Okay, I know I said I’d be back and that I was preoccupied with another project, but I’ve changed my mind. As I’ve previously reported, I have a few other projects going and though I value this blog, it’s not a priority for me right now. I will again be posting on the subject of Critical Reasoning but it will likely be in the form of a new blog that will not center solely around critical reasoning. This is one of my forthcoming projects.

I will be permanently closing this blog on June 30, 2009. However, if you’re interested in following my other project that was launched on January 18, you can find it at http://acoupleofquitters.com. I’m writing as Scott Quitter along with my wife who is using the name Tammy Quitter. Our goal on that site is to chronicle our journey of developing work-from-home income streams which will then allow us to discontinue our current 40-hours-per-week jobs.

Later this year, I will be launching a free ebook that centers around understanding behavior and how it affects our level of motivation and ability to accomplish our goals. I sincerely hope that this ebook will help many, many people. For those who may be interested in taking the behavior/motivation material further, I will offer a workbook and strategy guide for a fee. This will all tie into a website that I will be launching in the fall.

I have deeply enjoyed examining critical reasoning and engaging in the learning process with you. I hope you have found something of value here; something that stimulated you to think beyond the obvious, beyond merely a surface treatment of what meets the eye or ear in your day-to-day life. I believe it is more important now, then ever it was, to examine our true nature, to question all of our previously held beliefs…not because I want you to change your mind about anything, but because I want you to rise to a new level of awareness for your own security and personal development.

Please keep an open mind and examine everything with much critical reasoning. I hope you have been illuminated and that your odyssey continues…

With Gratitude,

Scott Milford

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Hey, everybody. If you’ve been coming here regularly, you’ve probably noticed I haven’t posted something new for a month. Well, my wife and I have started a new project and it’s a high priority on my list. So, naturally, I’ve chosen to focus my attention on that project. But here’s what you can expect for IlluminOdyssey in the mean time. I will check in every now and then to keep everyone posted. I’ll also drop in a link or brief post to anything that I run across that is related to the content of IlluminOdyssey that you all might find interesting. Lastly, I’m hoping to redesign and relaunch IlluminOdyssey this year when my other project settles down a bit.

Before I call this post finished, I’ll tell you about another personal project that I’m working. One of my goals for this year is to examine the principles of life that I think could be considered foundational. After considering each principle with critical reasoning, I’m going to create a list of principles for my life, then I’m going to endeavor to live by those principles. Right now, it’s in a sketch-pad form. I’m just thinking about the nature of life and what appears to be true for the observable life on our planet and which really may even apply to all life in the universe. When I consider how efficiently the universe seems to operate, some concepts don’t seem to make sense, and I include even some theories of modern scientists and quantum physicists.

What I’m saying is, I’m hoping to answer these two questions:

• What are the principles of my life?
• How can I best live by those principles?

Thanks to everyone who comes here on a regular basis. Feel free to comment on this or any post. I’m still keeping an eye on things here and will get things rolling again when I can. I hope your life is going well and I hope you continue to examine all that you encounter with critical reasoning.

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by J. Scott Milford

I was listening to National Public Radio (NPR) recently and they were discussing NASA and problems with the American space program. The host of the show asked the guest a question regarding China and India and those countries recent efforts in developing their own space programs. Since they are making meaningful progress, the question was regarding pressure from those countries against the US in maintaining their dominance of the space frontier. The host asked how competition with China and India was going to affect the US Space Program

I realize that what I’m about to say may be considered subjective because I’m not going to point to a lot of data that supports it, but this was my reaction to the above when I heard it. Read the rest of this entry »

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by J. Scott Milford

Continuing on a more in-depth examination of My Principles of Reality, let’s look at principle no. 2, which states:

When seeking validation for an established belief, people are prone to interpret any information in a way that supports what they already believe, regardless of how logical or truthful the new information is.

It has been my observation that people, overall, do not rely on objective truth in order to make sense of their experiences. Though most people think they are basing their decisions and interpretations on facts and solid truths, this is rarely the case. An example of an objective statement is, “It’s raining outside.” Anyone can look out a window and verify this. An example of a subjective statement is, “that shirt is a pretty color.” If someone hates the color puce, he might be sickened by the color of the shirt. In other words, it’s an opinion that may not be shared or observed by everybody. Read the rest of this entry »

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by J. Scott Milford

I can only imagine what thoughts might be going through your mind. Some of the people who read those words or hear someone exclaim that they’ve been abducted immediately write that person off as being a nut case. Still others will automatically assume that they’re telling the truth. But how can we determine what level of critical reasoning is appropriate in order to decide whether the person is sincere or mistaken? Let’s look at some possibilities and see if we can figure this out.

Possibility 1: The person was actually abducted

Never mind whether our planet is actually being visited by extraterrestrials. We don’t even need to figure that one out. Simply ask yourself: Could it be possible that this person was truly abducted by extraterrestrials? Read the rest of this entry »

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Illuminodyssey is up and running again after a crash in early December. Since I’m not up on my Wordpress and related code, it was a difficult process to figure out exactly what was wrong. In addition to that, the crash happened at the busiest time of the year with Christmas and New Year fast approaching; I didn’t have a lot of time to troubleshoot. Finally, I got a professional to fix it for me since it was beyond my time and ability to do so.

That said, for those of you who celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah at this time, I hope you’re having a meaningful and joyous season. Happy new year to everyone. I look forward to having an excellent 2009.

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by J. Scott Milford

On August 16, I posted principles that I think apply to most, if not all, people. I formulated these concepts over years of observing people, their behaviors, and how they rationalize personal experiences, often, without realizing their own heavy biases that influence their opinions and conclusions.

The principles have evolved over time. I feel that they are solid but they have yet to be scrutinized by more than a dozen of my friends and family. Therefore, I would like to explore each item in a little more detail. I would like to hear your opinions about each item. Are there any weaknesses in my own logic? Are these principles sound; are they based on solid critical reasoning? How would you reword each one so that it is stronger? Do you feel that any of them are solid enough just as they are? For this post, let’s look at the first principle. Read the rest of this entry »

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by J. Scott Milford

In my last post, I told the story of a guy I used to work with and how, after accidentally hitting himself on the hand with a hammer, he proceeded to repeat the action several more times. I also looked at how history shows the same kind of lack of basic common sense or any level of basic critical reasoning in mankind. Today, I want to share another recent example of people exercising stupid logic. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: common sense, critical reasoning, logic
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