The indestructible spirit of the Anticipation-driven operates with little taxation. Seeking to be free of pain as a natural course, he watches stress carefully, to quickly and accurately diffuse its causal factors. His own survival demands a sound environment in which to flourish, so as the body wicks away toxins from the primary system, Self-made Man wicks spiritual toxins away consciously. Such an ability involves much more than being truthful with others; it begins with how we see the world. We cannot lie to the universe and defy its attributes. We can’t ignore gravity and float away, or disregard sickness and be held immune. Honestyis the willingness to acknowledge that things are what they are.
Metaphysical honestyis sincerity with existence, as well as with oneself and others, which necessitates an unexpected level of intelligence and emotional discipline. It requires recognition of the separation between the products of men and the elements of nature, to understand what is in our power to develop and revise, and what must be accepted as unchangeable. Sun, wind and rain are products of nature. Continents, oceans and mountains will continue to exist, whether or not we do. The human design is also a product of nature, as is our sound cognitive process. As all things natural, that process is left for us not to create or alter, but to discover and obey. The whole of civilization, with its systems of mass-coexistence—its great buildings, industries and governments, its philosophies, sciences and arts—is the product of Man, and is entirely changeable. Both are to be mastered, but as one is discerned, the other is determined. The universe is known by observation, while our heights are borne of creative action.
Self-made Man’s first creation is himself. His first obligation is comprehending the role of a human being, beginning with the most efficient use of his cognitive faculty. Developing as intellectually sovereign, he dispensed with the dogmatic interpretations demanding he feel guilty for his very existence. Operating as neither predator nor prey, he can see no need for men to feel guilty in advanceof taking any action that would deserve it. Accepting only the knowableas knowledge, he saw through such guff and stopped fighting that he was human long ago. Only authentic, self-determinable evidence provides satisfactory validation in any field (not to mention the question of practical use), and he cannot conceive of any benefit that would justify overriding the source of his values, his mind. Accepting only what builds a reliable and traceable chain of logic, he is able to drop all unnecessary cultural stress in a heap.
Self-made Man doesn’t suffer the mental mix of contradictions where reality is foremost on some issues, but where wishes and nonsense take precedence in others. By understanding what is changeable, he takes mature responsibility for it and drops the rest. He doesn’t spend time locked in tension because he is too old, too young, too tall or too short. To chase his tail over what he can never change is a dead-end stress-inducing waste of imagination and instead, he uses his energy to determine what he cando with what he doeshave. He accepts what he is in factand accepts what level of reward or penalty his current state of being deserves. He is concerned only with what lies within his power to improve, and works to widen the ranges open to him for his most crucial interests to get as close to his ideals as possible.
The aim of a Self-made Man is to become sovereign in all things, expanding his percentage of self-responsibility while reducing the uncontested outside conditions. Negativity comes only from the inconstancy of an entropic outer atmosphere, where he is subject to a myriad of unsound motivations. But as so small a percentage of his life and enjoyment is at the mercy of others, it matters little. He doesn’t blame himself for circumstances outside of his choice. He doesn’t agonize over being out of place, being liked or disliked. He no longer hides his virtue or frets over his inability to scale the emotional barriers of those unswayed by rationality. Beyond a fundamental respect for civil rights, the idea of conforming sociallyis foreign to him. So focused on his pursuits, he isn’t concerned with what others think, say or do. He has dropped all cultural pretenses of duty to his neighbors, grants them rightful privacy, and is responsible only for himself and his own. Living by the action of his mind, he doesn’t need people in any fundamental manner, so his relations with others are free to be wholesome and sincere.
When living patterns are acquired, it is amazing what just drops off naturally. He learns much faster by studying the functional versus studying the dysfunctional. There is no need to dissect every variation of evil known to Man, as evil will always mutate. Likewise, the variations of good are unlimited. Focused on solutions, the problems disappear. By seeing the division between what is possible to change and what isn’t, between what is rational and what isn’t, all unnecessary conflict within him is eliminated. Constant training to combat personal difficulties assures that he will overcome any obstacle he chooses to clear. The leftover stress he deals with is little more than what is typical of all living beings; hunger, physical pain, exhaustion, and the human exclusive; the excruciating effort of thought and the sometimes painful growth phases that follow. His key difference to all others is his absolute sincerity in accepting whatis.Knowing that guilt results from the chosenpractice of life-threatening evil just as pride results from the choice of life-furthering good, he is free to seek the only perfection possible to Man: consistently chosen existential consonance. That acted on, he can see himself openly and accept himself completely. As understandingis the pathway to life in facing the unknown, he is free to drop all inner tension and look, with all seeing eyes, allowing fear to turn properly into exhilaration. His sound moral standard of good and evil—of life itself—has set him free; and as it respects his need for coherence, he will guard it with his life, forever after.