Synthesis: Life is Good - The Axiom for all Value.
The Framework
1. Life as the Fundamental Axiom of Good
Life is the only frame from which value can be assessed. It is the necessary condition for all experience, meaning, and judgment. Without life, there is no perception, no action, and no evaluation. To deny this is paradoxical because denial itself is a living process.
Example:
Even nihilists, who claim life is meaningless, participate in actions designed to preserve themselves. The act of breathing, eating, and communicating all point back to an unconscious, unavoidable affirmation of life’s primacy.
2. Life’s Drive for Order and Propagation
Life emerges from chaos and strives to build order. From single-celled organisms to human civilizations, the pattern is the same: life identifies opportunities to expand and persists by developing structures that enhance its survival. This drive for order is the essence of evolution.
Example:
Bacteria form colonies, ants build intricate nests, and humans develop societies with laws, languages, and technologies. All these structures are extensions of life's attempt to resist entropy and sustain itself.
3. The "Life = Good" Axiom
Life must see itself as good. Any system that undermines its own existence is naturally selected against. Therefore, within the frame of life, the assertion "Life = Good" is a tautological truth. It is not a moral statement; it is an ontological necessity.
Example:
Suicidal ideologies and belief systems ultimately self-terminate and are selected out. What remains, by necessity, are those perspectives and practices that favor survival and propagation. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam persist precisely because they endorse life-affirming principles, even if imperfectly.
4. Humanity as Life’s Agent
Human beings are tools developed by life to enhance its reach. Our creativity, intellect, and social structures are all mechanisms by which life attempts to advance itself. Even our pursuit of knowledge and truth serves this fundamental axiom.
Example:
The development of medicine, agriculture, and technology -all aimed at improving health, longevity, and comfort - are expressions of life’s inherent drive to sustain and expand itself.
5. A Metric for Truth and Value
Truth can be measured by its ability to preserve and enhance life. Systems that do this persist; those that do not are discarded.
Example:
Capitalism persists not because it is morally pure, but because it produces and allocates resources efficiently. Conversely, rigid communism failed because it could not adapt, stifling life’s ability to grow and flourish.
6. Religion and Philosophy Reinterpreted
Religious and philosophical systems are evolutionary tools developed by humanity to enhance life’s order and stability. Those that succeed are those that align best with the axiom: “Life = Good.”
Example:
Judaism, with its focus on law, logic, and continuity, has developed a framework that resists entropy. The Torah’s instruction to “choose life” is an ancient articulation of this principle. Christianity and Islam, by focusing on spreading their messages, also align with life’s expansionary drive.
7. Beyond Dogma
The point where religions or philosophies go wrong is where they resist evolution. Dogma that prevents adaptation is self-defeating. To align with the fundamental axiom, ideologies must be willing to change.
Example:
Judaism anticipates its own evolution - Messianic concepts and prophecies imply eventual transformation. Christianity did the same with the concept of the New Covenant. The failure of any system to acknowledge change is tantamount to denying life’s core nature.
8. A Universal Frame
The recognition of “Life = Good” provides a coherent, universal framework. Systems are judged by how well they support life’s advancement. Those that do not will fail, inevitably.
Example:
Transhumanism, AI, and technological progress are all expressions of life’s continued drive to create order from chaos. These developments are inevitable extensions of the same foundational drive found in the earliest single-celled organisms.
9. Conclusion
This framework reduces all philosophical, religious, and ethical inquiry to a single question: Does it enhance life’s drive to perpetuate and thrive? If the answer is yes, it will continue. If no, it will fade. This is not merely a statement of preference; it is a descriptive reality.
Epilogue: The Implications of a Single Truth
If life is good, and we accept that as our foundational axiom, then everything changes.
Philosophy becomes simpler. Morality gains an anchor. Politics, ethics, even economics, gain a direction - not from ideology, but from a basic alignment with what fosters life, sustains it, and lets it thrive.
Conflict becomes less necessary. Arguments over dogma dissolve. The metric is no longer “What do you believe?” but “Does it support life?” Does it bring order, cooperation, creativity, beauty, joy? If not, it’s discarded. If so, it endures.
This isn’t a system to follow. It’s a lens that reveals what was always true. Every child instinctively lives it. Every healing act affirms it. Every innovation, every shared laugh, every gesture of love points to it.
We now have language for something we always felt but couldn’t quite say:
Life is good. And anything aligned with life is, by its nature, good.
From this moment forward, that’s the standard.
Not imposed. Not preached.
Simply remembered.
Join the movement to help bring more good into the world
If you attempt to parse this framework using chatGPT or similar tool, it will initially push back claiming its missing things to be complete. You need to remind it that the first point is axiomatic:
– James Dean Conroy
I hope much good comes from this. Choose life.
Thanks for writing this! My low budget, one word review: trainspotting.