First off sorry for the hiatus. Back now so all is good. Anyway. This post may seem like a rambled argument about many things and you are correct. Well done. Very perceptive. Have a cookie. Perhaps I will post something slightly more focussed at some point. Oh well. Enjoy.
Before I really get into the main point I want to make I want to be clear on one thing. This post is not in any way trying to convert anyone to believe in God or not believe in God. This post is highlighting problems that I see with a certain type of prayer and the Problem of Evil which has been talked about and discussed since the Ancient Greeks. Please don't get all offended or defensive if you don't agree this is just my thinking on the subject.
To me, prayer to a God like the Abrahamic God of Christianity, Islam and Judaism doesn't make any sense. This is why explained in the form of an analogy. A fireman gets a call that a hospital is on fire. Oh the horror! Him and all his fireman friends rush to the fire engines and get to the fire in super quick time. As they are unwinding the hoses and getting ready a man walks up to the fireman and says "That buildings on fire!" The fireman looks confused and says "Yeah I know, I'm a fireman and I'm here to put it out." The man then says "You have to put that fire out! You're a fireman it's your job!" The fireman looks confused again and says "Yeah I know. I am fully aware of the fire and what my role is." The man turns looks at the flaming hospital and says "It's a hospital and there are people inside." "YES I KNOW" "But you have to do something because you are a fireman and it is your job to put out fires and save people's lives!" "I AM DOING SOMETHING!" and the scene carries on like this.
This situation is how I see praying to God for someone because they are sick or in trouble or in some way need help. By praying to God to help with someones problem would that not be like telling the fireman (in this case an omniscient fireman that is aware of everything in the universe) that he really needs to do something about that fire? Praying like this just seems entirely pointless and a little insulting to God. I mean you are kind of whining at him to solve your problems. This type of praying does nothing for anyone. Praying for some kid that has cancer (you've all seen the posts on Facebook going round) isn't actually (this may come as a surprise) going to cure that kid's cancer. Research into medical techniques and drugs now that helps a lot. I can't help but see this type of praying as just a way for people to show they care about a problem but aren't actually willing to part with any cash or time to help solve the problem. I don't know about you but in my book doing something like this makes you a bad person. Now praying to God to feel a connection to a higher spiritual being I can understand. I have no need for it and find solace in other ways and in other parts of my life but if it works for you knock yourself out. I would say that getting answers from prayers is actually answers coming from inside yourself and your own innate strength of character and your minds boundless potential but if you want to say it's angels then go for it just don't try to convince me it's angels.
Now lets go back and take the Fireman analogy a step further (a blasphemous step further) and say that the fireman not only knows about the fire but is the one that lit it in the first place. God is described in the Bible, Quran and the Torah as being omniscient (all-seeing) and omnipotent (all-powerful). If this description of him is true then God knows when bad stuff is happening and is fully capable of not only solving the bad stuff but not letting the bad stuff even occur. God sees the murderer plotting, the drunk driver getting into their car, the arsonist pick up their matches and he does nothing about it. God can make a man walk on water (which is so incredibly useful to the human race) but can't get someone to change their mind, can't make a battery go dead, can't make every match break when someone tries to light them? Or is it that he doesn't want to stop them? So what does this mean? There are 4 ways out of this:
1. God is not all powerful (but then why is he called God?)
2. God is not omniscient (again why call him God?)
3. God is evil (how comforting...)
4. God isn't there (at least the Abrahamic version of God isn't there)
For me the last one seems most likely. Now others argue that God is letting these things happen for a reason (the ol' "mysterious ways" argument) but I would disagree with this by going all the way back to the beginning of the universe.
Imagine you are God (I'm getting you to do a lot of imaging in this post. Lots of analogies and stuff...) and you are creating the universe. Now you have the option of designing the perfect universe with no hate or pain or anger. Not only would they not exist but they would be inconceivable to the inhabitants of your universe. For them it would be like trying to think of a new colour. Wouldn't you want a world like that? The argument against this is that humans need pain to develop and grow and we learn from our good and our bad experiences (I could start arguing "how exactly are people supposed to develop after a tsunami has killed all their family?" but I'll move on from that) but I would say that God (being omnipotent) could create humans and a world where development isn't necessary. A world where we are born perfect. People say it's better to develop virtues over time and this shows true character but we only believe that because in this universe, for our species, we pride ourselves on development and think things that come fully formed and perfect are somehow less impressive. We like the under-dog that fights their way to the top but in a new universe that is entirely unformed it doesn't have to be like that. Things born perfect and fully formed are best. Struggle and hard work are unknown concepts. So why didn't God create a world like that? Why did he allow evil and suffering to even be possible? My argument is that he didn't. Pain is a construction of life. Without pain life would die out very quickly.
