Becoming A Rationalist

In many ways, becoming a rationalist is like becoming a Christian.  Anyone who is sincere in either, but especially someone who is sincere in both together, knows that their life will not be the same from the moment of their philosophical shift onward due to the immensity of the personal commitment that both demand.  Of course, commitment to rationalism is very different from all other commitments, as only commitment to rationalism and what reason proves is commitment that by nature cannot be based off of assumptions, illusions, and mere perceptions--unless a person ironically embraced rationalism selectively because of personal appeal instead of its inherent truth.  Any ideas that are not rationalistically verifiable could be false, including aspects of Christian theology.

However, just as Christianity has ramifications for almost all of a person's life, rationalism has ramifications that go far beyond the very limited, selective rationality many people are comfortable stopping at.  In fact, rationalism is more foundational and important than even theism (which is demonstrably true by logical deduction to an uncaused cause) and whatever moral obligations might or might not exist (which cannot be known to exist, though some ideas of moral obligations could be true) because God, morality, and the external world of matter, along with everything else other than the laws of logic, could not even exist if it is not logically possible.  Whether something exists does not necessarily mean it could not have been the case that it does not exist, and vice versa; this too is dictated by the laws of logic and nothing else.

There are no truths at all without the laws of logic, their necessary axioms, and the possibilities and impossibilities rooted in them.  The whole of reality--including truths, epistemological proofs (which are just the comprehension of logically necessary truths), and possibilities--could not exist without the laws of logic to necessitate or permit it to.  This makes rationalism inherently true whether Christianity or any other ideology besides rationalism is true, and it means that other ideas, true and false, are only true or false because of reason and are only known to be true, false, or unknowable because of reason.  Moral obligations, scientific paradigms, and theistic truths and possibilities are secondary to the self-evident, necessary truths of logic.  All aspects of life and core reality, from the most abstract to the most practical, hinge on the objective fact that rationalism is inherently true.

It is only a handful of logical truths (including that one must exist as a consciousness as long as there is any perception or thought present) that is self-evident, and only the logical truths that immediately follow from these things are obvious even though they are not self-evident like axioms.  Neither any religious ideas nor any scientific ideas are self-evident; becoming a rationalist is to embrace truths that are far deeper and more important than religious or scientific truths, which are often unprovable, could ever be.  Ironically, many of the statements made in Romans 1 about how it is obvious that God exists, though this is only philosophically obvious only in light of certain metaphysical facts like the impossibility of an infinite causal chain or the self-creation of the universe, are more applicable when made about rationalism and the truth and presence of the laws of logic than they are about theism.

In the deepest sense, it is logical axioms and the direct experiences of introspection that are "plain" to all, even though some people try in vain to flee from them, deny them, or add contradictory ideas alongside them.  This is not to say most people have even thought about logical axioms or their own existence enough to actually recognize why these things have to be true.  No one would be confused in discussions about them or talk or live as if these things are false or unknowable if that was the case.  Only rationalists understand these basic but ever-vital, utterly foundational, and (when it comes to logical axioms) universal and all-encompassing truths.  They are also in a position to start directly understanding that rationalism is not for the delusional, the hypocrites, or the apathetic.  It is self-verifyingly true, but no one will even clearly grasp this without shedding biases, assumptions, or indifference.

It is no wonder that most people act as if they are confused or terrified by rationalism: it spills over into all other things and demands their full devotion.  Not even Christianity could possibly be self-evidently true on any level or necessarily true beyond the parts that are rationalistically provable, like the existence of an uncaused cause that preceded the cosmos.  Rationalism exposes the stupidity and futility of all assumptions and brings light to the dark corners of ideas and hearts that many might prefer to go unseen.  Rationalism is true regardless of people's beliefs and is for everyone, but becoming a rationalist is not something many people are currently ready for.  This process severs the most cherished misconceptions from a person's worldview, after all.  Who but a sincere person who already is somewhat orienting himself or herself towards rationality would want that?