Post hoc propter hoc

"Because I don't like your music, it follows that it will never be popular"

Logical fallacy.

"Because I don't like your music, it must not be good."

Logical fallacy.

"Because millions of people like this music, it must be good."

Logical fallacy.

Value judgment.

I think I see why Confucius said the superior man tends towards the radical.

The radical is hard to attack. It has only so many points of vulnerability because it is not understood by a great many, and because it is obscure, it becomes ever more difficult to apprehend.

What is not radical is often understood and accepted by a great many. This means that when one attacks the foundations of the non-radical, he attacks and undermines many at once. This, of course, is unacceptable to the many, who then allow the existence of the mass itself to validate their perspective, and consequently this undermines the very validity of their perspective, as the belief no longer is rooted in intuition or logic, but rather ruled by emotion.

(no subject)

Show me a capitalist that has toiled in the pits of slavery, and I'll show you a being without a soul.

There is one other thing to add before I quit writing for tonight, likely.

Confucius also said that a superior man only surrounds himself with his equals (and superiors.)

I think, this has been a fact nearly my entire life, and likely a great reason why my circle has shrunken so much over the years. It may seem heartless, but one must be in control of their influences, lest they be taken down the wrong path. And I think, maybe, this has had something to do with whatever minute success I have had. That is to say, for someone without any friends left and living in rural pennsylvania, I've done pretty well. Of course, that will all change pretty directly.

I imagine going back to college quite a bit like getting smashed to bits. Wish I could find a different way to fund my life's purpose, but there doesn't appear to be any other. I don't mean getting smashed to bits because it will be above me...but because I won't be in control of what I'm being influenced by for a good long while.

Extrapolating the Analects

Confucian Laws of a Superior One

I: The superior one bends their attention to the radical.

II: Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.

III: If one be not grave, one will not call forth any veneration, and one's learning will not be solid.

IV: Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.

V: Have no friends not equal to oneself.

VI: When one has faults, do not fear to abandon them.

VII: When the parties upon whom one leans are proper persons to be intimate with, one can make them one's guides and masters.

VIII: The superior one will not be afflicted at others not knowing them; They will be afflicted that they do not know others.

I: The Superior One Bends Their Attention to the Radical

In the history of our documented world, it becomes apparent eventually that there are at least two reasons that the words of a great many people have survived the ages.

At first, one sees the proliferation of their works. Without physical copy, and a great many, surviving the passage of time is unlikely.

And secondly, one finds that it is almost without exception that a person without the attribute of radical survives.

Thus one can safely conclude that the chances of ones survival temporal increases with an increase of these attributes, and decreases inversely.

It is in study of the radical that the superior one finds ideas that hold a great deal of power. They hold the power to sway masses one way or another with ease. They also hold the power of keeping a people divided, more easily controlled, and it is only through the uniting, not dividing, that the people will one day take hold of their destinies as autonomous and benevolent reflections of heaven. It is therefore important to remember that the radical can be abused for good, and for evil.