Hey, philosophy lovers! Inspired by the simplicity of Rene Descartes' famous "I think, therefore I am," encouraged by a desire to halt the monotheistic addiction of Lesotho, I have decided to rewrite my philosophies in a simplified and user-friendly form.
     This should be fun.
     In introducing them, I'd just like to say my philosophies are based on ...
     "a healthy concept of time."
     This same base can be used to understand other things, such as Africa's current dependence on Western aid.
     (A South African named Mike (who bought eleven of my stories yesterday) said Lesotho "would crumble to pieces" if Western aid pulled out. He was currently engineering a project to purify the tap-water of Lesotho's lowlands. He said, "The U.S. government donated $370 million for this project. That's half Lesotho's GDP - by a single donor!")
     Many people hear of Africa's woes and think, "Africa needs the West!"
     But, in reality, people have been living and surviving in Africa for thousands of years. The Europeans didn't arrive until a few hundred years ago. This proves that Africa could be independent and survive. An abrupt transition to independence could be painful at first, though, like quitting heroin cold-turkey.
     But, I'll quit this talk of Africa cold-turkey. I'll progress with the ...

NEW LOGIC:

To begin with, I'd say Rene Descartes was right. I am. I definitely am. I feel emotion, experience the senses, and think and wonder - meaning I exist spiritually. I thus exist as "my soul", and that is the "I" I will be talking about.

CONCLUSION # 1. "I am, therefore I will always be."

If - at this random sample moment in the infinite eternity - I exist, then I would have to exist at many moments, probably most moments, and therefore I could never cease existing.

# 2. "I am between a beginning and an end (a birth and a death), therefore I will always be between a beginning and an end."

It would be silly to believe that I - at this random point in eternity - find myself living a brief and limited life surrounded by two other existences (or non-existences) infinite and time-swallowing. Like this life on Earth, though my physical form and memories might change, all existences will be for a limited time only.

# 3. "I will always be, therefore I am immortal."

This of course relates to "my soul", not to my physical form.

# 4. "My soul is not part of the physical world, therefore it is ungoverned by time."

It would be silly to believe that my soul, of which I know nothing except that it is not part of the physical world, would make its travels as a slave to earthly time.

# 5. "I am immortal, therefore I will do everything there is to be done."

Jorge Luis Borges illustrated this point well in his mystical short story entitled, "The Immortal." In the story, an average man meets an immortal man. The immortal looks uncivilized and lives in a cave, where he barely moves or speaks. The other man makes a reference to "The Odyssey" or "Iliad", and he asks the cave-dweller if he's ever heard of it. The immortal says something like, "Yes. It's been six centuries since I wrote it."
     The cave-dweller WASN'T Homer. However, because eternity lasts forever, as an immortal he would eventually do everything.
     So would an immortal soul.

# 6. "I will do everything there is to be done, therefore I will live every life there is to be lived."

# 7. "I will live every life there is to be lived, therefore I am everyone."

And # 8. "My abilities to reason, create, feel emotion, and express willpower are infinite, therefore my powers are without limit."

Henry David Thoreau wrote: "man's capacities have never been measured, nor are we to judge of what he can do by any precedents, so little has been tried."

CONSEQUENCES OF THE NEW LOGIC:

Because I am everyone, I am not selfish. (In reality, it would be selfish to be compassionate. So, I am selfishly compassionate.) But, I am not completely selfless, because I am as important as anyone. I strive for harmony on Earth, because I will spend a lot of time here. I don't judge others nor am I concerned with being better than them.
     Because my powers are without limit, I need not turn to a higher being for help. I have myself.

"A person shouldn't believe in 'isms'. He should believe in himself." - Ferris Bueller

harmony and strength,
Modern Oddyseus

CONCLUSION # 9. "I will do everything there is to be done, and I will live every life there is to be lived, and my powers are without limit, therefore there is no higher being besides myself."