Sincerely apologize if this is the wrong place for such a question(/rant).
The context of the question relates to “Self” and maybe about “Power” in general.
I’m assuming the following maxims hold true:
- Unexamined life not worth living…
- Philosophy is lived. Choices primarily determine your philosophy
Please to correct my assumptions or reasoning. Can elaborate on above if needed.
I tend to myself in circles regarding the importance of philosophizing and examining my life. Maybe it’s a symptom of some mental issue… With every new idea I learn, I now have to consider it and balance it with all I’ve learnt in the past. Each choice becomes a battle of value systems and ideas and perspectives and constraints. It’s tiring to the point where I try not to think and just “do”.
But then that path leads me to an autopilot where my choices fall to my default “human” state overridden by the philosophy modules installed at the time. Then it devolves into the unexamined life. Or then life throws a curveball. I have to snap out of it and need to reassess everything going into the philosophizing state above.
Philosophy feels like an indulgence.
I’m guessing this pendulum is not new. On a global scale, Academia are cutting philosophy department budgets as it’s easier to divert money to “actionable” disciplines. No point in “wasting” time in thinking about thinking about doing things. Who needs a meta-compass if we need to walk the distance anyway (even though it helps a tremendous deal if the compass is in the right hands (which hold the power)).
I know I’ve reduced the argument to 2 buckets. I’m currently trying to consume Zen literature trying to get rid of my buckets and/or/xor trying to bring harmony of various buckets in my life… (https://tinyurl.com/verse20)
My question is: how do you manage all this philosophizing in your life? How useful is this indulgence?
Happy to accept any books/articles on this. Thank you.
I hear what you’re saying. There’s a basic level of philosophizing needed to understand your place in the world and to know some guiding principles. You need a minimal level of awareness to get through in life.
Although I would argue you can live your life with lots of meaning and joy even if you never read a philosophy text or had “deep” thoughts. You’re never making truly random choices as they are limited within a broader context and by your biology. As you said, there are normative behaviors which you tend to pick up and follow instinctually (learnt formally and informally). Deciding the “right path” for oneself can be a coin toss if you’re able to understand the path of your life, with minimal awareness, and make peace with the outcome. Paradox of choice exists and anxiety of making the “right” decision has plagued me all my life.
It’s like the saying: Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
I appreciate your response though. It has made me realize that I’m merely annoyed about the “curse of consciousness”. We should all be happy little lemmings plunging into doom together.
Maybe I should read more history than philosophy. Maybe that’s my utilitarian side talking.
when I was young, I read a bunch of “Eastern” philosophy and thought mysticism was really cool. I guess I still do, but it also feel like a little bit of a copout to say the Tao which can be explained is not the true Tao. I mean, come on! We are verbal creatures and we ought to be able to verbalize our understandings of things. We ought to be able to identify our motivations and desires and act on our principles.
In my later years, I have come to be a “hard determinist” based on my understanding of modern physics. The past and the future exist deterministically - they are immutable. And yet, we are agents of causality - the eternal immutable future that exists does so because of what we choose to do in each moment. So that is kind of a return to some eastern mystical shit I think. Sort of a Zen koan for the 21st century if you like: how can the future already exist when we are causing it by our choices in the present? Some say it is because we are only imagining we have free will and our actions are not really free; but we all know that we FEEL free to choose - so let’s take it as axiomatic that we are free; then can hard determinism be the case? It is like the sound of one hand clapping . . .
My impressions of the Tao after making 6ish courses on chewing the Tao Te Ching have been simply: Stop thinking. Become a simpleton. Go with the flow and do as little as possible, but in the right moments. If you do too much, you’ll break stuff and cut yourself. Oh and be kind and patient too.
Which is AN answer to this “hard determinism” conundrum. I feel a similar sense of being an ‘agent’ of causality, ruled by a certain lack of free will… However, I have felt extremely strong feelings of free will where I was able to nudge myself in two domains. Maybe you’ll relate:
Again I know these had a lot of casual pushes but it’s the sense of control which feels good. Then you get to watch the causality unfold and influence your life. Ikiru in this thread made a good point about the community and the faith element of this journey. Which sounds like your claim of ‘let’s take it as axiomatic’, as you are having faith in free will… At some point, you do choose who your spend time with and then allow them to influence you. You can decide for better or worse but as you said, the sense of choice is there.
Sidebar: I have always been able to clap with one hand? Imagine treating my entire hand as a castanet, with your fingers hitting against your base of palm, resulting in a weak clap. That minor sense of knowledge had always hindered me in understanding the full weight of that koan. Ah well…
But to answer my own question of the user of philosophy, thanks to mulling over both of your ideas is: Philosophy increases your awareness of the casual factors in your life. Then it’s possible to nudge a little better, i.e. a little more ‘upstream’ in the flowing current of life. But it’s important to pay attention to your surroundings and act in that briefest moment where you do feel you have a choice.
Thank you again for engaging. “My” conclusion has probably been said much more eloquently by some philosopher 5 trillion years ago but it’s nice to get a proof by induction sometimes.