Pain is a big signpost that something is wrong and action needs to be taken to change our surroundings. Pain in your hand when you hold it over a candle; move it away to prevent damage to your tissues. Break everything down to the molecular level and what you are left with is particles interacting with each other. There is no good or bad interactions, just interactions. Pain is simply receptors being stimulated and passing an electric current all the way up your nerves to your brain (or not even to your brain, reflex reactions don't need any input from your brain at all). All of this is just particles interacting. Pain is unpleasant because if it was pleasant then we wouldn't for very long (BDSM is too complicated to get into right now...).
Pain doesn't make sense in a universe that has an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God. It does however make sense in a universe that has no God of this description and is simply running along with all life trying not to disappear forever in a gigantic eons long arm's race that will never end.
So to sum up. I think praying to God to end your woes is stupid because he's God and is fully aware of what's going on if he does exist and if he doesn't it's like screaming at a dark room for making it hard to see. A creative force that started the Big Bang could well exist but might also not. Either way there is no point praying to it. Evil and pain are necessary in this universe for life to survive and adapt so when you are hurt, use the experience to your advantage in any way you can. If you can't find anything good about your situation then take heart. You are not the only one to ever experience pain. Others have, others do and others will. It is the fate of all living things and it's kept us alive for millions of years and hopefully it will for a few more million.
Monday, 30 September 2013
Friday, 6 September 2013
My philosophy
So second post on this blog. Exciting. In this post I am going to talk about exactly what I believe in. Boring? Could be. I have talked a lot to people I know about what I believe (read this as: lectured them until they moved away) and I have to admit I love talking about what I think. Hell I have a blog now, that much should be obvious. Whether you will enjoy reading about my beliefs, I don't know but you don't have to read it so do what you want.
ANYWAY. When it comes to pinning down beliefs it can get a bit tricky. Humans like labelling things and don't really like grey areas (future blog subject perhaps) and beliefs aren't exactly concrete and not all of them really have definite names. This can complicate things. To make this post simple (and short) I'm just going to use the general labels that are usually attributed to what I believe.
I am a nihilist. No not an anarchist a nihilist. No not a Satanist (don't be silly) a nihilist. Nihilism is defined (by Wikipedia anyway) as
"the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putativelymeaningful aspects of life."
Yeah I don't understand that either. I think should try and be a bit clearer. There are lots of different types of nihilism and I don't believe in all of them but some I believe are correct. One of these is Existential Nihilism. What this means is that I don't believe that life has any meaning. Now before you start thinking "Wow he must be so depressed! No meaning to life?" hear me out. I am far from depressed by thinking this. Most mainstream religions and doctrines say that the point of life is to worship God or do good so that you are rewarded in Heaven or something along those lines. Whatever the individual goal there is always a goal. I disagree. There is no goal. There is no finish line or top of the pyramid or "true path". This idea can scare people and I completely understand that. Suddenly you find that you are surrounded by chaos. If everything is meaningless then I am meaningless too. Wrong. Humanity creates it's own meaning. There are no rules written into the fabric of the universe that dictate that you must do this or that so you have to form your own rules, your own values and you set your own end goals. I don't feel depressed by the idea of there being no intrinsic meaning in the world I feel liberated. I can do and strive for what I want and not feel guilty because I broke some cosmic law that I had no choice in deciding. I am truly free to decide my fate and if I don't reach my end goal who cares? It's personal and I can do what I want. Now at this point you may well say "But hey wait a minute! What about laws and morals and good and bad? You can't do some things because they are just wrong!" Well...
My second core belief is Moral (or Ethical) Nihilism. I don't believe that good or bad exist. Moral laws are as baseless as the laws that tell you that the point of life is to worship an omnipotent deity. Picture the scene: It's 80 AD and you are in Rome. Emperor Titus has just finished building (well when I say he I mean his hundreds of slaves) the Colosseum! 100 days of festivities play out. There are gladiatorial matches (3,000 gladiators competing in a single day), wild animal fights, the arena is flooded and full naval battles occur. Wooden balls are thrown into the crowd and on each ball is inscribed a prize which could be anything from gold to slaves. Imagine that! Your very own free slaves!
