My philosophy

[TheKomodo]

Hello World
I am that I am
I remember therefore I was
I think therefore I am
I dream therefore I can
We are that we are
We remember therefore we were
We think therefore we are
We dream therefore we can
We leave, therefore we say goodbye.

[Bloopy]

I like the idea of posting one's philosophy as a thread so I'll gladly acknowledge this one. While trying to outline my own philosophy I realised I also had to work out what it even means to say "a person's philosophy". I figure it means a thing with multiple aspects, of which I came up with 4 so far:

1. Way of thinking
2. Way of interacting with others
3. Understanding of the cosmos
4. Way of moving through time/seeking one's destiny

I suppose #3 covers awareness of this world we exist in and saying hello/goodbye to it. #1 and #2 for I am and we are. #4 for remembering the past through to dreaming/planning to create in the future and the butterfly effect of our actions. So I'm hoping I've got all the important aspects covered.

This all has lots of assumptions built in about reality etc. which I suppose metaphysics deals with. I tend to doubt we have any free will to shape the world, with our actual 'self' merely being the consciousness experience observing helplessly (unless consciousness is some sorta quantum thing, given in quantum physics we can't interact with anything without altering it). But these questions seem to be on an entirely different level to the above. For example, "way of thinking" may be the processes of one's real self, or it may be the processes of the brain we have no control over. It doesn't matter either way if our goal is just to define the philosophy of the creature which may or may not really be 'us'.

[Kradie]

My approach to life is to be optimistic, and hopeful for a better tomorrow. To be happy, patient, understanding, and kind, or try to be no matter the circumstance. Not to fall pray to doubt, Ignorance, cynicism, and, nihilism. But to be brave and fight those who wish us harm. And ultimately, to hate evil.

I also love to be curious and grateful about the universe and all the way to the tiniest of things.

In addition I pretty much I live by the golden rule ''Treat Others as They Do''

It's all about character, behavior, and what you do that makes you who you are.

That's me.

[rUNaW4y]

My approach to life is to be optimistic, and hopeful for a better tomorrow. To be happy, patient, understanding, and kind, or try to be no matter the circumstance. Not to fall pray to doubt, Ignorance, cynicism, and, nihilism. But to be brave and fight those who wish us harm. And ultimately, to hate evil.

I also love to be curious and grateful about the universe and all the way to the tiniest of things.

In addition I pretty much I live by the golden rule ''Treat Others as They Do''

It's all about character, behavior, and what you do that makes you who you are.

That's me.

It looks like a nice definition for Jihadists to be used on Wikipedia.

[TheKomodo]

Thanks for replying Bloopy! Always great to read your stuff.

This all has lots of assumptions built in about reality etc. which I suppose metaphysics deals with. I tend to doubt we have any free will to shape the world, with our actual 'self' merely being the consciousness experience observing helplessly (unless consciousness is some sorta quantum thing, given in quantum physics we can't interact with anything without altering it).

The more I've been thinking about it the more I believe that nothing or anybody has individual free will, we as a species, as living beings have mutual free will with both other living beings, mother nature, the mixed realities all around us and pretty much everything via the butterfly effect.

Nobody is independent, nothing is independent.

Without the planet, the environment, we wouldn't exist this way.

Everything we think and do is only possible because we do not exist alone, everything is based on interaction with the rest of reality.

But that's my belief, which is why it's "We think, therefore we are", an evolution of "I think, therefore I am".

[Kradie]

I get the sense that this thread is about secular philosophy, and where everything else is looked over.

Who would want a topic on TUS that challenges these viewpoints presented by Komodo and Bloopy? It would be another conversation about science vs religion again, and such topics gets eventually closed.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't understand and share these two people's viewpoints. In fact it makes sense to me too. But, I don't go around thinking about what quantum physics, and what it does around every corner. It doesn't really help and guide me much around in my life, but to know of it.

When it comes to free will, I believe we have it, but only in the confinement of our nature and society.

[TheKomodo]

I didn't mention anything about athiesm or religion, you brought that up, that's on you lol.

[Impossible]

Hello World
I am that I am
I remember therefore I was
I think therefore I am
I dream therefore I can
We are that we are
We remember therefore we were
We think therefore we are
We dream therefore we can
We leave, therefore we say goodbye.

i'm sorry komo but of all the things you've written, only cartesian cogito ergo sum makes sense. remembering does not always mean being, as memories can be false. but to think always means to exist, so that's always a good one.
i'd actually recommend reading descartes, his texts on philosophy aren't that hard, he wrote with crystal purity. and his meditations will give a good perspective, it's a pretty interesting read. descartes wanted to find the very basic starting point from which to build a philosophy, that's why things he wrote were that simple, yet influencial, especially the phrase you quoted

[Impossible]

personally, i'm stuck searching for meaning.

it has been going for years, since i was a kid. i've read all the philosophy and religious books, and I haven't really found an answer. all texts try to penetrate the question of meaning, but not one can give a satisfactory answer. and the rest of philosophy has no purpose without the meaning, so it always comes back to that one question. i found answers that satisfied me for months and years, but each one eventually fell apart.
i can discuss this forever. i feel that one day i'll be able to find an approach to this question. but so far, my search has only taken me further from this goal.

[TheKomodo]

Maybe they don't make sense to you, but they definitely make sense to me with the way I intend them to be, and although Descartes said "I think, therefore I am" my interpretation and meaning of this is different and it's not me quoting him, it's me quoting me because it's the sum of individual parts and meanings that makes my philosophy so powerful and can really help people achieve close to anything in their lives.

