I mean, is philosophy meant to be something that you study only when you have need to, or should it be something that you pursue no matter what your interests?
I mean, I have been a “philosopher” all my life, always asking questions about my own existence, how things work in the world around me, etc. I am wondering whether or not this is the extent that philosophy should be.
I mean, do you believe that you should be interested in philosophy only for as long as it takes for you to “figure out” the answers about life that bother you most? Or should you continue philosophisizing even after that, about topics that were never important to you personally to begin with?
I mean, is philosophy just our attempt to feel comfortable with ourselves, to get to a point where we can finally say “WOOHOO Now I don’t have to spend all that time thinking about THAT nonsense, now I can start thinking about Engineering, aviation, biology, etc more earnestly!”
And yes I know that philosophy is the foundation for science in the first place and all that. But once you have that foundation…I mean should philosophy be your MAIN pursuit??
I’m afraid of wasting my life trying to figure out how I can play, how it is that I am able to think, how I am able to exist in the first place, etc. When I should really be spending my life playing, thinking, and existing to my fullest.
Because let’s be honest. Nobody has “the answers.” Not the definitive ones anyway. I’m starting to feel like philosophy is a huge waste of time…especially now that I’ve been visiting some hick towns. The bare-bones “philosophies” that these hicks live by make them just as happy (if not happier) than my intellectual buddies back at my school (it is a very highly ranked school, at that).
I mean I’m just asking. I know some people just love gaining knowledge about things. I do too, or I would’ve never worked as hard as I did to get into this school. But now that I’m here…realizing that I’m basically spending all my time figuring out HOW it is that I am able to think at all…I have to wonder if I shouldn’t just go back to thinking in general. “survivalist” type stuff.
You know, think of this question “What would I be doing if I were apart of a group of 50 people who have just been stranded on an island.” Is thinking about whether or not there is any way to prove that people exist, etc really so important anymore? Hell no.
…..I just realized something…….I’m basically philosophizing about philosophy right now…..crap. Maybe I’m just doomed to be a philosopher type for the rest of my life.
For the record, I”m a cognitive sciences major though, so we do fit some “hard science” in there as well.
THOUGHTS.?
