A very good aspect of my studies of interest is that they allow me to do a lot of thinking. A very bad aspect of my studies of interest is that they allow me to do a lot of thinking...
As a result, I end up with somewhat unproductive mornings (academically speaking) like this. I begin to read a chapter of a book, I begin thinking about the contents of the chapter (which is what I'm supposed to do), and then my thinking begins to drift. This is not an unconscious wandering, but a thoughtful trail of thoughts. All too often I am nowhere near the original themes of the book and I end up with thoughts like these:
I believe we all have ridiculous beliefs. Some of us, have them and don't know it. Some of us have them, know it, and don't care. And then there are those of us who have them, realize it, and subsequently try to rationally dig ourselves out of them. But I feel that any attempt to rationalize our old beliefs or construct new ones will ultimately lead us to equally absurd positions; these positions are just more thought out. I think, to an extent, that this is what philosophy is. It's an attempt to rationalize our belief systems and the world around us. But the complex, if not crazy, results we are left with just go to show how inadequate we truly are at understanding our existence and the world we inhabit.
A simple example is the fact that we have gotten all the way back to questioning how/if the mind and body relate. As a result, you have Malebranche and his idea of occasionalism: that every time you want to make an action, god necessitates it. That was his explanation for how, when our 'mind' wants our body to do something, our physical body does it. Even more shocking are the metaphysical attempts to prove/disprove identity. We aren't even sure if there is an "I"!!!!!!! Hume gives us yet another example of an, on the face of it, absurd idea that matter can be infinitely divided. Mathematically we can't refute it, yet it simply seems nonsensical.
In the end, whose to say the more complex, and perhaps more thoughtful answers are more tenable than the inital, perhaps irrational, thoughts that we start out with?
Both Hume and James (I'm sure there are many more, but these are pretty much the two that I've studied at any depth thus far) are philosopher's that my preceding statement seem to line up with. Both point to the fact that even seeking truth (whether through reason, science, or something else) is just another belief we have which we are impotent to validate against any other.
Well I am one who champions the search for truth, whatever that may be and in whatever form it may take, but I can't prove to you that my position is any more rational than any other.
And now off to Epistemology, where we will be discussing whether it's possible to construct a structure of knowledge such that we can ever truly know anything....
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Life Captured by Photo
The Boston Globe has a picture blog they update at least once or twice a week. I cannot get enough of it. This week revolves around Bolivia and their new constitution. I'm not sure I've seen pictures that are able to capture the moment, the scenery, and all the emotion behind the people that are photographed. Who knew one still-frame picture could say so much about the people it is capturing.
I highly recommend checking out the archives too. But beware! It's addicting and you may spend the next 5 hours going through them.
Enjoy!
I highly recommend checking out the archives too. But beware! It's addicting and you may spend the next 5 hours going through them.
Enjoy!
Re*vital*ization
Revitalization: a constant construction of an end as a conscious or unconscious realization of the lack of a final one.
It's seen everywhere: sports, church, school, video games, running, education, and in every goal we create. In every event, we *create* the end (or the final event). But the fact is, they all come to pass.
Sports:
The championship happens again the next year (or in four years for the olympics). But what does this final goal (of a championship, or perhaps a lesser goal of a .500 record) require of us? Concentration and commitment. Conscious time, effort, and devotion, It's something that gives us a reason to keep struggling through life.
Video Games:
Now, with the advent of the avatar and Gamer-Ranks, all those meaningless single-session games (whether football or halo) are now valuable. Creating these final ends, we are making our little tasks that we go through day-to-day worth something. And as a result, we have addiction. People are addicted because they have to play more and more games to *improve* their character on WoW, their EASports tag in Madden and their team slayer rank on halo. But there is no end, just the opportunity at improving your character.
Church/Religion (this one might be touchy):
I was always confused as to why we had to keep having retreats and conferences and special events at church (why can't the love of an all-powerful god sustain us without having to fully submerse ourself in and with fellow believers to boost our *faith*-bank). The answer back then was that the devil (or society) had been dragging you down, slowly draining you. I agree that we slowly become worn out from living, but I no longer believe there is a devil on the other end. I also disagree with having to go on a retreat to get revitalized. So in this sense, these conventions are a way to drill in to your head that there is some final end, and that, as a result, all this living is going to be worth something in the end.
Running/exercise:
This became my baseball and my religion. What do you do? You sign up for a race 4 months down the road and suddenly you have a purpose for those 4 months. But then the race comes and goes, and what are you left with? A sense of accomplishment sure, but what do we almost invariably do? We sign up for another one, because a sense of accomplishment does little for our life down the road.
Conclusion:
I think life is a series of small goals, constructed in such a way as to keep us moving forward. What about all those people working for the weekend or getting through the last months of school for their spring and summer breaks? (I don't think this is a new concept but) what about mid-life crises? You get through high school to get to college. You get through college to get a good job. You keep working hard to get promotions. Now what? All of the sudden, we realize all the goals we've created for ourselves have gotten us to this point, but they're ends have come and pass. We are constantly unsatisfied with some aspect of our current selves, so we create a goal to improve ourself, and so it goes
What happens if we no longer create goals for ourself? Desire, the essence of human existence, is expunged and leads to apathy and nothingness. But I don't want to be depressing on this hump-day. I don't believe there has to be a final end. Perhaps, if we continue to have goals to aim for, a final end is not necessary. Surely a life of constantly striving for our goals is one that will be *meaning*ful and show us that a final end is not needed to have joy in this life we've been given. We must also live in the present,but that is for a whole other post or 5.
