Truth

Truth

Be True to Yourself, Lie to Yourself…Be Honest to Others, Lie to Others?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, September 4 2024

There’s an interesting conflict in recommendations from others around honesty: people will tell you to be honest or deceptive depending on what leads to the best outcome. Now, for those of you who have read The Meaning of Life: A guide to finding your life’s purpose or previous blog posts on the honesty ethic, that will not be a surprise since...

Read More
Growth

The Truth and Ethics of When Life Begins

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, February 7 2024

Note: This blog touches on a hugely controversial topic and is not meant to persuade anyone to change their minds but is rather meant to discuss the various factors in people's understanding of the issue and ethical/legal conclusions that they draw from said understanding. One of the seemingly toughest questions that is actually one of the...

Read More
Truth

If What You Say Is True, Why Doesn't Everyone Know About It?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, January 31 2024

Years ago, I was waiting for a train to the airport wearing a suit. I walked past, and someone asked me about my shoes. I explained them, and she asked, "Why don't you tell everybody about them?" I was fascinated by the question because I don't typically care to discuss anything that doesn't come up in conversation. Little did I know that this...

Read More
Growth

Change Yourself, Change the World

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, May 31 2023

The word “activist” has become pretty popular these days as both a profession and a way to virtue signal to everyone on social media that you are a good person who cares about others. Now, the cynics of the world will point out two things: This post isn’t going to point out specific causes and judge them nor is it going to rail against hypocrisy...

Read More
Truth

Evidence and Belief

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, April 19 2023

Belief is discussed thoroughly in The Meaning of Life: A Guide to Finding Your Life’s Purpose. It discusses how a belief is anything that you accept as existing or true and how knowledge is a subset of beliefs that you can prove to be true. The problem is that—if you were getting technical—you can only truly know something (e.g., “Did I leave the...

Read More
The Meaning of Life

Where Critical Thinking Can Be Incorrectly Applied in Your Life

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 7 2022

Critical thinking is an invaluable tool for testing information and determining what might be true as you make a decision or take an action in the real world. For example, you might be looking for a toaster on the internet and see one that is highly rated. Critical thinking would prompt you to ask yourself, “Is this really the best toaster, or is...

Read More
Emotions

The Ethics of Honesty and Openness

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, September 14 2022

“Honesty is the best policy.”  “Always tell the truth; that way, there’s less to remember.”  Everyone spouts the benefits and importance of honesty.  But is it really ethical to be open and honest all the time?  No, no it’s not.  Let me explain. There are two factors at play in this: ethics and emotions.  Ethics are rules you follow to minimize har...

Read More
Truth

If Your Beliefs Don’t Benefit You, Change Them

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, June 1 2022

A belief is anything that you assume to be true.  A subset of beliefs is knowledge, which are things that you know to be true because you have proven them in your reality.  Ideally, people want to bring their beliefs in line with reality to prevent harm, pain, and disappointment.  However, all beliefs that something is not possible when it actually...

Read More
Emotions

No One Cares (and That’s a Good Thing)

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, May 25 2022

Humans are a social species.  As such, they are naturally drawn to human interaction.  Small talk, for example, is the ultimate example of picking inconsequential topics to discuss to begin conversations and develop relationships with others.  As people get to know each other, they can then move into more sensitive or in-depth topics with a greater...

Read More
Emotions

“Your Feelings Never Lie to You” vs. “Your Feelings Are Always Right”

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, May 11 2022

Roger Ebert is famously quoted as saying, “Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you.”  This is an important point about feelings because your emotions are giving you critical feedback about three things: your experiences (e.g., “AHHHH!!!  I’m on fire!”), your desires (e.g., “I really could go for a cheeseburger right...

Read More
Next