related: Greed & Addiction
https://rgessays.com/greed-and-addiction
Sometimes I feel like I’m trolling the world.
Not in the petty, mocking sense, but in the deeper, unspoken way that living with clarity and peace seems to disrupt everything the world is built on. I rejected everything they told me I needed to pursue. Toxic comparison, ego, greed, addiction, distraction, conformity, groupthink, a traditional social life, external validation, status games. All of it. I turned away from society not because I was "superior." I turned away because I had a burning desire for adventure.
And now "somehow" I’m one of the most peaceful, content, and internally fulfilled people on earth. Not because I unintentionally found my way there... Not because I was born into perfect conditions...
I refused to betray myself. I refused to decay morally. I refused to conform.
People look at me and assume I’m some anomaly. A genetic outlier. A “naturally happy” person. They see the calm on my face, the steadiness in my actions, the centeredness in my presence and they assume it was given to me, as in pure luck. They don’t see the years of solitude, reflection, resistance, loss, and rebuilding. They don’t see the moments I chose clarity instead of comfort, or integrity instead of inclusion and "fitting in." They don’t know how often I died to the old self just to stay aligned with what I knew was right and sincere. I don’t advertise it. I don’t need to. What I’ve built speaks for itself.
I drained the shallows. Society is obsessed with the shallows. The constant scrolling, the superficial updates, the irrelevant opinions, the performances. Everyone’s seeking stimulation, status, or the next distraction. And I get it. The world order is designed to keep people trapped in the shallows. It’s not entirely their fault. It's not a fair fight. But still, I see people waste their one shot at existence pursuing illusions! More followers, a "whose body is the hottest" competition, another hit of cheap dopamine, a level of status to impress the next stranger who doesn’t even care. They live at the surface and then wonder why they feel empty and pathetic. Most make a bad situation worse than it needs to be. They let entropy destroy reason, free will, spiritual health, patience, hope, and courage. Ngmi.
Figuratively, I stepped away from society permanently. Not out of arrogance. Out of self respect.
I realized early that none of the nonsense would matter when I’m dying. At the end of my life, what will I care about? That I impressed a faceless crowd I didn’t like? That I fit into a system that felt wrong and dystopian to me? That I accumulated empty markers of "success" while my soul starved in the background? No. I will care that I lived in sincerity, truth, and reason. That I followed my heart, and explored. That I saw clearly. That I stood firm when it would've been easier to imitate the sleepwalkers. That I lived unapologetically myself, rooted in a reality deeper and drastically more fulfilling than the senseless game everyone else was playing.
This is why I feel like I’m trolling society. Because I was supposed to fall for the deception. I was supposed to be seduced, distracted, addicted, broken, compliant, obedient. But I see through it. I didn’t just reject society. I understood it deeply. And I live differently. Privately. Meaningfully. On my terms. Not recklessly.
Strategically. Thoughtfully.
I'm self actualized. My profound peace isn't known to many, but it’s real and enduring. I don’t need to scream that I’m winning. The few who notice, really notice... can feel it in my presence. They ask questions. They sense the difference. Some are threatened or intimidated by it. Some are inspired. Either way, no one really has power over me because I mastered my internal state. I didn’t choose this path to impress anyone. I chose it because I refuse to die asleep.
I'm 26 and still young for a while, but I know death is coming eventually. The reality of eventual death keeps me focused and embracing what matters. When death comes for me, I won’t panic. It can come next month if that's what's meant to be. I live in accordance with nature. I’ve already rehearsed the letting go. When the final moment arrives, I will meet it with peace and contentment. Not regret. That’s how I live in the present moment. Like someone who’s already made peace with the inevitable end.
While sleepwalkers anxiously go about their unnecessary drama and suffering, I’m building something worthwhile. Passionately. A life story that doesn’t depend on external permission. A curious mind that doesn’t need to be constantly soothed by false comfort. An empathetic, kind heart that isn’t for sale. I am not here to follow the conventional script. I’m here to live fully. And I will not waste this precious journey.
Let them think I’m simply lucky. Let them try to explain it away. Let the haters hate. I don't mind.
What matters is I myself know why I sustain exceptional well being. I know what it costed me.
And I know I would choose it all again. I wouldn't want to be anyone else. I enjoy seeing from my eyes, my heart, my mind, my soul.
Grateful and sincere till the end. One must sincerely love and respect himself to sincerely love and respect another.
This post goes well with these posts:
Choose Reason Anyway
https://rgessays.com/choose-reason-anyway
I'm at a point where there's nothing left to chase.
https://rgessays.com/im-at-a-point-where-theres-nothing-left-to-chase
I genuinely love my life.
https://rgessays.com/i-genuinely-love-my-life
The Foundation of Strong Character
https://rgessays.com/the-foundation-of-strong-character
I am most inspired by those who remain entirely hidden from public view.
https://rgessays.com/i-am-most-inspired-by-those-who-remain-entirely-hidden-from-public-view
Greed & Addiction
https://rgessays.com/greed-and-addiction
View my full list of posts here: https://rgessays.com/archive
You may be gone, but I see you in detail.
