and thus ill say it here…
hey everybody im just a 19 year old girl from lil singapore…
i stumbled upon this forum when researching further about nihilism. like seraph, i too am experiencing severe nausea which perhaps is because of my very limited and superficial knowledge and understanding of philosophy. therefore i seek to expand my knowledge here and because my only “why” right now, is to think.
thus and therefore…
hi you guys! 
Hi jedi,
although I am not an administrator, nor a moderator, I wanted to welcome you to our little niche in the macro-internet we find ourselves in today. I am 23, male, from Canada, and a Philosophy major in York University. I have loved philosophy ever since I was a kid and would love to discuss with you any topic at all. I hope to see you around the threads and forums, even if you aren’t sure what to say, it can be fun just reading the discourse between people and learning from that. That is usually what I do, until it reaches a point that I feel I understand what’s going on and I have something to contribute.
Take care,
~Magius
I also don’t know where to say Hi. I am enjoying reading the posts and contributing. I hope to stay around - but I must confess I don’t like sitting in front of a computer too long, and I detest reading a computer screen. But where else would I go to talk about philosophy - It’s not exactly the favorite subject of most people I meet.
Well I suppose I should remain true to form and follow Ms. Jedi’s example. Suddenly my first post doesn’t make me feel so… green.
I’m 17, though. The youngest thus far, it would seem, so I probably won’t have much to add as of yet but I’ll try.
I’m from Canada too, Magius (sp.?). Aren’t we lucky? Most impressive with the Philosophy Major
Back to the debating…
I know what you mean about people not being keen to discuss philosophy, even when they do it’s amazing how little people know about it. Even people on my course seem to lose interest as soon as they’re out of the lecture theatre.
I must admit I often print out the longer posts, but it’s cause my printing’s virtually free so it’s easy for me to do.
Just out of curiosity Magius, and I admire you for it, what can you do with a philosophy degree in the workplace?
Beetlejuice,
not a problem. With a philosophy degree you can go just about anywhere. I understand where you are coming from, and I too find what I am about to say to be strange, but the university I attend (Its specialty is business) has philosophy majors as the highest hiring rate. There are many different fields of philosophy, ie. Philosophy of law, Philosophy of Ethics (big field), Philosophy of Politics, Economics, etc. But the big one is law. Most philosophy majors become Lawyers or judges.
For me, I must concede that I don’t know what I will do once I am done with University, maybe write books, who knows, I’m leaving that aspect of my life open for something to guide me and show me a path. I’m not worried, strangely.
I do philosophy because I love it, it’s the one thing I am never bored with. Always find interesting.
I hope that answers your question.
What’s your take?
Mostr of the moderators only pop their head up once in a bluemoon anyway. But the site’s still thriving
Magius, good for you for going after what fits you. I was quite surprised that philosophy majors can be so popular, especially with the trade-school type culture these days. But you explained it quite well. Best wishes!
It’s odd how little people know about philosophy, yet they participate in it every day. Every aspect of man’s life can be traced to some social standard or norm. And of course, everyone has their own experiences and ideas, which leads them to question that society, that life, and those ideas.
Thanks Beet Juice and nice comment Omega.
I too become quite astonished in learning philosophy and coming to realize just how prolific it is, how it really is all around us, in our literature, politics, economics, law, mentalities, etc.
I thought I would mention one more thing that I heard about a possible reasoning behind why philosophy majors are so liked by companies. It shows that a persons mind is open and adjustable. Most companies want fresh students that haven’t been bombarded with any kinds of bad habits that certain scholars, theories, or ways of doing things may have been presented to them. Companies like to mold their employees into what they want, a philosophy major is most likely to be moldable into what you want. It’s also because they have absorbed a little of every subject, since Aristotle is one of the biggest causes behind the economic systems of today, not to mention political systems. Descartes and Bertrand Russell dealt much with math and made some of the biggest contributions to math today. Moreover, they are some of the greats in philosophy that every philosophy major has certainly come by. So philosophy majors are also somewhat mathematicians. Logic is also a big field in philosophy, and logic is needed everywhere, especially handy in business - and also deals heavily into math.
What’s your take?
Hi Jedi_Pockey,
I’m going to be stopping over in Singapore for 5 days in August. Got any “must-see” places to go or things to do? Tips would be gratefully recieved!
I just found this forum yesterday. I thought I would respond to the post quoted below. I am on a number of machining and metalworking forums, and the consensus there is that we don’t have a trade-school mentality anymore, but a service one, producing starbucks workers and telemarketers. As one who graduated with a BA maj. Philosophy (U of T 89), and who works with machine tools, I see both threatened by the current culture.
Beet Juice Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2003 4:23 pm Post subject:
Magius, good for you for going after what fits you. I was quite surprised that philosophy majors can be so popular, especially with the trade-school type culture these days. But you explained it quite well. Best wishes!
