Im kind of a philosophy buff. I may be comming on to strong. Whether your into profound philosophy or subtle philosophy, its all about being happy. ''The biggest problem in philosophy is suicide. Everything else is just details''.
Good and bad are always relative. The worse off you are, the more serious your problems will be to most people. The better off you are, the more trivial your problems will be to most people. If person A's g.p.a. isnt high enough to get in to Harvard, most people might think thats trivial although person A thinks its the end of the world. Person B might not be able to afford to go to school and think its the end of the world. Who's life is worse? It's relative to the observer though I think B.
I don't think it's so relative - we all need life to experience good things, and good experiences all come from a physical hardware that is generally similar in most people to the point we can pretty much predict what will cause bad feelings and what will cause positive ones in most people, and the more we know about them the more we know how they differ from the average person. If someone is more able to get shit they need for life & hapiness they're better off.
@unassumption As human beings we are all wired very similarly compared to all the other possible we could be wired. Within the human condition though, the difference between stances on issues can be dramatic. A way to think of it would be to say; a half an inch may seem small but, if your range is limited to 2'' thats a dramatic difference. Our differences are only big to us. They are relative to the human condition.
totally agree - most species differ in face as much as us but we can't see it, because we're primmed to see the differences in our speces. 1 foot is about our height range for 1 sex but it seems so big to us. That said I think the similarities are enough to know how to treat people most of the time - and to know when an individual's preferences differ on 1 issue so they should be treated a bit different. Imperfect guesses, but we can still guess pretty well.
@unassumption I like your scientific perspective. I believe that a blend of philosophy and science will bring humanity as close to truth as we can get.
Now you explained what you mean by there's no truth it sounds like what i got from philosphy - not to think *too much* about these unanswered questions because i'm sure not going to answer it
Disagree on the pleasure being meaningless without pain stuff though; bad times are just bad times sometimes.We got rid of famine and most infectious disease and we're no worse for it. An attitude to help you get through the bad times is one thing but to trick yourself into thinking they're actually good?
A friend of mine spent 2 years in prison, was beat up by her boyfriend, and her boyfriend was then shot in the head. She told me now that she's out one of the greatest and most pleasurable things she can do is walk to the store and grab a cup of coffee. For most people that`s a chore.
It's not worth the price she paid in advance. I'm sure it'll wear off quicker than the bad experiences too. Not that I know her it could be different. She's probably just saying it was worth it. Not everything happens for a reason. If she hadn't had those experiences I'm sure she'd be much happier.
Though a little bad can be like dirt and allergies, and prevent needless anxiety. Big bad is likely to cause more PTSD than anything.
I wish I knew what psychology had to say about moderation, and while I know what Aristotle said about it I think I would've found out myself through living life or met someone who had that notion come to them without reading him, and there's probably nuances and exceptions that any simple rule like the golden mean misses out. There's some truth in almost every philosopher - but how much truth, where does it apply, why does it, what are the exceptions? Not sure how to figure them out with it =/
I'm sure psychology could give better advice (maybe the same stuff, like be moderate, but taking the exceptions and reasoning into consideration) but for most of history people lacked it, it's still young, and more importantly doesn't communicate itself well to most audiences (i don't know any of it!).
I feel like philosophers are people talking about life, and prefer people alive today who do that on youtube etc., but see the value of getting long dead folk' opinions to see what's perennial
I understand where your comming from. I don't think that philosophy can or will change the world, but it can change the way you feel about it. I believe that through philosophy one can gain the tools one needs to be as happy and well adjusted as one can be in life.