Let me break it down for you in a very basic way, but it goes a lot deeper than the following:

Hello world(Birth)

I am that I am(Others recognizing I exist, I was created, I am acknowledged)

I remember therefore I was(I remember things from the past which helps my consciousness interpret this reality, pain, hunger, emotions, the physical and mental)

I think therefore I am(Aware of your own existence and how you have an effect on reality - butterfly effect)

I dream therefore I can(Aware you can imagine things that can exist in the future, or think about things, then bring them into the physical reality by using the basic 3 elements of creativity - Copy>Transform>Combine)

We are that we are(We all exist together and are aware we all exist together, not alone)

We remember therefore we were(We all can remember the past and we can remember our shared past, photos, videos, memory, science, etc... From every perspective, whether accurate or not it still shapes our combined future.)

We think therefore we are(We are aware of others existence on Earth and how we, together have an even more powerful effect on reality, the world, and eventually the universe. The more common bonds shared the more powerful those forces become and can shape the shared reality we exist within - butterfly effect)

We dream therefore we can(We are aware we can imagine things together that can exist in the future, or think about things, then bring them into the physical reality together and shape the world)

We leave, therefore we say goodbye(This can be death or just saying "Goodbye for now")

[l7cx1Cl]

as someone who reads philosophy and dating a philosopher..

"if you want to understand the universe, first know yourself"
-- Acropolis

[Kradie]

personally, i'm stuck searching for meaning.

it has been going for years, since i was a kid. i've read all the philosophy and religious books, and I haven't really found an answer. all texts try to penetrate the question of meaning, but not one can give a satisfactory answer. and the rest of philosophy has no purpose without the meaning, so it always comes back to that one question. i found answers that satisfied me for months and years, but each one eventually fell apart.
i can discuss this forever. i feel that one day i'll be able to find an approach to this question. but so far, my search has only taken me further from this goal.

Have you read the book Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl?

I highly recommend
https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl-ebook/dp/B009U9S6FI

[Impossible]

Have you read the book Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl?

I highly recommend

yeah, i've read 'search for meaning' and his other work on logotherapy. the problem with the logotherapy is that it can only get you so far.

Frankl's greatest achievement is "man's search for meaning", indeed, because it outlines how important it is to have meaning (in context of concentration camps, having meaning of life is the difference between life and death). and i agree.

but how exactly do you find meaning? that's the main weakness of logotherapy

once you've gotten a little into philosophy, there's not much logotherapy can give to you.

the problem is that there is no meaning in the outside world. meaning exists inside people's heads, as a deception, thanks to which they continue to exist. there is no meaning in the real world itself, and in order to have meaning in life, you need to maintain a self-delusion, a lie that meaning is real. depressed people are closest to the truth, because their ability to create mirages of meaning (aka dopamine system) is broken, and they cannot effectively lead themselves into self-deception.

our healthy brains that keeps us happy does so by deceiving ourselves. and i know, this is a hard thought to agree with. but once you understand it, there is no turning back.

how is logotherapy supposed to help with this? well, from the logotherapy point of view, if you can't find the meaning, a logotherapist will give you the meaning (and also antidepressants).

but having received the meaning from the outside, I will not have the responsibility to this meaning, which is what logotherapy comes down to. moreover, if I see that any meanings that seem to appear before my eyes are illusory, I will also see the illusory nature of the meaning of the logotherapist.

of all the existentialists, I liked Camus the most. if Frankl is an apologist for the need for meaning, which is generally obvious, Camus raised the issue of the lack of meaning very well, which was like meeting a kindred spirit for me. the absurd as meaning is also interesting, but in the end, Camus deceived himself too, in order to escape from the trap of meaning.

the problem of meaning is fundamental. things can only acquire meaning from the outside. and we as species can't look "outside" the universe, or ask gods about our purpose.

analytical philosophers even argued that the very formulation of the question of meaning is linguistically incorrect, so such a question should not be asked. but the question is necessary in order to live, and so I disagree.

i have been thinking about this for many years and have found some philosophical tricks that allow one to suppose the existence of meaning without self-deception.
i also think that one can transcend meaning through meditation. and i probably have a lifelong journey ahead of me to find this out

[Kradie]

Some people, particular religious people, argues that if there is no God, there is no meaning. In addition, even if you don't believe in God, the Importance of God is necessary. Because with belief of something greater than you, there lies a meaning.

What I am about to say to you now Impossible, is not meant to be Insulting and offensive. Your perspective depresses me. It is a viewpoint devoid of hope and meaning. I would be extremely depressed if I thought like this. Personally for me, meaning comes from gratefulness, and with gratefulness comes happiness. You cannot be happy if you are not grateful. An ungrateful person is not a good person. I am a person who appreciate the tiniest of things, I find meaning in them, an aspiration for gratefulness. There lies meaning for me.

A while back ago I made an appreciation thread for MonkeyIsland, because I wanted to show him my gratefulness to him. Sure I haven't donated but he doesn't ask people, but he I think he understands anyway. 

What I am about to share now, might be controversial to some of you, and if a Mod wishes to delete this link, they can, but it would be a shame.

I find great meaning in Dennis Prager's FireSide Chat. He is very pragmatic, easy going, and doesn't lecture. He just sits and talks about whatever. Scroll through the page, maybe you will find a video or two that might interest you.
https://www.prageru.com/series/fireside-chats

[FoxHound]

Impossible made a huge analysis about philosophy citing several authors, and Kradie talk about religion, god and at the end shares a link for the full collection of PragerU videos.

Here we notice the limitations of Kradie's brain.