If you have something philosophical that you just wanna get off your mind then post it here. If you wanna have fun with it, go ahead. Dont forget to get real deep with your words of wisdom. Edit: Also, if you can just debate over philosophy, and other facts.
Unsure if this should be in serious discussion, up to the mods. I never have anything thoughtful to say but a quote I've always enjoyed: "To know, is to know you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge."
A free man has neither gods nor masters, neither debt nor debtors, and lives or dies by his own strength and cunning.
Ahh yes but in this world there is no such thing as a "free man". All men are slaves to mortality, and thus are not actually free.
'Do' or 'do not' - there is no 'try'. OK, so Yoda may not be your textbook philosopher but I still think there's a lot of truth in it. Alternatively: "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad"
Both are excellent, especially yoda, it keeps it lively. Like i said if you have something to say, say it. Ill listen, er read, and im sure others will to.
Some good (and quite thought-provoking) stuff here: http://www.quotegarden.com/philosophical.html Zen koans are particularly good if you want to end up with your brains dribbling out of your ears
I really enjoyed my brief study in Zen philosophy through my Philosophy minor. It makes a lot more sense if you look into the history of Buddhism and the translations from other languages (Sanskrit to English, as you can imagine, leaves a lot of meaning behind).
I used to work with a guy who was a practising Zen Buddhist - although he was a techie (had a PhD in computer science) he'd studied a lot of Zen philosophy, and wider Buddhist philosophy in general, and this gave him a rather interesting, and extremely effective, approach to problem solving. Koans were a big part of that.
I have not had the chance to take such minors, due* to not even starting cellege yet, but philosophy always fascinated me, and my point here is that you have a good point there(dilly star) Somehow spelt due as do
Cant believe i mispelled the title of the thread. But i fixed it. Anyway, i dont know if anyone i ever met did the philosophy schpeal, but i feel like i must have at somepoint, even just for a brief minute. Who knows, maybe i know who it is but cant remember.
I have a background in 'hard' science (specifically, I studied physics) and always used to be dismissive of philosophy and its ilk. As I've got older (and, hopefully, wiser) I've come to appreciate it on its own merits and actually working with folks who put it into practice was really quite an eye opener for me. Hell, one of the guys I worked with when I was doing my PhD gave everything up to go and study philosophy - he's now the joint owner of a pretty successful scientific consulting company! Even if you've not had the chance to study these things formally, at college or whatever, if you feel moved to learn more about them then I'd encourage you to do so - knowledge, and the propagation thereof, is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. Hopefully that doesn't come across as pompous and/or patronising - that's not my intent.
Oh no, i understand what you mean and i have studied some on my own but its hard to find anything good with as little resources as i have, but i try my best and have come far(or at least hope), though i only know a fraction of all there is to offer. I hope someday i can have the advantage that you have. You obviously have a great mind, and am hapoy to kniw your pytting it to good use.
If you intend on attending a university, there are plenty of ways you can study philosophy even if it isn't your primary field of study, so you may have ample opportunity to explore this stuff in the future. I think people in the sciences tend to respect philosophy more once they become acquainted with its different fields; "hard" philosophy would be like Logic, which is the sister field of mathematics. I also did a study in formal Logic; personally, I think it's one of the most interesting aspects of philosophy.
I'd go along with that, at least in my own experience . Lest we forget, before the genrefication of the sciences into a zillion different 'fields' it was all lumped together under the banner of .... natural philosophy!
In response to dilly, i would try a university, but i would have to start at a tech school first, because in highschool i hung around the wrong crowds and ruined my chance at having any immediate success in the schooling area. I *squee!*ed off so hard that i got less than a 1.5 gpa for my whole hs career, even though my senior year was a 4.0 gpa. Yeah, that bad.
After the fact i had to go for another year of hs but in alt school where its quicker to regain credits, because i had to make up 14 out of 21 credits to graduate.
Y'know, that sounds a little bit like the back-story I'm currently concocting for my OC ... the difference being that rather than hanging with the wrong crowd he wanted to pursue music rather than magic. But I digress. I don't know how the education system works where you are (I'm guessing the US because of the mention of GPAs etc.) but you've clearly got a keen brain in your head and, more importantly, you want to put it to good use. I don't think it's too late to make up for the 'bad' high-school years - just chalk it up to experience and move on. We all make mistakes - the hard bit is putting it all behind you and pushing forward. (philosophical enough? )