Imagine if someone tried to organise something similar today. Fights, blood, slaves. There would be outrage. People would be horrified. They would think that that person was mad or dangerous and should be locked away. So why was it OK in the time of Titus but so very wrong now? Well values and morals have changed. So what's to say they won't change again? You are sure that killing is wrong right? Well what about in a hundred years? A thousand years? Please keep in mind that the last person executed in Britain was executed in 1964. Not that long ago is it. Plenty of countries still do execute people. A lot of people. Morals are not like gravity. Morals are man-made. We decide what is right and wrong and we can change our minds at any time. In believing in Moral Nihilism I am saying that I recognise that morals are not fixed and nothing is ever intrinsically, within itself, wrong or right. Again this idea scares people. "If you don't believe in right or wrong then you have nothing to stop you going on a killing spree! You could take what you want with no remorse or conscience!" Not true.
I don't go on killing sprees. I don't steal. I don't torture. The reason I don't do these things is not because I have the idea of Hell held over me to scare me into doing what's right and I am not just blindly following other peoples rules. I don't do these things because I have decided for myself that I shouldn't do those things. Humans have evolved a conscience for a reason and that reason is to survive and get along with others. Now our conscience can be influenced and changed but it is primarily there to help everyone get along. SO I do that which helps humanity and I don't do that which would injure it. I'm sure everyone has had the discussion "Would you kill one person if it saved a 100 others?" (or something similar) Well I would answer that it depends on the one person and the 100 others. If the one person could help create a better world and the 100 others would only damage it then I would let the one live even if he killed the 100 or caused their death. If that one person would damage humanity if I allowed them to live (and there were no alternatives) then I would kill them. No moral law is sacred and no action entirely, intrinsically wrong or good. There are just actions. With the whole 100 days of bloodsport I would probably say that's a bad idea. I don't think humanity would get much use out of 3,000 dead gladiators and a load of mutilated animals.
My third and final (not long now stay with me) core belief is the belief that free will doesn't exist. Yeah how am I going to justify that one. I mean I was just saying all that hippy floaty crap that "you are free to do as you wish!" Well you can kind of... Let me explain.
I believe in Determinism. Hard Determinism to be precise. To understand this view you have to go back to the Big Bang. Now the Big Bang was a rapid expansion of all the matter and particles in the universe. Everything that has existed, does exist and ever will exist was contained in an infinitely small space. Carl Sagan once said that to make an apple pie you must first invent the universe because how can you make a pie with no matter? Now Hard Determinism is based on Newtonian physics namely that every action has a cause. Things that aren't moving don't just start moving spontaneously. They need a cause. Now, if everything in the universe is merely the end product of the Big Bang that means it should be possible (theoretically) to follow everything back to the Big Bang. Every atom of your being is billions of years old (cool huh). Now all of these atoms interact with each other and interact in specific ways. They follow physical rules such as gravity, refraction, friction etc. So the universe is made up of particles interacting with each other following physical laws. Determinism says that if it is possible to know every physical law of the universe and know the position of every piece of matter in the universe at a specific time then you will be able to predict the future. You will know exactly how each particle is going to interact and react and what it's next position will be. Now human beings are made up of particles so it could be argued that if this was possible you would be able to know what someone is going to do next. But that would mean we have no free will. We are stuck on rails and we don't make the decisions.
But hang on, when humans make a decision we FEEL we have decided it ourselves. No-one decided for us we are our own free agents. Psychology says different. Did you know if you paint the walls of a prison red, violence (prisoner on prisoner, prisoner on guard even guard on prisoner) will go up? Did you know if you repaint those very same walls green, violence will go down? We are constantly taking in the world around us though our senses and basing our decisions on what is around us and a lot of this is happening unconsciously. How is that free will? If you can be influenced into committing a violent act just because of a colour what else can you be influenced to do? Derren Brown has made a career of of this very thing. He once convinced someone to assassinate Stephen Fry. Perfectly normal person turned into a would-be assassin. Did that guy freely choose his actions? No. So why do we think we are free to do anything?
