autoDogmatic

Today is the one year anniversary of starting autoDogmatic. In that time, the site has seen nearly 400 posts and 1,400+ comments and well over 50,000 site visits. During the past year, autoDogmatic went from four original bloggers to one (me) -- only to pick up Aaron, who has been a great co-blogger, fellow Atlantan and anarcho-agitator.

To all our readers, thanks for sticking around. Here's hoping for another great year!

It's up and running. No, it's not yet pretty, but that will come in time. Register and start some topics!

autoDogmatic (aD) as scribbled out above is the acknowledgement that we are inherently, naturally, almost unavoidably dogmatic. The human condition of automatic dogmatism is founded upon fear, expediency, uncertainty.

Armed with this understanding, individuals should strive to assert control over their lives and fight against the urge to follow without question. The most important question anyone can ask is, "Why?"

The term "autodogmatic" both captures a problem and suggests a solution. Perhaps autodogmatism can characterize those who choose to think independently. The autodogmatic are self-authoritative, which is to say, enlightened individuals. It's not that they're know-it-all jackasses; rather, such individuals defer to authority as a last resort. Why? Because authority is dangerous when centralized. What better way to decentralize authority than to internalize an understanding of the world? An enlightened individual takes ahold of such a quest and searches for meaning whereever he can find it.

An analogy for human beings is that we are black boxes. Things affect us; we react. We are a complex and evolving equation. Who is writing that equation? What makes an individual a person of character? Integrity?

We can exert control over the dogmas that drive us by understanding, challenging and changing them one by one. To be autodogmatic is to refuse to allow the unknown to determine how we live. It is only in this way that we can begin to control, drive and thereby instill purpose into our individual existence.

Note that aD is a work in progress, should anything be out of order, don't assume you did something wrong, please contact the admin via commenting on any post by Neal. Thanks for visiting!