What is Right?

An old man who introduced himself as Jeff, "same as that kid you helped earlier", whose name I did not associate at the time and the subject of which was maybe 8 years younger than myself, in his parting words hurriedly told me that I made a mistake: that I made a left when I should have made a right. Or rather, he had me tell him. I soon after assumed that it was because I got lost on my way home, with the pivotal moment being a slow left turn signal... I have always believed there was more to it than that.

This is about something to believe in. Specifically, this defines a minimum set of morals that are acceptable. It goes on to prove that these are objective morals, that is that they are inherent to reality. As I originally called this the fundamental contradictions, these quotes seem appropriate:

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.
-- Niels Bohr

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Eight Rules

some insights, and lots of rationalizations.

1 God has a god too, so keep faith

An explanation of God is that of a Boltzman brain, which is a postulate that a brain is more likely to randomly form than our observable universe. Building upon that, reality is and can be assembled through introspection. It may be thought of as having started with primitive senses: chemical signature detection, sensing light vs dark, etc. Everytime something new is witnessed, a narrative is conceived to rationalize it, the backstory is extended to support it. This occurs through many observers that all share a single consciousness, and that have individualized layers on top of that consciousness. The drive is to build better stories.

2 Be naive; expect the best and give it

My first life goal, from before I learned how to read, has been: to create something cool! After all, isn't that an obvious objective of creation?

3 Don't obsess; you can love too much

It is better to create something useful than not.

4 Just because you created it doesn't mean you have full rights to it

or with the same intent, "You can't always control your creations".

The first purpose I could ascribe to creating something was that others would remember it.

5 It's good to be mean only if the intentions are right

It's pointless to create something that people will remember if there will be no one left to remember it. A high priority is therefore to extend how long there can be people to remember.

6 Give respect, even when it's not deserved

For the sake of survival, destructive ideas must be understood.

7 We create our own rules, and much suffering

What shapes a creation when its architect is ignored?

8 Be Godly

Believe, strive, understand, create, act, behave, and command in ways that can help us all survive longer.

The scribe of the rules gives them form

It is against my religion to...

An astute reader may point out that the above does not prove the existence of objective morals, let alone what they are. This is true, at least not without proving a particular position.

The Proof

I originally penciled down the 8 main points above in response to a friend asking for proof of God. Sure, no problem... What I initially said was "please don't make me write it down", but the alternative seemed to be madness and I relented. The order was as above. After writing it down, I mused on the joke of the universe which had just been revealed: "If you can imagine the universe then you just created it!". The joke jarred a little. After that, quiet - only ego forever trying to make sense of things. Sensing things and writing the foundation of a proof, however, is not proof when there are no other monkeys experiencing the same thing. I cried out aloud, sincerely but only for myself and God to hear, that I needed a sign. As cliché as that sounds, this is the first time I recall ever asking that explicitly. No immediate reply. Maybe a half hour later, I was fresh out of super glue and wanted it for a small project I was working on. I went out for a store and stopped at what was probably the only restaurant with an open diner at that hour. It was there that I met Jeff, the older.

I asked the attendant at the counter, Pam was her name, if I could get my meal for any less if I took it uncooked, to go. I was running low on funds at that time and I wanted something to eat later too. I got a kind, but affirmative, "no". While my food was being prepared I saw Jeff, sitting alone, and I asked if I could sit with him. He agreed. His introduction raised a flag and from then on I behaved towards him as I did towards a psychic: I played coy, saying little of myself. I never brought up the rules I had just written or their source.

As I sat there calculating on a napkin what the power cost was to cook my food, a few pennies altogether, Jeff said to me "I used to be an engineer". I was hesitant to believe him. "That's a nice watch you've got there" he said, pointing to my wrist. "It's nothing exciting. It's not even the original band". "We don't need those things, do we?". "Hmmm...". He was right, I silently reasoned; I was hardly known for being punctual and that thing I carried around just seemed to rub it in. At one point I stated "I'm going out for a cigarette. Do you smoke?". He said "I do today". The conversation beyond those interactions was surreal and unsettling, making things real that I would rather not say aloud. I held my hand to my head. "Headache?", he asked. "Yes... I need to go. I need to get some sleep.". I didn't forget about the glue.

It was a short time after leaving the restaurant that I made the connection to Jeff the younger (What was that kid's name? oh. OH! ...Helped?). I met the younger Jeff at a mall, maybe that day or a couple days earlier, playing hacky sack with his friends. I joined in. A security guard came by and broke it up shortly thereafter. I argued with the security guard that they weren't harming anyone, and that it was better that they play here than somewhere else. My argument was overruled.

The next day I met for lunch along with my friend, the one who had asked for the proof, and with a bare wrist. Before any idle chit chat I jumped into it and said "I got something to show you!". There was some back and forth about the rules but, despite my unbridled enthusiasm about the subject, it was agreed upon that this was not proof. He paid for my lunch and announced, for everyone present to hear, that he'd be by later to get reimbursed for "every penny". I realized that this was him signalling to the others that he would be checking up on me, but I replied with something along the lines of "you fucking stickler, I'll see you later". It was his own self description, to be fair.

I made sure I had just the right about of small change in my wallet for the next time I saw him. I noticed I had recently come into possession of a Canadian penny, as I hadn't noticed when it was slipped in with my change. I figured my friend wouldn't notice it either, and that it would be hilarious if I short changed him without him even realizing! however slightly. I didn't wait for him to ask when he came by. I handed him the amount. He counted it, like I knew he would, and put it away. I asked him "Is it all there?". He said "Yup". I leaned in, "are you sure?". "Yes dude, every penny.". I said "count it again.". "I just counted it!". I broke and said that there was a Canadian penny in there, and so he was short changed. He said "No way!", but he checked.

It turns out that it was a particular anniversary for him. A childhood friend and him used to "swap pennies" when they'd meet up. Years before, on this day, he found his friend hanging from the ceiling with hands outstretched, Canadian penny on the floor. It wasn't because of anything wrong that my friend did, and I believe his friend was holding too dear their friendship until the end. I traded a childhood story of my own where I overtly betrayed a friend, got beaten up by the group I betrayed him to, and all because I perceived him as irritating that day. He had no ill will, nor was he acting much different from any other day.

The world is full of horrors. I digressed.

God makes an exception for this. Look around you. Find something real, absolutely ordinary, and yet random -- an occurrence which would typically be insignificant, inconsequential, and more or less likely to happen at any given moment. This could be a sudden noise, a flickering light, or maybe a gust of wind, weather and setting permitting. Being outdoors generally works better. Got it? Good. It also helps if you're already a little shaken as it puts holes in your defenses. When you're ready, say the following aloud: "Dear God, if the eight rules you have revealed and that have been shared with me are true, please <insert action>". Unless you've already garnered some serious trust, don't do this often and don't ask for something improbable.

I hope that someone can make a purely logic proof of this, but it seems inevitable that the same premise will still need to be proven first. Like a parent lecturing a child, the whole proof boils down to "Because God says so", but can you really argue against that? Well maybe so, without some bigger demonstrations...

A favorite saying of another friend of mine is: "Become what you want to attract". It's good advice.

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See jcre8.com for updates.
An open mind is one that is free from bias. When sharing, please avoid suggesting that this implies anything that it does not plainly state.

Copyright © 2026 Jason W. B. Hinsch
Permission is hereby granted to distribute copies of this document in full, without substantive changes, and provided this copyright notice remains.