Im kind of a philosophy buff. I may be comming on to strong. Whether your into profound philosophy or subtle philosophy, its all about being happy. ''The biggest problem in philosophy is suicide. Everything else is just details''.
russellprophet 2 months ago
Good and bad are always relative. The worse off you are, the more serious your problems will be to most people. The better off you are, the more trivial your problems will be to most people. If person A's g.p.a. isnt high enough to get in to Harvard, most people might think thats trivial although person A thinks its the end of the world. Person B might not be able to afford to go to school and think its the end of the world. Who's life is worse? It's relative to the observer though I think B.
russellprophet 2 months ago
@russellprophet
I don't think it's so relative - we all need life to experience good things, and good experiences all come from a physical hardware that is generally similar in most people to the point we can pretty much predict what will cause bad feelings and what will cause positive ones in most people, and the more we know about them the more we know how they differ from the average person. If someone is more able to get shit they need for life & hapiness they're better off.
unassumption 2 months ago
@unassumption As human beings we are all wired very similarly compared to all the other possible we could be wired. Within the human condition though, the difference between stances on issues can be dramatic. A way to think of it would be to say; a half an inch may seem small but, if your range is limited to 2'' thats a dramatic difference. Our differences are only big to us. They are relative to the human condition.
russellprophet 2 months ago
@russellprophet
totally agree - most species differ in face as much as us but we can't see it, because we're primmed to see the differences in our speces. 1 foot is about our height range for 1 sex but it seems so big to us. That said I think the similarities are enough to know how to treat people most of the time - and to know when an individual's preferences differ on 1 issue so they should be treated a bit different. Imperfect guesses, but we can still guess pretty well.
unassumption 2 months ago
@unassumption I like your scientific perspective. I believe that a blend of philosophy and science will bring humanity as close to truth as we can get.
russellprophet 2 months ago
@russellprophet
tend to agree, we need to know what the world is through science then interpret what that means with philosophy.
unassumption 2 months ago
Now you explained what you mean by there's no truth it sounds like what i got from philosphy - not to think *too much* about these unanswered questions because i'm sure not going to answer it
Disagree on the pleasure being meaningless without pain stuff though; bad times are just bad times sometimes.We got rid of famine and most infectious disease and we're no worse for it. An attitude to help you get through the bad times is one thing but to trick yourself into thinking they're actually good?
unassumption 2 months ago
@unassumption
A friend of mine spent 2 years in prison, was beat up by her boyfriend, and her boyfriend was then shot in the head. She told me now that she's out one of the greatest and most pleasurable things she can do is walk to the store and grab a cup of coffee. For most people that`s a chore.
ugoodHomeBoy 2 months ago
@ugoodHomeBoy
It's not worth the price she paid in advance. I'm sure it'll wear off quicker than the bad experiences too. Not that I know her it could be different. She's probably just saying it was worth it. Not everything happens for a reason. If she hadn't had those experiences I'm sure she'd be much happier.
Though a little bad can be like dirt and allergies, and prevent needless anxiety. Big bad is likely to cause more PTSD than anything.
unassumption 2 months ago
@ugoodHomeBoy Thats a beautiful thing. Your friend now knows whats real in life.We tend to forget sometimes.
russellprophet 2 months ago
I wish I knew what psychology had to say about moderation, and while I know what Aristotle said about it I think I would've found out myself through living life or met someone who had that notion come to them without reading him, and there's probably nuances and exceptions that any simple rule like the golden mean misses out. There's some truth in almost every philosopher - but how much truth, where does it apply, why does it, what are the exceptions? Not sure how to figure them out with it =/
unassumption 2 months ago
I'm sure psychology could give better advice (maybe the same stuff, like be moderate, but taking the exceptions and reasoning into consideration) but for most of history people lacked it, it's still young, and more importantly doesn't communicate itself well to most audiences (i don't know any of it!).
I feel like philosophers are people talking about life, and prefer people alive today who do that on youtube etc., but see the value of getting long dead folk' opinions to see what's perennial
unassumption 2 months ago
I understand where your comming from. I don't think that philosophy can or will change the world, but it can change the way you feel about it. I believe that through philosophy one can gain the tools one needs to be as happy and well adjusted as one can be in life.
russellprophet 2 months ago