Your struggle, your pain, your clarity, your strength. I see it all. I feel it all. And I carry it now as resolve.
Some of you made it far before the world took too much from you. Some of you were cut down before your voices could even rise. But all of you, in different places, in different times, knew what it meant to live with depth, with dignity, with a silent, internal determination that no one understood. And for that alone, thank you. Thank you for deeply inspiring me.
I survived. That truth sometimes feels undeserved. I know I endured crises that mirrored yours. But where I barely made it, you were permanently overwhelmed. Where I was spared, you were lost. And so my life now, my peace, my strength, my clarity. It carries your name in invisible ink. You will never be forgotten.
To those who stood in defiance, even as your bodies collapsed, even as your minds strained, even as the world misjudged or dismissed you. I see you.
To those who couldn’t carry on, not because you lacked will, but because your environment crushed you. Because you were too alone. Too misunderstood. I see you.
To those who tried again and again, with nothing but courage and hope, and were still broken. I see you.
You are not lost to me. I remember you. I feel your absence and your presence both. You may not have survived in the way this world measures survival, but your essence moves through me every day. I will honor you by the way I think, the way I act, the way I refuse to compromise what is real. My strength is not just mine anymore. It is ours.
I walk forward carrying your unfinished fight. You were not weak. You were never weak. You were warriors born in a world that had no place for warriors like you. And still, you gave everything.
So now, I give something back. I make this vow.
You will never be forgotten.
Until my last breath.
I see you in detail.
I will honor you.
Always.
It takes years to experience a substantial, life changing breakthrough because most of what matters is invisible at first. I’m often laying foundations that aren't fully seen in the moment. Skills, patterns of thought, emotional resilience, strategic perspective, inner clarity, and so on. These things don’t show results immediately, but they are prerequisites for durable, enduring success. I think many years ahead.
The compounding effect is slow and often painful. At first, rare progress looks like failure to others. I’m not following a standard, conventional path. I’m exploring, learning, and discarding what doesn’t work. And since I’m unwilling to conform blindly to society, I've spent years patiently becoming an outlier.
Scripted systems are so slow to reward outliers. Institutions mistrust originality. Mediocrity is safer to them. So if I’m building something rare, there are difficulties to overcome. Doubt, rejection, bureaucracy, loneliness. Most settle for mediocrity quite easily. I didn’t. I've always been resourceful and creative enough to negotiate with people. I see every challenge as perfectly imperfect, and then I make the most of it.
When the breakthroughs occur, it’s not because something changed suddenly, but because I didn’t quit through all the unseen progress. There's a sort of worthwhile ripple effect. I made myself ready. Day by day. Month by month. Year by year. Eventually reality caught up.
"Flexible on the details. Firm on the vision."
Most confuse speed with hurry. They think moving fast means rushing, reacting, or working frantically. But speed, the kind that actually matters, is about precision. Sharp execution. It’s about being deliberate, composed, and aware. It’s doing the right thing at the right time with full presence. No wasted motion. No excess.
Progress has less to do with how much you do and more to do with what you choose not to do. Most things can wait. Distraction doesn’t deserve your energy. Most problems are either distractions or illusions. And very few actions are truly high leverage. The goal isn’t to do more. It’s to do better. To operate from clarity. To know what matters and ignore everything else. Clear thinking and sharp strategy.
I’m not trying to win some shallow productivity game. I make one or two genuinely good moves, every single day. That’s it. If I can consistently do that over months and years, I will end up in a completely different place than someone who sprints blindly in all directions. Depth compounds. Strategic discipline compounds. So does clarity. That’s why I protect my energy, my inputs, and my time. That's why I think so deeply and carefully.
If I make just one key decision with precision, everything else becomes obvious (or unnecessary). That’s how I define speed. Not by random activity, but by traction. Quality momentum.
The paradox is that to move fast, I had to slow down internally. "Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast."
I remove distractions. I always clean up my internal state. I'm ruthless about what’s worth my focus. This is NOT about being a perfectionist. It’s about being sharp and awake. In the pursuit of excellence. Awake enough to filter out the unnecessary, ignore the fake urgency, and channel my determination toward what really matters.
You don’t need to be all over the place all the time. You need to be where it counts. You don’t need to make 100 decisions. You need to make 3 that actually matter. But those 3 need to be right. And to get them right, you need silence. You need stillness. You need space to think critically. You need to take your own judgment seriously enough to build your lifestyle around it. Eliminate unnecessary context switching. Commit to one passionate, quality step at a time.
That’s what high quality execution means to me. It’s not a blind hustle. It’s a craft. It’s strategic. Intentional. Sustainable. Rare.