Pick a murderer. Any murderer. I'll choose Charles Manson. Look back at their history before their crimes. Did they have a happy, go-lucky childhood where their parents were perfect and nothing bad happened to them. I'm guessing not. Charles Manson's mother was 16 when she had him. She became an alcoholic and once reportedly sold Manson to a waitress for a pitcher of beer. His uncle picked him up a few days later. Throughout his childhood Manson went from one "correctional institute" to another. Basically his life sucked. Does that excuse the crimes he committed? No. Does it go some way to explain them? Possibly. What I am saying is that every decision doesn't just come out of thin air. We base it on what has gone before. We are machines. We have our inputs, we take in information, we analyze it and we have our outputs, our actions and decisions. We aren't in control of our inputs and we aren't always in control of our analysis so how can we say we decided the output?
Look back at your own history. Everything that has ever happened to you has shaped the person you are. You may have scars on your skin but you have a lot more scars that can't be seen. Every interaction you have ever had has influenced your behaviour. So how can you be free?
Now at this point I should say something about Quantum Physics. Don't worry I'm not going into this in depth but it needs mentioning. Now Quantum Mechanics doesn't stick to Newtonian physics. Cause and effect don't really follow through. Everything at the quantum level is probabilistic. This is a problem for Determinism because on the surface it proves it wrong. BUT there are those that argue that the cause in Quantum Mechanics just haven't been found yet. The laws that control these interactions might not have been discovered yet so it could well be possible that Quantum Mechanics does fit a Deterministic view just not yet. Now those who want to believe they are free may well be saying "AHA! You're wrong! I am free because of Quantum Mechanics!" Well actually no. Particles randomly waving around in your head making your decisions isn't any more free is it really. SO any way you cut it you aren't free...
Now again people think of this as depressing. "I am just a machine. A pile of atoms interacting with another pile of atoms and I have no choice! I might as well stay in a cave!" I would disagree. Things may influence us but we also influence things. We are made up of exactly the same "stuff" as a tree, as a mouse, as a blue whale, as a star, as the Earth itself. We are part of an enclosed system. Everything we do keeps the wheels of the universe turning. We are forging a path through the particles and like a lake we leave ripples. Just by standing in a beam of light you are interacting with the universe. Photons are bouncing off your very being and scattering around you. Just by existing you have influenced the course of the universe. Now the fact that you were going to stand in that beam may have been preordained by your past influences and experiences but does that stop it being beautiful? Is a painting any less beautiful because the artist has been influenced by other artists? The music any less sweet? I see the world as a gigantic machine that I am a part of. Whatever state the universe ends up at I am an integral part of that process. If I didn't exist the universe would be different. I am important. I matter because I am made of matter. Now we can use this information to inspire us to go on and do things which will benefit our species. Or you can do something completely other, like I said there is no point to the universe do what seems right. Although our actions may already be determined we don't think or act like that but we should be aware that actions have consequences and the power we hold in our hands to decide the fate of humanity, life and the universe at large. We cannot ever be tricked into thinking we are unimportant. We are just as important as trees and ants and supernovas and electrons.
So that's what I believe. I believe that the world has no meaning, that there are no moral laws and that we have no free will. And I think that it's all rather beautiful.
ANYWAY. When it comes to pinning down beliefs it can get a bit tricky. Humans like labelling things and don't really like grey areas (future blog subject perhaps) and beliefs aren't exactly concrete and not all of them really have definite names. This can complicate things. To make this post simple (and short) I'm just going to use the general labels that are usually attributed to what I believe.
I am a nihilist. No not an anarchist a nihilist. No not a Satanist (don't be silly) a nihilist. Nihilism is defined (by Wikipedia anyway) as
"the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putativelymeaningful aspects of life."
Yeah I don't understand that either. I think should try and be a bit clearer. There are lots of different types of nihilism and I don't believe in all of them but some I believe are correct. One of these is Existential Nihilism. What this means is that I don't believe that life has any meaning. Now before you start thinking "Wow he must be so depressed! No meaning to life?" hear me out. I am far from depressed by thinking this. Most mainstream religions and doctrines say that the point of life is to worship God or do good so that you are rewarded in Heaven or something along those lines. Whatever the individual goal there is always a goal. I disagree. There is no goal. There is no finish line or top of the pyramid or "true path". This idea can scare people and I completely understand that. Suddenly you find that you are surrounded by chaos. If everything is meaningless then I am meaningless too. Wrong. Humanity creates it's own meaning. There are no rules written into the fabric of the universe that dictate that you must do this or that so you have to form your own rules, your own values and you set your own end goals. I don't feel depressed by the idea of there being no intrinsic meaning in the world I feel liberated. I can do and strive for what I want and not feel guilty because I broke some cosmic law that I had no choice in deciding. I am truly free to decide my fate and if I don't reach my end goal who cares? It's personal and I can do what I want. Now at this point you may well say "But hey wait a minute! What about laws and morals and good and bad? You can't do some things because they are just wrong!" Well...
