Mikie

Let me throw this out here as well: To be a philosopher, you must engage with one question above all others: the question of being.

Have you seen any Malick films?

I think it is deeper than that, yet without relying on credentialism. There is no clear way to determine when one becomes worthy of the title "philoso...

I would include engagement with others, alive or dead, as part of philosophy -- and therefore part of the kind of thinking I was referring to. But you...

I don't know if there is one alternative, but I don't see why "thinker" can't be used as meaning basically the same thing, if by thinking we mean the ...

That's often claimed. But I don't think we know for sure who did.

I'm not sure they would agree. But even if they did, it's pretty easy to point to what is traditionally (and commonly) used as examples of what a "phi...

I didn’t make that claim. A philosopher is someone who, presumably, engages in philosophy — I’d say more than occasionally. Occasionally doing mathema...

If you're asking perennial, universal questions -- you're "doing" philosophy. For that moment, you're a philosopher. It's a kind of thinking. In today...

https://youtu.be/BHw2LJ3zMsA Worth watching for the climate change piece alone. Valuable. I still have a deep respect for Sagan.

What’s the reason?

Again, there's no technical notion for either word. What I'm asking about is usage. It appears most people (so far) do not use them interchangeably. F...

A clearer understanding of consciousness and awareness -- basically by acknowledging that there's no good reason to see them as anything but synonymou...

I'm seeing the numbers, in my case. Regardless, even if I were blind I don't see how arithmetic is relevant here, unless we want to define "thinking" ...

I don’t see how anyone can make such vast generalizations about women. True, I think women are far more likely to be dehumanized— but that’s a product...

Awareness/consciousness is a characteristic (or state) of being. “Consciousness is conscious being” makes little sense to me. I can’t make heads or ta...

I don’t see why that move is justified. You can do it, of course, but it doesn’t seem to get us anywhere. Again, I don’t see why consciousness has to ...

True. Like the people. Like workers. Etc. It doesn’t mean everyone is the same, it means decisions are made by the entire community— voting is one way...

So you're referring to a theoretical state that cannot be achieved and cannot be measured? Which is what I am using as well. And when you look at GDP,...

I think you're using "consciousness" in a physiological sense, similar to being "alive." I see it more as someone can be generally awake, aware, consc...

"Wisdoms"? More like weak, cowardly advice a terrified, cynical grandfather would give. Drugs can be awesome and enlightening and fun. Not getting inv...

That's exactly the point, though. How (1) are we defining capitalist? And (2), how are we measuring efficiency? China is a fairly large and booming ec...

Yes, I do. There's a long record of it, if you care to go back and look. Taking this exchange on this thread, it's very obvious. Going just fine until...

But if you don't define it, then you're not talking about anything. So far as I can see, there are no capitalist economies in the sense of "free marke...

:roll: You repeatedly take me out of context, put words in my mouth, "disagree" for no reason, and initiate this "bad faith" with condescending commen...

I think so too. What would "true" socialism be, in your view? Fair enough. But I feel it best to at least once credit my major influences. Agreed. I l...

I never once said I don't feel motivated to get together with others. I never once said others don't want to get together with me. The sentence you qu...

That's what others have mentioned earlier. It is indeed an important factor, which is why I created this thread, which specifically addresses this. Bu...

We can't talk about alternatives to something we can't define. Your definition of "efficient means of solving extremely complex problems" is inadequat...

And also the shaper of human thought, feeling, and action. Christianity is an expression of thought, feeling, and action as well -- and vice versa. Sy...

I appreciate the pushback. That statement of mine was provocative. Why favor it? Because I ultimately take the side of Plato and Nietzsche. If you're ...

I appreciate this response. This is a very good question. I personally don’t think we can make that assumption. It’s not simply about removing suppres...

I agree with this 100%. It’s like a despair— a kind of defeatism. Why bother? Nothing we can do —it’s hopeless. This relates to what I’m saying here a...

Human beings. But so do cupcakes. Are cupcakes therefore part of human nature?

HTML and CSS. Ninth edition. Joe Casabona.

I put more blame on those doing the dividing -- and here the media (including social media) plays an outsized role. But it's true, I do also throw som...

Sounds like defeatism. But so be it.

True, but I'm talking about today. At the heart of the matter, in my view, are phenomena that have always been there: irrationality, false beliefs, gr...

True. But who's blaming the victims? And more of this is needed. I'm leery about attributing to the current socioeconomic system any idea of natural l...

I see what you mean now. Yes, if people have no goals and don’t care about anything, it’s impossible to join together towards an end. Those in power c...

Me? What does that mean?

It’s a matter of definition— the main thesis in this thread is about obstacles to joining together with others. Do you have experiences relevant to th...

Whatever goals we have, I’m thinking more and more there’s only one way to get there: through collective effort. That’s not to say we lose our individ...

I realized I never really offered any practical solutions. But there's one I come back to over and over again in my reading, which is obvious and simp...

There's much to say about voluntary employment, which does get raised a lot. "It's not as if someone has a gun to your head -- you can leave and get a...

Fair enough. Here's one that I think strikes at the heart of many disagreements, but which is also concrete: A hypothetical scenario. A corporation ma...

Who's to say what's lesser or greater? What would an example be, to make it concrete? What are you driving at with this principle? God? Isn't Anselm's...

Nation-states have not existed for thousands of years. We're talking about the modern world, and modern industrial capitalism. Regardless, to argue "w...

You gave no statistics, you gave a website with various metrics, like GDP and poverty. I could give the same link after talking about government polic...

Don’t feed the trolls. It’s the mistake I keep making.