Well, this isn’t my first post, but I haven’t formally introduced myself yet. Hey everyone. I’m amazed at the level of intellegent “conversation” that I have found in this site. I’ve been interested in philosophy for as long as I have loved Star Trek ( since 1986, I was six ). Maybe I didn’t know it was philosophy, but it was.
I grew up in New York City’s Washington Heights (upper manhattan), and that is basicly a very urban neighborhood. Hip hop in it’s fullest form. I too fell into it’s traps, but was always interested in debates. Because of my lack of knowledge in logic, I lost tons of arguments I knew I could have won. But didn’t know how. Being a high school drop out, hanging out on corners, doing drugs, I sadly wasn’t able to go to NYU and study philosophy like I wanted.
Instead I joined the military after 9/11 ( I worked in the towers, I was out of a job, no college degree, only option next to selling drugs ).
I stumbled accross Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, book VII I presume and saw how it resembled The Matrix. When I was in Kuwait during that “war”, I read Rene Descarte’s Discourse on Method and knew I missed out on something big.
Magius, congratulations for doing your thing. You are in a position that I would admit I envy. I have no regrets in my life, but the knowledge you hold now as a 23 or 24 year old philosophy major puts you in a position far beyond the majority of people I interact with on a daily basis. I’m 22 now, I hope to steal as much wisdom as I can from this website.
Welcome aboard Smooth
Live Long And Prosper buddy 
Out of all honesty, Smooth, I am touched by your sentiments - and although this is not the place to spill my baggage, believe me when I say that things are not as they seem. I think you would think twice when you say you would love to be in my position.
Welcome to our board, I’m sure there is much you can’t wait to share with us, and even more that you don’t know you want to share with us yet, but will. I also hope you will get much out of your visit here, as I know I did - as much as people like to say “Life is what you make it” though it rings many bells, there is much that depends on those whom you are around. I’m sure that you found our conversations interesting not because you decided to think that for yourself, but because our langauge has stricken a cord within you and the experiences you have had. So not only do you affect your environment, but your environment affects you back.
Worry not about your lack of education in the societal system, many great and wise men taught themselves by simply visiting libraries and reading there.
Remember, if you really want to, you still can study philosophy in school. There are many ways of getting around having a highschool diploma or having the average they want. If you truly want to, I suggest going down to universities for a couple of days, meet some people, and visit the registration offices to inquire about enrolling (ask about all possible ways of getting in).
I see you too like the Matrix, but is it your all time favorite movie like it is for me?
I wouldn’t look down on your experience in the military, I have known quite a few military guys, an although they are all a little wacko in the head, they were a lot of laughs - in the world we live, anything can make you millions. It’s what makes America so great. An idea is all you need. Even making others laugh can make you a millionaire, or atleast keep you paying your rent.
Thank you for the congrats, I worked hard to get where I am, maybe too hard. There is a fine line between doing things for yourself and doing things because you have to in order to get something else. I am beginning to realize that in the past 2-3 years I have been giving away too much of myself, and recently have a hard time finding myself - if you catch what I mean. Since your here to steal wisdom, and since you believe me to be intelligent, then I expect you will have many questions of me. I say this, cause it is one of the few things I enjoy lately, to discuss like human beings the very corners of the Earth/Life/and Mind.
Once again, welcome and I look forward to reading more of your posts.
What’s your take?
I could hardly seperate myself from my experiences. And so comes this little story. The Matrix might not be in my eyes the greatest movie of all time. (that is a title that is impossible to debate) But I once had a child. She was born November 20th, 1999 and I named her Trinity. Yeah, the Matrix was awesome storytelling. Much like the Allegory of the Cave.
I forget who said that only through conversation one can find truth. I read it in someone’s post. But I find that to be very true. Like Magius said, "to discuss like human beings the very corners of the Earth/Life/and Mind. " is one of my faviorite hobbies. And within this forum I have the ability to look at every aspect of the human condition. It is just daunting at the level most of these people are on compared to myself, and then knowing they are in my age group. It kind of sucks.
Oh yeah Silver, thanx. And may the Force be with you.
I think I’m going to start a thread on how movies have impacted our global culture.
Hello . First post on the forum, been ‘lurking’ for quite a while now, thought I’d finally sign up and say hi. I guess its taken me this long to register and post something because like Smooth I am also a high school dropout, and don?t feel very confident that I can contribute anything worthwhile to the discussions. But I guess most of us are here to expand our knowledge.
A bit about myself wouldn?t hurt I guess. I’m a 19yo (almost 20 :p) male from Australia. I’ve never been totally drawn in by any one field (philosophy/physics/politics etc) but have always preferred to learn a bit about everything. I dropped out of high school 2 years ago due to depression. This basically forced me to go into the IT field since its where most of my skills are, and to be honest, its mind crushingly boring .
heh i was wondering where it was you went magius. i go to george brown in toronto.
jedi - nilhilism ownz, i think actually thats how i got here too! =) (even tho nihilists would reject the concept of a “concept” owning, but whutever)
— A hearty welcome to our humble abode Blayzed!