# Skeptika Press ## Posts - [The Big Bang Theory is a Theory](https://skeptikapress.com/the-big-bang-theory-is-a-theory/): The Big Bang Theory is considered truth by most people in the West. It has been defended as unquestionable truth by the vast majority of cosmological theorists for decades. Leading scientists, no, nearly all known scientists, believe it. Devised in 1931, the Big Bang Theory tells us that the entire universe was once a single point and 14 billion years ago it exploded for some reason, and matter is still shooting outward from that massive explosion. This explains why our scientific instruments detected a red shift when viewing astronomical bodies far away. The problem with the Big Bang Theory is […] - [Are You Living a Lie? Discover the Map to a Truer Life](https://skeptikapress.com/are-you-living-a-lie-discover-the-map-to-a-truer-life/): If you knew you had the wrong map, would you still try to use it? Well, that is how we live today. We are navigating our lives using the wrong map. Before you can set a course for your life, you need to know what is true. But we don’t. So how should a person decide how to live and what to live for? Should you trust the wisdom of others? In science maybe. . .or religion? While science has shaped the modern world, it is incapable of even grasping our most pressing questions; and though religious visionaries may have […] - [Why We Hate Those People](https://skeptikapress.com/why-we-hate-those-people/): That other group, whoever they are: people of another race, of another religion, another sex or political group. . .it is so easy to disparage them, even to hate them (especially if you read social media). But we all know individuals of those groups who are good people. They are just people, most of whom want the same things as we do, and have the same types of struggles as we do. But it’s when we view people as a group, then it becomes easy to hate them. As Jawaharlal Nehru wrote in his autobiography: As soon as one begins […] - [Our Lives are Determined by Untruths](https://skeptikapress.com/our-lives-are-determined-by-untruths/): People tend to put a lot of faith in their intelligence. Just because we appear to be the most intelligent creature on the planet does not mean that our intelligence is worth a damn. We get by, but we don’t necessarily understand. Imagine a farm with pigs, dogs, ducks, goats and cows. The pigs may be the most intelligent creature on the farm, but that distinction does not mean a pig can create a spaceship or a suspension bridge. Similarly, just because we are smarter than other animals does not mean we have the capacity to accurately perceive and understand […] - [The Debt is Going to Destroy Us](https://skeptikapress.com/the-debt-is-going-to-destroy-us/): A friend of mine, Mike Norman, emailed me this: I was watching the movie Wall Street (the original) again the other night. The scene where Michael Douglas’s character, Gordon Gekko, was giving a speech at the Teldar Paper gathering. He was saying how “broken” the U.S.A. is and mentioned that America’s debt was at “nightmare proportions.” The film was released in 1987. The “debt” was $2.4T. LOL! It’s $37T now, and the economy has expanded by $14T in real terms (i.e., adjusted for inflation) since then. LOL! It just goes to show that the debt boogeyman has been around forever. […] - [We Scurry Like Rats](https://skeptikapress.com/we-scurry-like-rats/): As we all know, a massive problem we all face is that we are really busy. People need stuff from us. We are overloaded at work. Our spouses and kids need our attention. We have to call the credit card company, cancel this or that service, deal with parking tickets. We just run around like crazed madmen. We are crazed madmen. Tolstoy wrote about this in War and Peace. But he put it in a different context. Prince Andrey is in the middle of the Battle of Austerlitz. There is so much going on all around him. There is so […] - [Do you really love? Or are you fooling yourself?](https://skeptikapress.com/do-you-really-love-or-are-you-fooling-yourself/): You cannot learn what pain means by merely reading books. You have to experience it, which means, we all have personal definitions of what pain is. And our definitions may all be different. When someone says it hurts a lot, does it really? Is there an objective scale to compare the level of pain we experience? Sure we all know what a paper cut is, a bee sting—that is near the bottom of the intensity of pain we can experience. But what about the upper levels of pain? If you compare all of us, we have all experienced differing levels […] - [Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Over-Soul, A Primer](https://skeptikapress.com/ralph-waldo-emersons-over-soul-a-primer/): Most adults have heard of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson was a well-known preacher, poet, essayist, philosopher and speaker. He lived in New England from 1802 to 1882, advocated for the abolition of slavery and remains one of the most influential writers of the nineteenth century. He is most remembered for his inspiring statements. In fact, a large number of today’s self-improvement books contain quotes from Emerson, such as: