#Pragmatism

I'm glad to finally have some new material since I haven't made a post in quite some time. With people who don't know me, I use AI to improve the expression of my thoughts thereby improving communication and its rewards. With that said, all the ideas presented are my own. I hope you find this worth your time.

This essay proposes a cognitive toolkit for living an optimal life (a secular scripture), defined not by external moral codes but by an individual's own values. It is rooted in the descriptive fact of psychological egoism, a concept with deep foundations in political philosophy, and the observation that reality itself is the only true arbiter of our choices. The primary problem addressed is "unconscious drift"—a reliance on intuitive thinking that leads to suboptimal outcomes. The proposed solution is a method of "conscious forecasting," a process grounded in modern cognitive science, which systematically projects the consequences of potential actions. By analyzing feedback from reality, a concept echoing Stoic philosophy, an individual can align their actions with their own enlightened self-interest. This framework suggests that a society of such individuals can achieve a harmonious, spontaneous order, not through shared dogma, but through the refined, independent pursuit of what is truly worthwhile.