The value of philosophy according to geo I think philosophy does have value although it can perhaps be sometimes overated The value of something is different for everone, and probably won't stay the same throughout their life. Priorities change. Philosophy is good for making sense of different branches of the whole, and what they mean in terms of the big picture. So for those very reasons IMHO taking it too seriously or without good humour gets you nowhere. That's why I prefer Zen/tao type stuff, because sooner or later you realise that all that really matters is now. Living/enjoying the moment. To do that you have to drop the what does it all mean? shennanigan. So although I care, I also don't care! I'm sure you've heard this before or thought along these lines but the heart of it can be summed up with 'live for knowledge, die in ignorance' What kind of knowledge is philosophy? Knowledge of the self, perhaps. Or is it making connections between other fields of study (all)? Looking for a reason to justify our existance? Either way I think limiting the study of philosophy just to past philosophy is how can I say, limiting. I guess it's about pushing the bounderies of thought, which can often leave things a little 'up in the air'. Sometimes too much analasys/deep thought can leave you going round in circles - another good reason to be able to detach/let go. So while I like philosophy (up to a point). I also think it's important to have faith in yourself, and to know your own mind/body/spirit. To know, without knowing. To learn when to let it go, and get on with a fullfilling life. Wishing to have all the answers may well be a natural instinct, but ask yourself will you be better off in their pursuit. Be careful what you wish for. Ignorance is bliss.. Answers lead to more questions.. The funny thing is, I reckon if someone came along and explained it all to you, you'd probably say WOW! how simple and elegant, why didn't I think of that! Then think oh what a load of*****. and just get on with your life, which is what you should be doing anyway Instead of writing pointless passages of prose on the internet for your own amusement/or ego yes I am guilty, I have an ego, and I need to amuse myself. But really, philosophy, to me basically should be a bunch of friends getting together to pass a little time (enjoy eachothers company) and share some (hopefully)valuable insights along the way.. Edit. Above all else to learn something
I'm unhappy with Soc handing out personal abuse. It just seems to be an attempt at bullying, and I've always had a low tolerance of bullies.
No really you have abused me personally. Over a few threads you have called me stupid on a number of occassions as well as lazy and various other personal attacks, as you have with a number of others who have disagreed with you (as far as I can recall everyone who has disagreed with you). Take a moment, reflect, look at what is happening in each of the threads you are using to enlighten the world. Why do you think you are getting the same response from so many different people?
I'm sorry, but telling someone their spiritual experiences are akin to a bad childhood dream is trolling, Cuchulain82, and will not be tolerated. Period. He is a troll looking to show off his "intellectual superiority" when it's nothing more than an exercise in intellectual masturbation. For that he gets exactly zero respect from me. And if you must know, I have a BA, part of an MA, and a JD. I did the whole Intellectual Elitist garbage Soc is pulling. But hey, he can learn the hard way when he gets sin binned for crossing the line one too many times.
I hope you're not aiming any venom Socrastein may have caused at me. I asked to try to save the thread from degenerating any further. I don't have much patience for intellectual superiority or elitism. I asked about education because someone (you, I think?) mentioned that he was a philosophy major or something. It didn't seem in character (I don't think that a philosophy major would lead with his chin the way Socrastein has been), so I asked. As an aside, it would probably be worthwhile to respond to GEO's post. That is the most lucid comment anyone has made today.
When did I call you stupid psin? And yeah, I said I'm not going to cater to your laziness in refusing to take 3 minutes to read a chapter before you respond to it. That wasn't an insult, that was a statement of fact. An insult would have been "You stupid lazy fool, get your fat butt off the couch and try doing something for a change". Baikai, I didn't say your spiritual experiences are a dream (It wasn't a bad one, it was a good dream - I won ). Show me where I said that. There are so many straw men around this place it's become a fire hazard Also, it says in forum rules in the sticky at the top of the page - "we have no problem with people expressing an opinion on an article or persons views". Psin says I called him and everyone who disagrees with me stupid, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Tolerance guys I know of what you speak, aren't we all guilty of it at some point. I too saw Socrastein approach as how can I say 'distasteful' on a previous thread, But I entered a dialogue with him, and found him to be cool. In his own funny little Yoda way (sorry socs) Anyway, we all have our crosses to bear. This tolerance message goes out to you too socrastein. Obviously some here feel you should listen to/take on board a message. So here it is :Angel: let go, rewind, and start again..
OK, let's see: your response to the body point I raised: Uhm, let's see. I'm to respond to "I'm saying a lot of crap that sounds good but is completely devoid of meaning" with what? A sigh is better than an insult. Yet another insulting comment I'm to rebut how? Especially when it's followed up by describing me as some new age hippie? I'm not going to reduce myself to your level of argument, which is insulting the person's views and expecting them to reply. And for the recors, insults =/= counteragrument. Well, you had to learn this from somewhere, didn't you? Rationality is a complex system of philosophy, much like the passage you posted at the beginning of this thread. You want me to critique the book you started this conversation with? I can if you give me a couple of weeks to get it fro the library and read it! Look at the way you respond to people. "I don't care what you think of me", "You're foolish", etc. It's insulting and obnoxious, and you wonder why no one wants to play with you? You respond with slanderous statements like those posted above and wonder why we call you a troll. That's rich.
And injecting some meaning into the phrase by explaining it like I asked is better than a sigh. Yeah, "insulting" your argument, not you Baikai. Can't you tell the difference? It was a counterargument, it's called reductio ad absurdem Baikai. If you did the elitist garbage like you said you did, you should be very familiar with this form of argument. Basically, you show that what someone said is wrong because if it were true, then a lot of ridiculous things would also be true. You're saying you know you have a spirit cause you've felt it, and so I said that if all you need to determine if something is true is experience it, then the dragon from my dream must be real, and I'm really a knight. I reduced your argument to absurdity. That's not an insult, that's a rebuttal, and a good one too I asked what texts I quote and cling to. You have gotten side-tracked They weren't slanderous Bai Kai, plain and simple. At least, not the one's you quoted. Like I said, I do attack arguments. But I rarely directly attack a person. I'll say you've made a bad argument, but I won't say you're a stupid idiot (usually, I'm not sure until psin gets back to me on where I called so many people stupid).
I think thats the really sad thing about this. Soc is probably an OK guy, I'm sure he doesn't eat newborn babies or mug little old ladies. At this stage people are being restrained and pointing out that he is being arrogant, if it continues in the same vein though I think its inevitable that somebody is going to loose it and become more abusive. Just a little more thought and courtesy is all that is required to prevent this from happening.
Hardly. It's childish and shows me exactly what your intellectual capacity is. Hence the eyerolls and sighs. It's a playground retort at best. Are you capable of reading? I already mentioned the book you've posted. And we wouldn't get side tracked if you didn't regularly spew silly comments that make no sense whatsoever Oh, now you can read minds, as well? For the last time, it was rude. It was insulting. It was condescending. There, I said it. That's my SUBJECTIVE interpretation of your comments. We are all trying to tell you that your brand of intellectual elitism is pointless and rude. Soon you're going to cross into flaming, and someone will react. But that's what you're looking for, isn't it, Socrastein? You're looking for someone to fly off the handle so you can assert your superiority and look down your nose at the rest of us. Manipulation at it's best. Have fun, I have better things to do than this. :bang:
Perhaps we should switch to safer topics like politics, or religion, or which is the best martial art.
My cash is on Ghandi. He's quiet, not afraid of much, and never founded a religion. That gives him a leg up since he has no misinterpreted dogma to refute :woo:
