My Philosophy

How I See the World—and My Story Behind It

Beyond the Collective

When I look around, I see people tangled in the webs of culture, nationality, and religion. They define themselves by the collective—by what’s handed down, not what’s built within. Most don’t even pause to ask: What makes me, me? I’ve faced the same questions: “Which religion do you follow? What group are you part of?” As if my worth hinges on belonging. It doesn’t.

Growing up in a small village in Bihar, India, I never quite fit into the molds of culture or society—not out of spite, but because I couldn’t find my space. So, I withdrew, choosing solitude over conformity. That’s where I began crafting a vision: a world that celebrates the individual’s pursuit of happiness, achievement, and freedom. A world where your unique value trumps the collective’s script.

“Freedom of the individual means freedom of the world.”

The Internet and Ayn Rand: My Catalysts

The internet changed everything for me. Before it, I leaned on books and elders for knowledge—limited, filtered sources. But online, I could hunt for truth independently. It became my lifeline, then my livelihood. In 2015, I dove into self-help books, and in January 2017, I read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It hit like lightning—empowering, unapologetic, and fiercely individualistic. I devoured more: Atlas Shrugged, The Virtue of Selfishness, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Philosophy: Who Needs It. Rand’s objectivism reshaped me. That year, I took “Rand” as my last name—shedding a birth name I’d never liked—and solidified “Araix” as my identity, a name I’d claimed since 2014.

I’m a freethinker, not an atheist—labels like that pull me back into a group, diluting what I stand for. My lens on life is mine alone, forged by passion and personal values, not society’s playbook.

Morality Without a Manual

Leaving religion behind sparked a challenge: morality. A friend once asked, “If you reject religion and laws, how do you know killing is wrong?” It stuck with me. I wrestled with it: Where does morality come from? Do we need gods or rules to be good? My answer crystallized over time: No, we don’t.

Morality isn’t a gift from religion—it’s not even consistent. Killing is “wrong” until it’s an enemy or a criminal; then it’s “just.” Religion doesn’t guide morality—it dictates targets. True morality, I realized, stems from personal experience, not ancient scripts or good-versus-evil fairy tales. What’s moral to me might be immoral to you. It’s all perspective.

The Philosophy of Pleasure: Long vs. Short

So, why do we act? What drives us? Pleasure—not in some hedonistic sense, but as a compass. I’ve distilled it into what I call the Philosophy of Long and Short-Term Pleasure:

• Short-Term Pleasure: Instant gratification—quick wins, easy highs, addictive loops. It’s about now, no depth, no future. Think scrolling endlessly or chasing fleeting thrills.
• Long-Term Pleasure: Delayed, deliberate, earned. It’s now with an eye on tomorrow—hard-won, rooted in self-awareness and win-win growth. Think creating something lasting or mastering a skill.

The catch? Pleasure isn’t in the act—it’s in the why. A walk could be short-term escapism or long-term renewal, depending on your intent. I believe humanity thrives when we chase long-term pleasure, guided by our own “why.” It’s subjective, personal, and powerful.

Pluto Was Wrong

Plato argued we need society to serve a higher purpose—without it, we’re aimless. I disagree. Purpose isn’t borrowed from the collective; it’s forged within. I’m diving deeper into this, and I invite you to explore it with me.

Join the Journey

I’m writing a book on this philosophy—unpacking long and short-term pleasure—and I’d love your input. Sign up for my newsletter to be a beta reader, get updates, or just stay in the loop. Got a question, critique, or philosophical spark? Email me at hi.araixrand.com. Even a simple “hi” works—I’m here for it.

Thanks for reading,
Araix Rand

Note Above content was rewritten with the help of AI. Below is original content and it was published in March 2019.

My Philosophy
How I see the world and my story

Whenever I look around, I see people lost in their cultural, national, and religious. They identify themselves as their cultural value, the collective. They don’t even know what their individual value is; they don’t know what makes them unique.

