Before I retired, I was interested in Science and Philosophy, but my time was mostly wasted in the rat-race of making a living. Now that "living" is behind me, and I am merely waiting for rigor mortis to set-in, I am free to work for free. And the only practical product of my valuable time is increased confidence that I have a reasonable worldview. That, andEssentially I'm now faced with a choice whether pursue path of learning in that direction that may ultimately lead me nowhere — DenverMan
ave a taste and see where it takes you. — Tom Storm
:up:The point is to realize how little we know and actually recognize this. Even in science, many questions answered tends to lead to ten more questions. — Manuel
We might add an appreciation of the little we know, which has seriously improved things for the species so far — hanaH
The urge for endless knowledge searching reigns Supreme on our planet. — GraveItty
clever primates constantly trying to make their lives a little better. — hanaH
About half of humans died as children not that long ago. It also hasn't been all that long since we became aware of germs, learned how to make vaccines. The average person now lives better than royals did for centuries (neglecting of course the human tendencies toward vainglory and envy.) — hanaH
In short, it's good to remain humble, but it's absurd to pretend that we've learned nothing while using a near-instantaneous global information network. (We're like rich brats, taking our inherited wealth for granted.) — hanaH
Essentially I'm now faced with a choice whether pursue path of learning in that direction that may ultimately lead me nowhere (Which I think is likely) and perhaps even won't be of use to me (unlike science that essentially seems to accept empirical framework of acquiring knowledge and even then there is a lot to learn about philosophy behind it) or essentially proceed to leave in ignorance and of that little I know and avoiding going too deep into things. Not sure what to chose. — DenverMan
The usual propaganda babble in favor of the scientists claiming a way of thinking and acting to which all must comply. — GraveItty
Besides your list of advantages I could make a big list of disadvantages, like in all cultures. — GraveItty
Like you are so sure there are no gods (if not, then where does our universe come from, even if eternal?). — GraveItty
Do you feel any draw from philosophy? If not, maybe you don't need to go any farther ... I know lots of really smart, successful, satisfied, and articulate people who are not particularly intellectual. They are not recreational thinkers like I, and many people on the forum, are. — T Clark
Now that "living" is behind me, and I am merely waiting for rigor mortis to set-in, I am free to work for free. And the only practical product of my valuable time is increased confidence that I have a reasonable worldview. — Gnomon
... we attain a little knowledge, then we go. — Manuel
The best we can do is understand fragments of the subject, even if we are near genius. Like anything in life, have a taste and see where it takes you. — Tom Storm
My advice would be to avoid philosophy unless you find yourself unable to ... Go away from this site at once. Or if you find yourself unable to leave, welcome to our world. — unenlightened
You address whether the claim was true (but why should that matter, right? we're on a spiritual quest here. — hanaH
Sure, but half of the children dying is maybe a high cost to pay for your closer walk with nature ? (And chances are, if you survived childhood, you'd be illiterate and laboring in the dirt with gum disease?) — hanaH
I don't know that certain ultimate questions even make sense, let alone the answers to them. But certain "divine" answers to those questionable questions either also fail to make sense or look like childish wishful thinking. As in ordinary life, one need not know the final answer or solution of a problem to reject various candidate solutions from consideration. I understand that for others it's troubling to consider the possibility that the universe doesn't care about us, that we didn't come with instructions in the box, etc. — hanaH
And the list goes on and on. You might say that science offers a solution for the problems it created. In the form of technology, "social engineering", or whatever, but isn't it better to stop the whole enterprise altogether? — GraveItty
What do you mean by "loaded concept"? What do you mean by "crystallized intelligence"?Lately I dabbled into more loaded concepts in philosophy in area of epistemology and metaphysics and it had some very loaded concepts that are difficult to grasp for me (at least without loaded knowledge about terminology used thus requiring a lot of crystallized intelligence), whether is there a much point into learning more about it — DenverMan
Among other things, I think he meant to suggest that I should just finish the damn paper and move on. But I've found it fitting to recall his proverb on many occasions.Studying philosophy is about enhancing your questioning power. It's life that gives you answers. — Wise old professor
Do you suppose there are many professors who have read every book and mastered every topic in philosophy? Even the most brilliant experts specialize and narrow down the scope of their research. Isn't it the same in science? Or in music? Or in carpentry? Or in every field of human practice nowadays?Now, I'm not sure if there is even point of me getting into as I may not be smart enough handle more complex material and logic (hell, even logic seems to have various types of logic such as classical logic and just recently learned about other types of logic and concept of logical pluralism) and even if I were amount of material on philosophy is astronomical (after all there are collections of philosophical works and arguments going through millenia). Then even if I did all of it by some miracle it still seems like a pit with no bottom and all arguments ultimately would collapse if you keep asking questions such as why or how, no matter how smart you're and how much available knowledge regarding philosophy you acquired. Those mentioned aren't the only issues, even if I decided to pursue acquiring knowledge in that direction I would have to do so incrementally and doing learning terminology and methods applied in philosophy from the basics (not sure where I would even start). — DenverMan
Why are you faced with this choice? Are you considering a career in philosophy, or just wondering if it's a waste of time, or what?Essentially I'm now faced with a choice whether pursue path of learning in that direction that may ultimately lead me nowhere (Which I think is likely) and perhaps even won't be of use to me (unlike science that essentially seems to accept empirical framework of acquiring knowledge and even then there is a lot to learn about philosophy behind it) or essentially proceed to leave in ignorance and of that little I know and avoiding going too deep into things. Not sure what to chose. — DenverMan
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