My second core belief is Moral (or Ethical) Nihilism. I don't believe that good or bad exist. Moral laws are as baseless as the laws that tell you that the point of life is to worship an omnipotent deity. Picture the scene: It's 80 AD and you are in Rome. Emperor Titus has just finished building (well when I say he I mean his hundreds of slaves) the Colosseum! 100 days of festivities play out. There are gladiatorial matches (3,000 gladiators competing in a single day), wild animal fights, the arena is flooded and full naval battles occur. Wooden balls are thrown into the crowd and on each ball is inscribed a prize which could be anything from gold to slaves. Imagine that! Your very own free slaves!
Imagine if someone tried to organise something similar today. Fights, blood, slaves. There would be outrage. People would be horrified. They would think that that person was mad or dangerous and should be locked away. So why was it OK in the time of Titus but so very wrong now? Well values and morals have changed. So what's to say they won't change again? You are sure that killing is wrong right? Well what about in a hundred years? A thousand years? Please keep in mind that the last person executed in Britain was executed in 1964. Not that long ago is it. Plenty of countries still do execute people. A lot of people. Morals are not like gravity. Morals are man-made. We decide what is right and wrong and we can change our minds at any time. In believing in Moral Nihilism I am saying that I recognise that morals are not fixed and nothing is ever intrinsically, within itself, wrong or right. Again this idea scares people. "If you don't believe in right or wrong then you have nothing to stop you going on a killing spree! You could take what you want with no remorse or conscience!" Not true.
I don't go on killing sprees. I don't steal. I don't torture. The reason I don't do these things is not because I have the idea of Hell held over me to scare me into doing what's right and I am not just blindly following other peoples rules. I don't do these things because I have decided for myself that I shouldn't do those things. Humans have evolved a conscience for a reason and that reason is to survive and get along with others. Now our conscience can be influenced and changed but it is primarily there to help everyone get along. SO I do that which helps humanity and I don't do that which would injure it. I'm sure everyone has had the discussion "Would you kill one person if it saved a 100 others?" (or something similar) Well I would answer that it depends on the one person and the 100 others. If the one person could help create a better world and the 100 others would only damage it then I would let the one live even if he killed the 100 or caused their death. If that one person would damage humanity if I allowed them to live (and there were no alternatives) then I would kill them. No moral law is sacred and no action entirely, intrinsically wrong or good. There are just actions. With the whole 100 days of bloodsport I would probably say that's a bad idea. I don't think humanity would get much use out of 3,000 dead gladiators and a load of mutilated animals.
My third and final (not long now stay with me) core belief is the belief that free will doesn't exist. Yeah how am I going to justify that one. I mean I was just saying all that hippy floaty crap that "you are free to do as you wish!" Well you can kind of... Let me explain.
I believe in Determinism. Hard Determinism to be precise. To understand this view you have to go back to the Big Bang. Now the Big Bang was a rapid expansion of all the matter and particles in the universe. Everything that has existed, does exist and ever will exist was contained in an infinitely small space. Carl Sagan once said that to make an apple pie you must first invent the universe because how can you make a pie with no matter? Now Hard Determinism is based on Newtonian physics namely that every action has a cause. Things that aren't moving don't just start moving spontaneously. They need a cause. Now, if everything in the universe is merely the end product of the Big Bang that means it should be possible (theoretically) to follow everything back to the Big Bang. Every atom of your being is billions of years old (cool huh). Now all of these atoms interact with each other and interact in specific ways. They follow physical rules such as gravity, refraction, friction etc. So the universe is made up of particles interacting with each other following physical laws. Determinism says that if it is possible to know every physical law of the universe and know the position of every piece of matter in the universe at a specific time then you will be able to predict the future. You will know exactly how each particle is going to interact and react and what it's next position will be. Now human beings are made up of particles so it could be argued that if this was possible you would be able to know what someone is going to do next. But that would mean we have no free will. We are stuck on rails and we don't make the decisions.
