If there are so few of us then it would seem to behoove us to learn to get along because unfortunately we do not have the luxury of picking the ideal companions with whom to share our passions.
And I need someone to disagree with me because if they didn’t disagree, then I wouldn’t have anything to talk about. But I don’t want them to disagree because they’re a dogmatic blockhead. Essentially, I share the problem that vexes all of humanity: how to have all good and no bad.
I don’t know how drive because I still feel like a newbie. How do I know I’m not singing Slayer in a Country bar? And my questions can’t be answered anyway. It’s always been the case that I can answer questions, but no one can answer mine.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.
I think people come here to build a persona. People study philosophy, not simply because it’s fun, but to seem smart.
Or convert them.
For some reason every group is christian or atheist. I guess “those who know, don’t speak and those who speak, don’t know” is true lol
.
Yeah it’s like “truth”, people conflate several definitions. In some instances truth can mean “exists” or it can mean “a happening” or “a law” when really it’s just a property of an observation, but no one can agree on the definitions so they argue eternally about whether it’s absolute or relative.
It could be a problem of religion. Who is it that is asking if they are free? First define the “who” and then we can decide if they are free.
My apologies for my late reply as I have been in hospital for the last few days.
I assume when you say authentic conversation we are talking with the interests of both parties at hand or more parties if it is a conversation between more than two people. Or maybe you are saying people that are actually interested in what the other people are saying to see what develops from it, it being the conversation - instead of talking past each other. Regarding high minded thinking - I think we would lose a little of our essence if all that communication involved was high minded thinking. Obviously it is important to incorporate high minded thinking into adult conversation and to a lesser extent those who are younger, else where would we be. Soooo, I agree that high minded thinking needs to be incorporated into everyday conversation, for sure, but we also need to trust ourselves and let our hair down so to speak and be a little relaxed - incidentally you would not need to be consciously aware of your high minded thinking as it seems to come natural to you - perhaps meditate on it occasionally is what the doctor should order.
Assuming that you are referring to the common agenda of the human race then there is no common agenda to easily speak of - that is to say that there is a common agenda that has become so watered down that it is nearly impossible to detect it. I might have to make a thread about this and similar subjects in the future.
It seems to me that the current common agenda is more about survival for the less rich and bragging about life for the more rich.
Or we could give it our own form of resuscitation. I use ILP as a kind of main sounding board - or at least I have in the past.
They say that sometimes the simpler things in life are often the best . . .
. . . and I have seen evidence of this in some of the lighter conversations that I have had here.
I knew what you were saying I just did not know how to respond - Wendy is fairly active compared to other females around here - she is also one to observe before she attacks(so to speak). I have found some real depth in her posts, I guess it comes down to the way they are read - I find Wendy to be pragmatic too and who can blame her since she probably sees not enough being done. I am not trying to offer some big defense of Wendy here as she sure can defend herself but I have seen her make an effort in the past by making original posts and getting some pretty stupid answers in return.
Just finished reading this thread … feels like some sincere/genuine chatter.
Here’s the image that popped into my head:
Evolution of Being is marching forward … the bus load of philosophers is attempting to map the route. The bus is moving … ergo … there must be a bus driver/leader.
The ‘leader’ is not a single individual … though as the simpletons we are … we have a need to ascribe leadership to a single individual. pooey!
I agree professional and academic philosophy has its limitations where philosophy-proper is now incestuous and bastardized. But I believe there are some good bits from it.
However I believe those interested in philosophy should familiarize themselves with the philosophy-greats [giant shoulders] of the past from East, West & everywhere and apply what is learned where necessary. I have covered a wide area of Philosophy from the East and West, i.e. 2 years full time on Buddhism, 3 years full time on Kant, nearly 3 years full time on Islam, and other areas. At present on the side, I am trying to master Heidegger’s philosophy.
My current philosophical project is
‘Understanding and How to Prevent, Reduce and Eliminate ALL Evils in the World’
with current emphasis on religious-based evils, thus my posting in the religious section.
I asked earlier;
“It would be helpful if you can show some examples of your high quality work and approach in your postings. So far, I have not read of any of ‘high’ standard from you.”
I’m not attacking, but just coaxing. You said you wanted to resuscitate, so pucker up I don’t know the other women by name; just Wendy.
An admin from a garden forum has been emailing for years trying to attract members, so I go there and post, but he doesn’t reply, so I leave. I mean, if I wanted to talk to myself, I can do that at ILP I’m just saying if you want to keep members, you have to engage them, mouth to mouth, until the community is up and going.
That reminds me of my trying to learn to play guitar. I could copy anything, but couldn’t create anything myself, so I gave up music because I’m not a musician and no amount of copy-catting will change that. But I am philosophical and require none of that indoctrination to be so.
What did Otto Weininger mean when he said “The genius is a man who knows everything without having learned it.”?
I’ve gotten plenty of insights and observations like that. One reason that I don’t share them is because I don’t respect/trust many of the consumers. Pearls before swine. That harkens to my point about leadership and quality of followers. Both should be high. There should be a high quality of leader/producer, and high quality of follower/consumer. Excellent craft at preparation, followed by exquisite taste of critique. One without the other is incomplete.
Agreed, leaders don’t like to be led, in general. But nobody is a leader 100% of a time. Are leaders “born”? No, leaders appear over time, as a result of maturity, growth, and age. Nobody follows/respects children, or infants. So leaders are not “born”. And everybody takes turns at leading/following, to some degree. Maybe one person is 90% leader/10% follower while another is 10% leader/90% follower.
That’s a good analogy. Some of the best music I’ve heard over the last 10 years, is relatively unknown, or completely unknown. In fact, this week, I’ve been searching for an old song I heard once that is just amazing, and I can’t find it anywhere online. Perhaps some of the best music of humankind has been lost in obscurity, produced and listened by very few people. Like a genius musician sharing music with only a few select friends.
It’s a controversial point, to link political ideologies with biology, because of Nazism and the 20th Century. But it is pretty evident and obvious, outside the popular indoctrination and system.
FC is one of the ‘religious’ thinkers, and has little capacity, if any, for Philosophy. Him and his ilk is a little religious cult.
Life, and philosophy, seems to thrive on competition/disagreement.
I would like to disagree more. The problem is, so very original, “new” ideas to disagree upon. Few perspectives are truly unique. Philosophy involves the incorporation of the popular, modern discourse. So the popular ideas/disagreements is not enough to entice above-average thinkers.
