“Ethics is not a mystic fantasy—nor a social convention—nor a dispensable, subjective luxury… Ethics is an objective necessity of man’s survival—not by the grace of the supernatural nor of your neighbors nor of your whims, but by the grace of reality and the nature of life.”

-Ayn Rand, “The Virtue of Selfishness.”

The history of humanity is examined every day by social scientists who seek to identify and understand the motivations for what people do. If you can understand what a person believes, then you can predict in nearly any circumstance how they will react to an outside influence. To me, this is why we need philosophy.

Think of a person’s beliefs as their internal software, taking in external variables, processing information, and producing an outcome. Students of philosophy understand this concept, but to others, philosophical concepts are too abstract to have any usefulness in reality. Ideas, however, have consequences, and knowing your own beliefs is essential to being able to lead yourself in any given situation.

Those who have intentionally designed or studied and adopted their code can easily explain and understand the right or wrong thing to do in most situations. Those who have subconsciously accepted their code, however, rely upon the ever-changing attitudes, practices, and beliefs of those around them to understand how to act while still “trying to fit in” with their group.

Living at the will of society makes you a follower—constantly observing the practices of others and following what they do to know what is right or wrong. A leader, however, is someone who thinks independently; having already predetermined the right course of action, life is simply the process of putting it in action.

Our years in high school and college are formative in “finding ourselves.” And by “finding ourselves,” I mostly mean aimlessly wandering around without realizing that it takes a conscious decision to know, with confidence, what to do in any given situation. Those who subconsciously accept their values often find themselves making irrational or contradictory decisions because their ideas are inconsistent.

In a multicultural country, we are constantly exposed to ideas which may be different from the world views that we were raised in. Without consciously choosing our beliefs, we end up trying to follow all of them or none of them, resulting in horrible confusion and indecision.

Without considering the proposed answers to life’s great questions, we can hardly expect to know what we are supposed to do to have a good life. When one’s values and priorities are in the right place, however, life has meaning and everything seems to fall into place because you are doing what you believe is right.

Philosophy, the study of knowledge, is one way to guide students to self-discovery. Through the process of “finding ourselves,” a lot can be uncovered. Even if you don’t have time to take a class at the University of Massachusetts Boston, there are thousands of YouTube videos explaining these concepts.

My recommendation? Watch videos published by the School of Life channel. They make fun five-minute videos featuring a British guy explaining philosophy. Besides, this topic is perhaps the most interdisciplinary topic, deeply influencing our psychology and, in some cases, supporting or rejecting science.

You’ll find that taking the time to know your beliefs is really worth your while. I hope this has introduced you to new ways of viewing the world. 

Best wishes on your endeavor to enlightenment.