Starting As A Rationalist

For some people, becoming a rationalist could actually be a terrifying experience, not only because it entails identifying and rejecting assumptions they have made throughout their lives, but also because they might feel overwhelmed at first.  There are so many different issues that demand the attention of a genuine rationalist, some of which are knowable from reason and introspection alone and some of which almost require sensory promoting, and it can seem very difficult for certain people to adjust to this kind of awareness and certainty.  There is much for reason to reveal, but not even the absolute certainty of logical axioms immediately brings people to realize what to reflect on next.

What does a new rationalist need to do in order to become more familiar or comfortable with their philosophical and personal status at this point?  While logical axioms and awareness of them will follow a rationalist wherever they go, there are many truths, concepts, and experiences they will encounter that build on logical axioms--whatever contradicts them is automatically false.  Since everything that is true or possible is consistent with logical axioms and directly hinges on them, they are clearly the starting point of all truths and knowledge.  Recognizing them is still, in another sense, the first step towards deeper knowledge of them and other things.

What a rationalist needs to do at this point is carefully reflect on what logically follows from the nature of axioms, their own existence, and their perceptions.  In some cases, this will lead him or her to realize specific things they do not or cannot know--such as whether other minds truly exist or only seem to.  In other cases, even this emphasizes what they can know--such as the fact that even if it is impossible to know if a forest really exists even when staring at it, the perceptions experienced are an objectively real part of their mind.  There is always something that can be known about every concept and experience, and quickly, clearly letting one logically verifiable idea lead to another (or letting logic show what follows from an unproven idea) can become a normal part of someone's life.

Let one thought or experience lead to another as all of them are examined in the light of reason, without making assumptions about anything, and even someone first starting out as a rationalist can see how easily rationalism is lived out in daily reflections that could rightly become more familiar than outward circumstances.  Rationalism is not an unattainable goal, but a true ideology, and the one ideology that is both inherently true and built on the one thing that all else reduces down to: the metaphysical reality and epistemological necessity of logic.  It is not something to fear; it is the key to the freedom of self-awareness, the fixed nature of absolute certainty, and the empowerment and other benefits of directly, naturally thinking without feeling overwhelmed.