Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Will our philosophies be the doom of mankind?


nephili

Recommended Posts

As we sit and debate the universe around us, will we miss the life intended for us? We could discuss for an eternity all the things we will never know and never prove as the Earth burns down around us, but is there any point? Does philosophy accomplish anything tangible? Does it actually prevent living life to the fullest?

- Inspired by a conversation with a personal favorite thinker of mine, Xenofish.

Edited by nephili
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The unexamined life is not worth living. 

Socrates

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is the danger to loose our ability to think or reason as a philosopher, which defines us as human:

''I think it’s quite possible that the 1960s represented the last burst of the human being before it was extinguished, and that this is the beginning of the rest of the future now. That from now on, there will simply be all these robots walking around – feeling nothing, thinking nothing, and that there will be nobody left almost to remind them that there once was a species called a human being with feelings and thoughts, and that history and memory are right now being erased and that soon nobody will really remember that life existed on the planet.''

- Andre, My Dinner With Andre

Edited by Be.cause
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ChaosRose said:

The unexamined life is not worth living. 

Socrates

Excellent quote. Absolutely a perfect perspective here.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Be.cause said:

This is the danger to loose our ability to think or reason as a philosopher, which defines us as human

 

 

Very well said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, nephili said:

As we sit and debate the universe around us, will we miss the life intended for us? We could discuss for an eternity all the things we will never know and never prove as the Earth burns down around us, but is there any point? Does philosophy accomplish anything tangible? Does it actually prevent living life to the fullest?

- Inspired by a conversation with a personal favorite thinker of mine, Xenofish.

What an excellent question!! :) 

From personal experience, I would say that the safest bet would be to equally indulge in both philosophy and in the material side of life... I spent a LOT of time in the pursuit of spiritual experience, and talking/discussing the world around us. But life does not wait for us, life just happens. In my opinion, life is the sum of how we experience ourselves and how we experience the world around us... Being an introvert, I find it easier to disconnect myself from everything else around me, and to have a deeper relationship with myself alone. But that kinda feels incomplete to me... I have found that interacting with other people, and experiencing what they have to offer, can be equally fulfilling for me. As I grow up, I understand that being a good son, a good brother, a good husband, a good friend, etc. provide me with the opportunity to evolve as a human being. Just like meditation helps me to grow, interacting with the world around me also has a similar outcome.

Think about it - are we only just spiritual beings experiencing this material world around us? Or are we only just animals born into this spiritual place that is Earth? I like to think that we are perhaps a bit of both... what do you think?

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I regard philosophy as a stimulating and enriching first stage of exploration.  It is a starting point to then, possibly, take a practical direction.

When I studied philosophy (as part of my degree), whilst it opened up mental avenues, nevertheless I was disappointed that it seemed to not go further.  I felt it was very much like polishing shoes that you never walk in but then I realised I misunderstood the nature of it.

Edited by sees
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, nephili said:

As we sit and debate the universe around us, will we miss the life intended for us? We could discuss for an eternity all the things we will never know and never prove as the Earth burns down around us, but is there any point? Does philosophy accomplish anything tangible? Does it actually prevent living life to the fullest?

- Inspired by a conversation with a personal favorite thinker of mine, Xenofish.

 

seen one of my signature quotes?  Seen at the bottom of any post I make

"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it"

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, nephili said:

As we sit and debate the universe around us, will we miss the life intended for us? We could discuss for an eternity all the things we will never know and never prove as the Earth burns down around us, but is there any point? Does philosophy accomplish anything tangible? Does it actually prevent living life to the fullest?

- Inspired by a conversation with a personal favorite thinker of mine, Xenofish.

Depends on the person and their philosophy towards life. What is the point? None. Not really. All these debate about this or that do little but incite anger in many people. Those who get locked into their dogma never really change. It can also create a wall between people of diverse beliefs. Philosophy can be an eye opener, perhaps you're not sure how you see the world and find a philosopher who put into words how you see things. Camus and Sartre were the two that helped me. Does it prevent living life to it's fullest? Again this depends on the philosophy. Anything that consumes one's time, consumes their life. So with that in mind it's all in how you use the ideas you've latched onto. While I am expected to be this super depressed individual because I believe life is meaningless, that makes everything I do more meaningful. Seems like a contradiction, but those moments make up my life, which is the only thing I have. I find joy in the meaninglessness of life, that we are born with no purpose, no higher goal or idea. That our god's are as silent as always. This meaninglessness is also the reason I do not go out and seek trouble, because that would inconvenience me and there is no point. The meaninglessness mean I do not have to become anything. I can make myself. We are what we've made of ourselves, through our thoughts, feelings, and actions. 

Let's say that for a moment that you're own philosophy of life is as follows.

"I want to leave the world a better place that it was when I came into it." This to you could mean that you recycle and act in a constructive manner around other people. It's like the idea of living by the golden and silver rule without religious attachment. You do so out of self-interest. If living by a philosophy makes not only your life better it might make the lives of those around you better as well, through the medium that is your actions. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it can stop people from living life to the fullest, if they can't get over something philosophical.  I think if it is you're supposed to eventually break out of it like an egg.

That being said, there are apparently people who live their whole life in a single position in meditation their whole life, but not everyone is capable of doing that.  So, let them who can receive that renunciation of the body, receive it.  But, for the rest of us I think there are things we are supposed to do physically.

That's also another conflict in the Bible, where I think Jesus a lot of times instructed to embrace these things of the flesh, while Paul, his 13th disciple after Iscariot taught to completely abandon the physical reality, which just isn;'t possible for everyone to do.

That being said, there's another side that has something to do with this I think.  People who say everything that is wrong has something to do with you deep inside your soul.  Some sort of spiritual karma with the angel of death, but I don't believe it.  I tried, but I'm pretty sure some of the things that are wrong have nothing to do with me, and it would like to trick me into feeling guilty for it so it can steal my life away.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It heavily depends on the philosophy. I'm a nihilist, and I enjoy life far more than I did before I understood fully what I thought about things. My ability to articulate my utter disregard for life and human effort is what has allowed me to view the world and my place in it with a positive spin. Otherwise...well, things are pretty ****ty. So philosophy is my tool for interacting with the screaming void that we all came from and will someday return to. For others, it could be terrifying. It really depends on the person.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.