I have always been asked by people which religion I follow and which group I belong to. This has made me realize that I have no value at all without being collective. In my childhood, I became withdrawn from culture and society, not because I hated them, or I would rather not belong to any culture, but because it was me who didn’t find his space in this world. So I started living alone.

I want to create a world where the individual pursuit of happiness, achievement, and freedom is celebrated. Individual value is a top priority of the world and of society.
I would like to promote the freedom of individuals (not rights nor any privilege). Freedom of the individual means freedom of the world.

I was born and grew up in a small village in Bihar, India. The Internet is the greatest tool I have come across in my life. It allows me to search for information independently, and later it becomes the way of my business. Before the internet, I was dependent on books and people older than me for information.

In 2015, I started reading self-help books. In the January 2017, I read “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand. It was empowering and originated my individualism belief. I started reading other books by Ayn Rand like Atlas Shrugged (novel), The Virtue of Selfishness, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, and Philosophy: Who Needs It. Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism and individualism has influenced me. Later that year, I took Rand as my last name. I didn’t have the last name. Well, my birth name is different, which I never liked for a long time. I started using Araix as my only first name in 2014.

I am a freethinker. I don’t identify myself as an atheist because it makes me think I am referring to myself as belonging to a group of people. That takes my individualism belief away. My way of looking at the world is unique, and I identify myself based on this unique value. I have passion in place of society (or higher value), and I live by individual value instead of collective value.

Well, Pluto said to be human. We must belong to society in order to serve our higher purpose, and without it, the human has no purpose.

But my philosophy is different from that. I am going to go deeper into this. Please keep reading.

When I left religion, I started to face a challenge, and that was morality. Once upon a time, I was asked by my friend, If you don’t have religion and any law, then how do you know killing someone is bad? That question stuck in my head, and I started to think, Where do moralities come from? Do we really need religion to be moral? I didn’t have an answer when the question was asked, but later I found my answer.

That is, we really don’t need religion, God, Master, or any law to be moral.

If killing is immoral, then why not killing criminals, your enemies, or people who don’t agree with you? Both killings are the same, but in one condition it is immoral, and in the other condition, it is morally good work. Why? That is because religion doesn’t provide moral guidance; it is an instruction guide that tells you whom to kill and whom not to kill.

Modalities only come from personal experience; apart from that, morality is made up. It is based on the same old theory of good versus evil. But the difference between good and evil is just perspective. Same with moral and immoral. Your immoral things could be moral for someone else.
Then why do we do things what we do? And what is the best way to decide what to do?

Introduction to My Philosophy

You may think doing good is enough to be good, but it is not. Most of the things we do because they are good are decided by someone else. In other words, the question is, How do you know good things are really good things to do?

As I already mentioned, good and bad, moral and immoral, or right and wrong is just a perspective. We as human beings don’t do things because they are good or bad, but we do because of the pleasure we get from things we do. And we get pleasure doing things in two forms; one is short-term pleasure, and another is long-term pleasure.

I call it the philosophy of long- and short-term pleasure.

Short-term pleasure is instant gratification; it is about now only; it can be achieved easily; it is based on a win-and-lose scenario; it is addictive, etc.

Long-term pleasure is not instant gratification (it takes time to achieve), it is about now while keeping your future in mind, it can’t be achieved easily (it requires hard work), it is based on a win-and-win scenario, it is not addictive (you need to have self-awareness and self-love) etc.

I believe we as human beings can do great if we just follow our long-term pleasure. Short-term and long-term pleasure is a subjective experience. Things or activities themselves are not short- or long-term pleasure, but it depends on the individual not how we do things but why we do things. In order to understand what will be your long- or short-term pleasure, you must have your why in mind.

I am writing a book on my philosophy of long- and short-term pleasure, and I need your help.
You can help me by joining my newsletter so I can send you an email when I need help with the beta reader of my book or on my writing.

You can also help with your own philosophical argument, critics. Send me an email with your question, argument, or just to say Hi.
Thank you
Araix Rand