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Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher born in 1872. To many he was considered to be one of the foremost philosphers of the twentieth century and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. 

He was known as a campaigner for peace, most notably during WW1 when he took a pacifist stance against the war. He believed the Kaiser was not the villian he was made out to be and had England not engaged in WW1 against Germany that WW2 would not have taken place. 

During his life he was a popular writer on social, political and moral subjects often becoming involved in many public controversies. He wrote more than 70 books, published around 2,000 articles and married four times. His rather turbulent life had him both admired and hated in equal measure throughout the world. 

I happened across a list written by Bertrand Russell called the **Ten Commandments for Living** which I’m writing as the *Ten Laws of Life* using his commandments and adding my thoughts. 

### 1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything. 

My gut response to this was, “that’s insane, of course there are things that we can be absolutely certain of”. To think a bit further, I truly can only be certain on anything in the present moment. 

Everything is subject to change as more information becomes available. Even as more information is brought forward, there is the question of how accurate it is. Was it’s discovery subject to the biases and preconceived perspective of the study or is the information true and rational? 

It’s kind of “trust in what is certain now and be ready to have that challenged in the future”. 

### 2. Do not think it worthwhile to proceed by concealing evidence for the evidence is sure to come to light. 

Evidence is known facts. Doesn’t matter if it’s known by one person or one million. What has been found and known by one person, can be found and known by another, and another and so on. To attempt to hide facts is a waste of energy. 

Bring any evidence on a subject forward and let it withstand or wither under objective scrutiny. 

### 3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed. 

Oh my, how that statement has been proven true by what passes as public discord these days. So many people seem unable to tell the difference between stating opinions and stating facts that can be objectively examined. They miss the part that opinion needs to be based on facts objectively examined. 

Then there are those who believe critical thinking is objecting to what others think while never accepting their own beliefs should be examined. Not objected to, examined. 

Thinking has been a casualty of free wheeling truth. 

### 4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.

I had to read this one a few time. Clearly Russell was addressing wives in this one and from the patriarichal mindset of the early to mid twentieth century. A mindset that routinely dismissed authority coming from women. 

Rather than get into trying to sort that out as ‘wife’, I’m going to remove the familial clauses from the statement and look at it as: When you meet with opposition endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.

The statement now returns to his stand in commandment one. Authority speaks of an absolute certainty to which he believes there should not be. Overcoming opposition based on argument draws on known information and comes to a conclusion based on the current truth without demanding absolute certainty going forward. 

Would certainly make for an interesting discussion with him why he felt the need to establish familial links in this commandment. 

### 5.  Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.

This one I struggle with. I can respect the authority of others who present arguments I can respect until I learn more and find others with contrary authority. To respect no one as any kind of authority is to invite a level of anarchy that I’d view as chaos. 

Even on the blockchain where there is no one in charge, we still look to and listen to those with the knowledge to speak with authority on how the system works. I think most humans have an innate desire to find order in their belief systems. 

### 6.  Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.

Here we need to wrangle what constitutes actual opinions. When opinions are given as viewpoint on verifiable facts or arguments then most certainly they should not be suppressed. 

### 7.  Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

That’s an interesting statement. I agree with the part about not fearing to be eccentric. Having been on the receiving end of people thinking I was looney tunes when I suggested to my peers that one day we’d log into the internet like we turn on the TV, yes, I get that. 

Every opinion now accepted was once eccentric, that’s a pretty broad statement. I would largely agree with it but would really love to see the evidence that supports it being completely across the board true. 

### 8.  Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.

The key here is intelligent dissent, where pros and cons are bounce back and forth based on verifiable facts and arguments. There are some people in my life I can have those types of discussions whether we come to agreement or not. There are far too many where it’s impossible and getting worse. 

### 9.   Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.

Truth, information based on facts, should never be out of fashion. Yet, it seems it is often a casualty in discourse. 

 I find it sad to see the necessity of fact-checking claims by people like politicians and even sadder when they have been shown to be untruthful, they don’t pay the price is lost trust by the public. 

### 10.   Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness. 

This one has me scratching my head. What defines a fool’s paradise? Is it a fool’s paradise because either myself or those around me think it is? Or is it something that can be objectively  defined and then I’d know if I was indeed envious? 

I can’t really be envious of those happy living in a fool’s paradise when I’m ignorant of what one is. I’d say I can abide by this one. 

It was interesting sorting out my thinking and perceptions of what Russell was speaking of in his commandments. More so that I’m responding to statements written in the last century from the viewpoint of someone living in his century. 

Might also be interesting to revisit these statements after spending some time reading his writings. You know, in all my spare time. :) There are some videos of conversations with him on YouTube. I watched one this afternoon before writing this, but I’m sure I only scratched the surface on hearing his viewpoints. 

What are your viewpoints? You may want to do a post sharing them. Tag me so I can have a look. 



**NOTE:** 
1. Header image of Russell video screenshot and is the public domain 
2. Header image of Tablet… mine 
3. Source for Commandments: https://fs.blog/bertrand-russell-ten-commandments/ 
4. Video I viewed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL_sMXfzzyA 


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*Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.*
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