A romantic at mind

I write a lot of posts that are philosophical of nature but most that study philosophy would likely strongly disagree or at the very best, regard it as low-level philosophy.

Personally, I have never studied philosophy and have very little interest in even picking up a book by one of the great philosophers. I do not spend any time pouring through websites and finding the nuances between this term and that. Frankly, I find it all quite boring.

Academically, I am less than gifted and my memory gives me a little bit of space to work with but, in the long-term, I will not hold the information. I can't even quote myself let alone from the books I have read. I am one of those people that do not remember song lyrics, no matter how much I listen, read and sing along.

So, they are right, my philosophical pedigree is severely lacking and does not qualify me much at all. And, they are also very, very wrong.

It is mine now.

Philosophy is not just an academic pursuit, it is intensely practical however, over time, academics have hijacked it out of the hands of the common person and staked claim. The thing is with philosophy is that it is not a science and there is no right or wrong, everything is theory. Once a theory is proven, it shifts out of the realm of philosophy and into fact.

But, when considering the nature of consciousness, reality, existence or knowledge, there is very little fact involved as science is yet to close most gaps. Philosophy is what something could be or the reason for it, not what it actually is or why. This makes argument (the angry type) over philosophies quite redundant, discussion though is always good. Discussion lets people compound and distill their ideas to build better and deeper understanding.

And this is where it gets practical. Philosophy isn't for old Greek men to discuss in forums, or academics with patches on their elbows that look down upon all those not in the top half of Mensa, it is for everyone. Literally.

Practically natural.

Everyone acts upon their own personal value systems, preferences and programming. Our experience and understanding of it gets developed into a theory of how we live our lives. We explain the nature of our existence through them as we create meaning in what we do and why we do it. We build our knowledge banks in certain ways to meet the needs of where we think things will go and our reality and experience of it is dictated by the ways in which we live.

All of this is based on a personal prediction and theory of the future, not fact. So when people say 'my personal philosophy' in my opinion, this is the core of philosophy. It is the way we interpret our world and guides us in how we are going to act within it. It doesn't matter if it was not bound in a book or supported by science.

This interpretation of experience requires thought to take place at some level and the deeper that thought runs, the better and there is no one more thoughtful about you than you. We are all selfish and should be, in this regard at least. It is about having the personal responsibility for one's own experience and becoming sensitive and attentive to one's own environment and actions within. Practical.

How high can you jump?

The hijacking of philosophical discussions by those that think big words and fancy terms are what makes something important have missed the entire point of philosophy as a personal guiding set of principles.

It has gotten so bad that now, rather than people thinking through how they should and should not live their lives and the consequences of their actions, they outsource the thinking to an authority. Invested authorities that turn individual people into a flock of sheeple. The great philosophers would be turning in their graves, except for maybe Machiavelli.

So, in my limited view, a philosophical discussion is a practical one that considers the nature of our personal existence or what it could be. The discussion should at points touch reality enough that a normal person can consider and adjust themselves to enjoy more or suffer less.

Live it, love it.

However, this is not a list of actions and procedures to follow for it to be so, is to defer to authority once again. It should be considered by the individual. From what I have experienced, very few students of philosophy have internalised the teachings they claim to follow and use them as a true guiding force in their behaviour.

Rather, they act like everyone else that uses a mishmash of experiential learning, emotional positions and irrational reasoning or worse, habit to live their world. But, many are insensitive enough to themselves so take pride in their knowledge and humiliate any who do not offer sentences with at least three citations.

I called this post 'A romantic at mind' for I think my heart just pumps blood. I am not romantic in the love sense but, I do hold an idealistic view of the world. A view that likes to tell stories that hint at greater truths and hidden worlds that may or may not exist. An imagination that will create a theory from very little and see how far it extrapolates until it fails. And then make a new theory upon the failure. One that looks intently in the mirror and sees a middle-aged man, but still feels the teenager within.

Baa Baa Blah

There are many well-read philosophical writers here. I am not one of them. I find they tend to complicate the process, use jargon and require significant pre-knowledge to join a discussion. I don't mind reading what they have to say but, for much of what I read, it is not their thoughts on any subject, it someone else's.

Many seem to have deferred their thinking also but instead of to a governmental authority or corporation, they have consumed the words and thoughts of people who were brilliant thinkers. These highly intelligent thinkers are the most dangerous authority of all as their directions are so well phrased, so logically presented, one can't help but follow.

...Still a sheep.

I was criticised by one Steemit user long ago for debasing the 'Great discussion' and as a philosophy student himself, he is affronted when he follows the philosophy tag to find everyday thoughts of ordinary people. He has missed the point.

The conversation is Great, but there is only one ongoing. It is a movement that started before humans had words and before humans themselves. It has been running a very long time and every movement that ever was and ever will be is part of it and plays an influential role. Humans need to get over themselves.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

Having said that, everyone has their own approach to life and it is what makes the discussion interesting. It is a symphony, not a single, constant note. If interested in looking into life deeper from many perspectives @steemdeepthink is up and running and collecting minds and supporters.