Well this is far too long, and although I feel that I could write on this forever, I have some homework to do... so I can do well in this class... so i can get a degree... so I can get into grad school... so I can get a good job, make money, and retire young.
Lucky for me, there is a lot of knowledge at the end of my rainbows.
It's seen everywhere: sports, church, school, video games, running, education, and in every goal we create. In every event, we *create* the end (or the final event). But the fact is, they all come to pass.
Sports:
The championship happens again the next year (or in four years for the olympics). But what does this final goal (of a championship, or perhaps a lesser goal of a .500 record) require of us? Concentration and commitment. Conscious time, effort, and devotion, It's something that gives us a reason to keep struggling through life.
Video Games:
Now, with the advent of the avatar and Gamer-Ranks, all those meaningless single-session games (whether football or halo) are now valuable. Creating these final ends, we are making our little tasks that we go through day-to-day worth something. And as a result, we have addiction. People are addicted because they have to play more and more games to *improve* their character on WoW, their EASports tag in Madden and their team slayer rank on halo. But there is no end, just the opportunity at improving your character.
Church/Religion (this one might be touchy):
I was always confused as to why we had to keep having retreats and conferences and special events at church (why can't the love of an all-powerful god sustain us without having to fully submerse ourself in and with fellow believers to boost our *faith*-bank). The answer back then was that the devil (or society) had been dragging you down, slowly draining you. I agree that we slowly become worn out from living, but I no longer believe there is a devil on the other end. I also disagree with having to go on a retreat to get revitalized. So in this sense, these conventions are a way to drill in to your head that there is some final end, and that, as a result, all this living is going to be worth something in the end.
Running/exercise:
This became my baseball and my religion. What do you do? You sign up for a race 4 months down the road and suddenly you have a purpose for those 4 months. But then the race comes and goes, and what are you left with? A sense of accomplishment sure, but what do we almost invariably do? We sign up for another one, because a sense of accomplishment does little for our life down the road.
Conclusion:
I think life is a series of small goals, constructed in such a way as to keep us moving forward. What about all those people working for the weekend or getting through the last months of school for their spring and summer breaks? (I don't think this is a new concept but) what about mid-life crises? You get through high school to get to college. You get through college to get a good job. You keep working hard to get promotions. Now what? All of the sudden, we realize all the goals we've created for ourselves have gotten us to this point, but they're ends have come and pass. We are constantly unsatisfied with some aspect of our current selves, so we create a goal to improve ourself, and so it goes
What happens if we no longer create goals for ourself? Desire, the essence of human existence, is expunged and leads to apathy and nothingness. But I don't want to be depressing on this hump-day. I don't believe there has to be a final end. Perhaps, if we continue to have goals to aim for, a final end is not necessary. Surely a life of constantly striving for our goals is one that will be *meaning*ful and show us that a final end is not needed to have joy in this life we've been given. We must also live in the present,but that is for a whole other post or 5.
Well this is far too long, and although I feel that I could write on this forever, I have some homework to do... so I can do well in this class... so i can get a degree... so I can get into grad school... so I can get a good job, make money, and retire young.
Lucky for me, there is a lot of knowledge at the end of my rainbows.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Dangerous Philosophy
Monique D. Davis (D) representative of the 27th district of Illinois criticizing Robert Sherman, an atheist activist, in front of a Government committee: "I’m trying to understand the philosophy that you want to spread in the state of Illinois. This is the Land of Lincoln. This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God, where people believe in protecting their children.… What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous, it’s dangerous... dangerous to the progression of this state. And it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists!"
"land of Lincoln":
Lincoln never explicitly expressed a religious belief, and certainly never joined a church nor pushed beliefs upon another (Lincoln's religious beliefs are disputed by historians. Wikipedia has a page with references to multiple books discussing them). So the "land of Lincoln", while having relevance as a motto for democracy, freedom, and equality, is a phrase that does not appear to have any religious significance.
Freedom:
Lincoln emancipated thousands upon thousands of human lives with his presidency and set a precedent for taking a stand on the belief in the value of human equality. What is Ms. Davis calling her state to do? Repress ideas, perspectives, and values of one type, while force feeding and indoctrinating values of another. I am not a Lincoln biographer... but I highly doubt this is something Lincoln could side with.
Dangerous:
What is dangerous? The spreading of information and diversified perspectives? The belief that human beings have intrinsic and inherent value? The belief that children, while being young and thus impressionable, are nevertheless valued human individuals and consequently should be presented with multiple viewpoints such that they may begin to form their own values, rather than become a mirror of ignorant ideology which suppresses views that conflict with that ideology?
I for one say that what is dangerous is exactly what she is imploring of her fellow statesmen. She is calling for the suppression of ideas and the rejection of varying perspectives. These varying ideas say nothing more than the following: we as humans can think for ourselves and determine our own values based on the diverse viewpoints we are presented with; that this life is beautiful; that each human matters in themselves; that we do not need a judge in the sky to make us moral. If these ideas are *dangerous*, then consider me a daredevil.
Philosophy:
I myself will continue to be a daredevil, spreading my ***dangerous philosophy*** which seeks nothing more than the liberation of human value and perspective. Such dangerous philosophy has germinated in the Land of Lincoln. The land of Lincoln being not just Illinois, but these United States of America which he left behind. "The land of the free..."
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