There’s no point in having a discussion with you — Possibility

You only just figured that out? :lol:

Why are you here? — Pfhorrest

My thoughts cry out for their stamps in existence.
I see the poor existence of the ego, the torment it has suffered and constantly suffers for all those who claim to see the colors of the world, but in reality only feel the cold and dead gray.
Before publishing a book, I came - as a form of research - to see the reaction of some in question to some topics in my first work.

The reactions were as expected ...

I'm here because I'm interested in 'stuff' (I hardly need to define 'stuff'). I also want to know how to think properly. How does one think correctly about philosophy? Why are humans so bad at it? Proper thinking is best developed not just by philosophy but by mental exercises: logic, mathematics, chess...anything that exercises your mental abilities. I am here to see if I am thinking correctly by testing my ideas so see how people will react and to see if they are thinking correctly.

Thinking about very hard fundamental problems (like math problems) is a good way to learn to think logically. But for philosophy, some kind of mystical or intuitive insight is good as well as the logical stuff. Logic alone won't do it.

I love neuroscience! And quantum physics! I believe in math and chaos! May I ask, why do you live?

May I ask, why do you live? — Becky

In a nutshell: to increase awareness, connection and collaboration.

Should maybe the disgression about Gnomon's philosophy be split into its own thread since some people are still coming to this thread to talk about the original question too?

@StreetlightX I think you've helped with things like this before?

Should maybe the disgression about Gnomon's philosophy be split into its own thread since some people are still coming to this thread to talk about the original question too?

@StreetlightX I think you've helped with things like this before? — Pfhorrest

Can you do that? I was reluctant to enter into an in-depth discussion here, but felt I needed to respond to repeated accusation of being ‘evasive’. I apologise for hijacking your thread.

No worries from me. I can’t do the split myself, a mod has to, but I think StreetlightX has helped out with that before.

Done. Please continue the discussion of information there.

Thanks!

I'm here because questions are more interesting than answers, and in exploring the questions, I build the mental framework for what I hope is a healthy, accurate, and life-giving understanding of the world "as it is." I believe we're here to create and contribute, and in the process, to enjoy the gift of life. That may entail sacrifice to address the suffering of others, as to live in luxury alone is a sort of hell.

Perhaps your recent disenchantment with philosophy is that you're focused on its premises without equal concern for its practical applications. Underlying practical philosophy is the idea that there is a right way to live, and that our flourishing as human beings is possible with right thinking.

Perhaps your recent disenchantment with philosophy is that you're focused on its premises without equal concern for its practical applications. Underlying practical philosophy is the idea that there is a right way to live, and that our flourishing as human beings is possible with right thinking. — Frank Pray

Nah, I’m plenty concerned with its practical applications. My interests started with practical things and then got more and more abstract as arguments about those practical things hinged on more abstract premises, and then more abstract premises to the arguments about those premises, etc. And in the end, the principles I ended up adopting at the very bottom of all that were practical ones, concerned with what the point of doing philosophy even is and how to most effectively go about that.

But maybe a point of disillusionment is that few people seem interested in following that long chain from the abstract to the practical, instead getting caught up in arguments about meaningless abstractions that don’t go anywhere practical even if someone “wins”, or else intractable arguments about more practical things that can’t be resolved without diving deeper into the more abstract things underlying them.

Well, your point of disillusionment is also your point of realignment. No path of critical thinking or practical action is a straight line. This may be the most fertile time in your intellectual adventure. So, how will you engage the philosophers who seem to be in that category who immerse themselves in the fog of "intractable arguments?" I agree that sort of argument misses the mark unless the purpose is to simply gratify the ego by scoring points or publishing yet another obscure academic article. As I get older, I simply don't have time for the games.

Philosophy is a treasure hunt for me. My interest in philosophy is a search for gold nuggets of understanding. This applies to, among other topics, practical ordinary life, the nature of society as well as patterns in metaphysics across both moden and ancient schools of thought. It is wonderful to find concrete, compact and elegant formulations that feels like revelations. I joined this forum to scout for unkown schools of thought, thinkers and books as well as actually discussing philosophy rather than merely reading about it.

Some gold nuggets that interests me in philosophy:
1. The poem "Good Timber" by Douglas Malloch which makes me grateful for adversity!

Thoughts from the ancient philosopher Seneca:
2. "Of all people, only those who are at leisure, who make time for philosophy, only those are really alive. For they not only keep a good watch over their own lifetimes, but they annex every age to theirs."
3. "It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult."
4. "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality."

Hopefully this excites you about philosophy to some degree. Happy treasure hunt!

Seneca was Roman, And perhaps 300 years after Socrates? And where did the Greeks get their mathematics from? Egypt! Egypt built the pyramids. Nothing has been so specific in it’s construction until the last century - 5000 Years. Simply because they had a “pagen” religion doesn’t mean they didn’t question.

It is a journey to reach to our source. We are just visiting this plane on our journey. It is like a level in a video game. We need to transcend to move to the next level.

Oh, so you’re thinking Hinduism? Or Buddhism? Where
by being good here we achieve a new level?Personally, I disagree

I got depressed, questioned everything, decided to get on the 'western traditions have failed me, I'll go to the spiritual east' bandwagon. Realised I didn't know anything about Western philosophy. Realised I knew nothing about Eastern philosophy. As I started to learn from audible and the great courses audio books found myself finely balancing between loving this new way of thinking and experiencing life and depression...
And then I figured f*** it, started studying philosophy, religion and ethics at the open University, and making my existentialism my hobby.
Now even my bad days are just 'a personal thought experiment'
I hate that doing philosophy has made me think.
I love that doing philosophy had made me think.
I can't imagine life now without doing philosophy.
I may be wrong about a lot things, but I always try to think about why I think things and what it means to think that way. In this way I feel like a 'good' person.

:up:

I posted this;
Life is a vast sandbox rgp with an infinite 'world map'
Your whole life is spent gaining experience points, completing challenges and trying to get as close to 100% completion, realising 100% is impossible because of certainly in-game one off choices and therefore must decide what the closet to 100% completion is to you this time you play. There are Easter eggs, bonus levels that both affect the outcome of the game and those that don't, and ultimately at the end of the game you die, and all this points are lost.
Maybe you respawn in a way that some level of attainment is important, maybe its a one time around map, but either it doesn't matter, cos the new game isn't based on any of your 'save points', a new character would play the same game a new way from an infinite amount of start points, story arcs etc...
This means life it pointless, yet this pointlessness is the point, the aim of the game is only to play the game, you decide right and wrong, sometimes a group can agree on these ideas and thus create groups and scoieites and civilisations, but it all boils down to each person in that group choosing that similar path for their game.
I am not referencing some kind of destiny here, just the acceptance that sometimes one can create a isolated 'fate' where one keystone choice will inevitably lead to an outcome unless certain other choices are made.
(I am also not talking literally, as in I am not referring to this dea that we live in a (or somebody's?) simulation, that is a different idea, my sandbox rpg is metaphorical.)
thoughts?

Interesting perception :)