The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come […] - [The Signers of 1776 Were Not Rational Men](https://skeptikapress.com/the-signers-of-1776-were-not-rational-men/): It is easy to talk of following your inner voice and all, but when it gets uncomfortable, most of us head back to the herd. If we are to become an actualized person, following the inner voice is becomes our duty. We must follow it in defiance of tradition, authority and social pressures, and regardless of personal consequences. It is not rational at all. It is heroic. But it is not easy or comfortable. The signers of the Declaration of Independence signed the document knowing it was treason against the English Crown. They knew that if they were captured that […] - [The Essays on Meaning](https://skeptikapress.com/the-essays-on-meaning-post/): If about 2000 years ago, a guy walked up to Jesus and said, “Look, I’m a busy man. I don’t want to listen to your talks if they aren’t any good. Can you tell me, what they are about in a couple of sentences? Surely you have an elevator pitch.” What is Jesus going to say? “Well, it all comes down to love. Don’t worry about all those religious rules, just love people.” Maybe if you know Jesus’ story, heard him speak or have read the gospels, maybe then those sentences might have meaning, but to anyone else, it sounds […] - [How Our Limited Language Holds Us Back](https://skeptikapress.com/how-our-limited-language-holds-us-back/): The problem is, our language is limited, especially when it comes to describing the profound euphoria associated with Divine revelation. Our language cannot communicate ecstasy. Can you communicate the feeling of an orgasm to a virgin? Hell, our language cannot even communicate how to swim. You can read all the books in the world on swimming; it does not mean you can swim. When you hit the water the first time and your lungs fill with water, you will instantly realize the limitations of language and books. Osho addressed this in The Mustard Seed: The kingdom of heaven cannot be explained […] ## Pages - [Blog](https://skeptikapress.com/blog/): Blog Substack Blog - [Podcasts](https://skeptikapress.com/podcasts/): Podcasts John Bliss Podcast Appearances https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPsPvabWETk&list=PLvAWUK9LhXiryPWhkLbzsw2xKAO7y0QHFhttps://vimeo.com/1124479011?fl=pl&fe=sh - [About the Author](https://skeptikapress.com/about-the-author/): About the Author John Bliss is a writer and thinker passionate about unraveling the mystery of our lives. He is at heart a skeptic and an individualist. He distrusts groups and authorities of all kinds, as it is clear that humanity-even its brightest minds-is susceptible to deep folly. His goal? To help readers break free from hidden social biases and tackle life’s big questions: Who are we? What’s truly important? How should we live our lives? Bliss remains at large somewhere in California. Substack Blog John Bliss Podcast Appearances https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPsPvabWETk&list=PLvAWUK9LhXiryPWhkLbzsw2xKAO7y0QHFhttps://vimeo.com/1124479011?fl=pl&fe=sh - [The Essays on Meaning](https://skeptikapress.com/the-essays-on-meaning/): The False Paradigms of Today and The Timeless Truth of Tomorrow Order The Book Part 1: Your Understanding of Reality Is More Fabricated Than You Think Essay 1: The Illusion of Progress in Modern Times Bliss questions the modern obsession with technological “progress” and argues that our belief in constant advancement is largely an illusion. By comparing today’s rapid innovations to historical declines—such as the fall of the Roman Republic—he shows that real change often requires deeper moral or societal renewal. This essay challenges the belief that progress always equals improvement, pushing you to redefine what “better” truly means. Essay […] - [About the Book](https://skeptikapress.com/about-the-book/): About the Book In an age overwhelmed by fleeting trends, collapsing narratives, and comforting half-truths, The False Paradigms of Today and The Timeless Truth of Tomorrow: Essays on Meaning by John Bliss invites readers on a profound journey to strip away illusions and rediscover enduring wisdom. This collection of 13 incisive essays challenges the fabricated structures shaping modern thought—urging us to question deeply embedded assumptions about science, morality, progress, psychology, and the nature of the self. Part I: Dismantling Illusions Bliss reveals that our understanding of the world is far more engineered than we believe.From society’s obsession with technological progress […] - [Home](https://skeptikapress.com/): Question the Norm What is Skeptika Press Skeptika Press is a small, very small,  indie book publisher. We market and promote a single book. The False Paradigms of Today and The Timeless Truth of Tomorrow: Essays on Meaning by John Bliss Who is the Book Written for? The book is written for the young, who are asking important questions and not getting the answers they want. Why am I here?What is most important in life?What am I supposed to be doing? Only you can answer these questions for yourself, not John Bliss. But he can help you dispel myths you […] [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)