About Mason

Mason Scott is originally from the Boston area, and lived in New York City from 2000 to 2019. He is primarily an autodidact who believes in a trans-disciplinary approach to critical inquiry. His undergraduate degrees are in Mechanical Engineering and Analytic Philosophy (Lehigh University). Later, he did graduate work in sociology at Colombia University and New York’s Graduate Center. An avid traveler, he loves to explore the world and learn about other cultures. He has spent time in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Russia, Turkey, India, Burma, Thailand, Lao, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Japan, Mexico, Central America, Brasil, and Canada.

Mason’s influences / inspirations include Immanuel Kant, Thomas Paine, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams, and Noam Chomsky. His peccadillos are narcissism, car alarms, and inauthenticity. He likes chocolate milk, cheesy romantic comedies, Chopin’s Nocturnes, and cats.

MasonScott.org is a growing collection of essays that have been written between 2009 and 2012 in its first phase; then its newest phase (starting with “The Progressive Case For Cultural Appropriation”) since August of 2019. The site is for people who love to read.

Each month, new essays are added, while existing ones are edited as needed. The website, like its author, is a work in progress.

By posting these essays, Mason aims to open up lines of enquiry and debate that are found nowhere else. Each essay offers new ideas on important matters. The mission is to provide novel perspectives on the biggest issues of our time. (There is no point in repeating what has already been said.) The aim is to say something that has never been said before; and do so as thoroughly and candidly as possible.

By making his writing available to a wide audience, Mason Scott hopes to make a positive impact on the thinking and actions of as many people as possible. The goal, then, is to do four things:

Generate awareness
Catalyze paradigm-shifts
Dispel dogmas (debunk myths) that are deleterious to the common good
Diagnose problems and propose solutions that haven’t yet been offered

This site is not in the business of reporting “the news” and commenting on current events. One would not use this site to get “the latest scoop”, as one would from a political pundit. Mason is an essayist, not a journalist. The idea is to produce content that is “evergreen”. Each piece addresses matters that will be as relevant a generation from now as they are today.

If one is looking for updates on today’s juiciest stories, other venues may be more useful. On news sites, one can stay abreast of the latest developments; however, most articles become dated within a few weeks…or even a few days. The purpose of Mason Scott is to be more timeless than timely. This site’s essays are written so that they do not become dated over time. So if one wants immediate reactions to the events du jour, one is better off going to a favorite blog, Twitter account, or Facebook posting.

This site is completely independent. While it is not beholden to special interests, it can be characterized as Progressive. The writing does not aim to please a designated target audience; though the overarching theme is human rights. The essays are primarily a public service; not a business venture. Therefore, the site is dedicated to keeping itself quarantined—as best as it can—from conflicts of interest.

If you believe in Mason Scott’s mission, contributions are greatly appreciated, and sponsorships are crucial. Feedback is, of course, always welcome.

This is a site for those seeking to be edified, not appeased. Its guiding principles are quite simple: cosmopolitanism, secularism, and humanism. The sine qua non is frank critical analysis.