I tried making the technical stuff more accessible to everyone in my education philosophy thread, but it seems like a dud. :confused:

I thought that was a noble effort, but philosophical education seems to me more likely to happen in a conversation in which it is relevant, rather than shuffled off into its own separate thread.

Also, there is already a Questions subforum.

Oh, well. At least I tried.

Logic is consistant. Sense is unambiguous "objectively" using that danger word.

Yes, theoretically once you know all there is to know, there will be no discoveries to be made and so excitement to be had as a result.

I'm not sure what you're asking. In Ancient Greece should I just kick down a door where people are debating sciences and humanities wearing clown makeup and crazy hair with a bow tie and just start throwing pies in peoples faces? Should humanity collective vote to EMP the entire globe every few thousand years or so? You know both ideas just to keep things interesting.

You said something’s been happening for a long, long time. I asked what and you said “Destruction, strife, etc. “.

This was my reply: Doesn’t this almost sum up my post, a sort of fatalism that it’s all over. It reeks of ennui.

And this is your reply: That what's all over? Innovation, invention, that "human spirit of ingenuity"?

But your answer of destruction and strife just confirms my point, that there’s “a sort of fatalism that it’s all over”. The fatalism I’m talking about is what I see and sense in the world. I’m not saying it’s my view. I’m not saying that innovation is over, I’m saying there is a feeling, call it ennui, among people of weariness. Something that the posts on this forum also suggests.

I thought that was a noble effort, but philosophical education seems to me more likely to happen in a conversation in which it is relevant, rather than shuffled off into its own separate thread. — Pfhorrest

The idea was that it prevented distractions in the original thread. Anybody can ask any question about any topic in philosophy in the educational thread without disturbing the flow of ordinary threads by interrupting them, and asking them for explanations.

Also, there is already a Questions subforum. — Pfhorrest

It's very linear there. You ask a specific question, you get a specific answer.

I think this is probably why you're missing out on what's new. The exciting advances in science and technology also come from a bunch of people behind closed doors doing what looks to outsiders like incomprehensible magic or nonsense, — Pfhorrest

Why must it always go back to this? Science has achieved amazing things for us, so has technology. It’s also brought us problems. One of those is the ennui I sense. I’m using the forum as a metaphor for what I sense in the world: the endless, pointless discussions, about what a word means, who said what, what they meant and where they’re wrong. Basically just running on the spot.

I tried making the technical stuff more accessible to everyone in my education philosophy thread, but it seems like a dud. — Wheatley

Give it some time. More struggling with ennui; things must happen now or it’s a failure.

Nobody's got the guts. :cool:

I looked at new members. Since the 26th 22 people joined up. I don’t see any of them having made a post. That happens day after day.

I don't know why that is, perhaps they are bots.

And I'm saying it's happened before and will happen again. Perhaps we are in a relatively unique plateau of innovation contrasted to perceived entirety of invention not seen throughout history. Cannot be proven nor disproven.

And I'm saying it's happened before and will happen again. — Outlander

You’re not being specific enough for me to understand. And if we’ve reached a unique plateau of innovation then why the ennui that, as I think you suggest, we’ve had before?

Back to my question; should old dogs be taken down behind the shed?

A nursing home would be much more humane, but yeah.

Because they have nothing to offer, because they’re a hinderance?

Worse.

What should the role, if there should be, of elders be? To teach, to nurture, to discipline, to instil cultural values, to carry on a tradition, to create stability?

To read difficult long books and explain them to us in simple terms..

To read difficult long books and explain them to us in simple terms.. — Wheatley

That’s to pass on knowledge already gained. I forgot to include that. What a waste of time each generation or group having to start from scratch. And how neglectful, criminal, if elders don’t do it.

Exactly! Why do we have to read these long and painful books when they already read them years ago?!

Interestingly some generations of elders go silent, like the men who returned from the war and said nothing. They feel they have nothing to pass on.

Why do we have to read these long and painful books when they already read them years ago?! — Wheatley

I don’t think it’s so bad being asked to read them, but pointing them out helps. But the books are just a metaphor for knowledge passed on. What do we need from elders?

Interestingly some generations of elders go silent, like the men who returned from the war and said nothing. They feel they have nothing to pass on. — Brett

Did they at least pass on their genes?

I don’t think it’s so bad being asked to read them, but pointing them out helps. But the books are just a metaphor for knowledge passed on. What do we need from elders? — Brett

We need their money more than anything else.

This is getting boring... :yawn:

So, you don’t expect to make a difference?
— praxis

Mmmm, I feel a trick question coming up.

Do I expect to make a difference? I expect myself to face up to the ennui. — Brett

Ah, you see the ennui but don’t experience it yourself. That wasn’t clear until now. Good for you.

The forum couldn't be a reflection of the world for the simple reason that the sample is not representative. Most members are either from the USA or the UK, some from Australia. The entire continent of Africa and large parts of Asia are missing from the forum.:chin:

Is the forum just a reflection of the world, that we’ve reached a sort of evolutionary point of weariness without any reason to struggle or make things new? Is there really nothing new to come, is it out there ahead of us or do we have to create it? And what should we create, something that excites us or something that serves us? Do we even know how to create anymore? Has all this questioning and arguing just reduced things to the state of boiled vegetables? — Brett

We tend to talk about the things people are generally talking about. The times are weird; people talk about the times. We talk about the times.

Regarding trust being dead: trust of any authority figure or academic source, yes. Politicians in the political north betrayed the entire world over the last 40 years, they have no adequate response to climate change or increasing inequality (socialism for the rich). That sense of betrayal; everyone realized the emperor had no clothes, so people support those who appear to point it out insofar as they're part of the spectacle. It's not just the forumites who are frustrated rats in transparent cages.

So I take it as hopeful that criticism still exists and that we can shout at each other about it longform, even if it contains no vision of the future. I don't remember a time when the future existed.

@Brett In order for things to be exciting and new, there must first be new and exciting things left to discover. Are there? As you point out, everyone is already set in their beliefs.

I read a book called The Island of Knowledge. I don’t remember the author, but the metaphor throughout the book was that our knowledge is like an island, where the surrounding ocean represents the unknown. As our knowledge grows, the island expands, but so does it’s shore, which is to say the more we learn the more we realize how much there is we don’t know. What do you think?

Also, it’s good to remember that you are essentially a microcosm; one consciousness experiencing a small part of the world and influenced through your particular society or culture. From what I understand, things are quite exciting in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Perhaps you should move there if you seek excitement :wink:

Most community members of most places on the internet are lurkers. This whole site is like a small longform subreddit.