But hang on, when humans make a decision we FEEL we have decided it ourselves. No-one decided for us we are our own free agents. Psychology says different. Did you know if you paint the walls of a prison red, violence (prisoner on prisoner, prisoner on guard even guard on prisoner) will go up? Did you know if you repaint those very same walls green, violence will go down? We are constantly taking in the world around us though our senses and basing our decisions on what is around us and a lot of this is happening unconsciously. How is that free will? If you can be influenced into committing a violent act just because of a colour what else can you be influenced to do? Derren Brown has made a career of of this very thing. He once convinced someone to assassinate Stephen Fry. Perfectly normal person turned into a would-be assassin. Did that guy freely choose his actions? No. So why do we think we are free to do anything?
Pick a murderer. Any murderer. I'll choose Charles Manson. Look back at their history before their crimes. Did they have a happy, go-lucky childhood where their parents were perfect and nothing bad happened to them. I'm guessing not. Charles Manson's mother was 16 when she had him. She became an alcoholic and once reportedly sold Manson to a waitress for a pitcher of beer. His uncle picked him up a few days later. Throughout his childhood Manson went from one "correctional institute" to another. Basically his life sucked. Does that excuse the crimes he committed? No. Does it go some way to explain them? Possibly. What I am saying is that every decision doesn't just come out of thin air. We base it on what has gone before. We are machines. We have our inputs, we take in information, we analyze it and we have our outputs, our actions and decisions. We aren't in control of our inputs and we aren't always in control of our analysis so how can we say we decided the output?
Look back at your own history. Everything that has ever happened to you has shaped the person you are. You may have scars on your skin but you have a lot more scars that can't be seen. Every interaction you have ever had has influenced your behaviour. So how can you be free?
Now at this point I should say something about Quantum Physics. Don't worry I'm not going into this in depth but it needs mentioning. Now Quantum Mechanics doesn't stick to Newtonian physics. Cause and effect don't really follow through. Everything at the quantum level is probabilistic. This is a problem for Determinism because on the surface it proves it wrong. BUT there are those that argue that the cause in Quantum Mechanics just haven't been found yet. The laws that control these interactions might not have been discovered yet so it could well be possible that Quantum Mechanics does fit a Deterministic view just not yet. Now those who want to believe they are free may well be saying "AHA! You're wrong! I am free because of Quantum Mechanics!" Well actually no. Particles randomly waving around in your head making your decisions isn't any more free is it really. SO any way you cut it you aren't free...
Now again people think of this as depressing. "I am just a machine. A pile of atoms interacting with another pile of atoms and I have no choice! I might as well stay in a cave!" I would disagree. Things may influence us but we also influence things. We are made up of exactly the same "stuff" as a tree, as a mouse, as a blue whale, as a star, as the Earth itself. We are part of an enclosed system. Everything we do keeps the wheels of the universe turning. We are forging a path through the particles and like a lake we leave ripples. Just by standing in a beam of light you are interacting with the universe. Photons are bouncing off your very being and scattering around you. Just by existing you have influenced the course of the universe. Now the fact that you were going to stand in that beam may have been preordained by your past influences and experiences but does that stop it being beautiful? Is a painting any less beautiful because the artist has been influenced by other artists? The music any less sweet? I see the world as a gigantic machine that I am a part of. Whatever state the universe ends up at I am an integral part of that process. If I didn't exist the universe would be different. I am important. I matter because I am made of matter. Now we can use this information to inspire us to go on and do things which will benefit our species. Or you can do something completely other, like I said there is no point to the universe do what seems right. Although our actions may already be determined we don't think or act like that but we should be aware that actions have consequences and the power we hold in our hands to decide the fate of humanity, life and the universe at large. We cannot ever be tricked into thinking we are unimportant. We are just as important as trees and ants and supernovas and electrons.
So that's what I believe. I believe that the world has no meaning, that there are no moral laws and that we have no free will. And I think that it's all rather beautiful.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
So I finally got a blog...
Well I finally did it. I got a blog. Now I feel like I should put down some ground rules. When it comes to this blog you should expect absolutely nothing from it. That way it will surprise and delight you when it is updated and is fairly OK to read for a bit. Now from the description you can see this blog is going to cover a number of subjects but lets be realistic here, it's going to mostly be about philosophy.
I love philosophy. I could spend (and ideally would like to spend) my entire life sat in a cave thinking about philosophy and exchanging philosophical insights for food as a sort of wise hermit. I don't think this is a realistic dream but it's a dream none the less. My love of philosophy stems from a lot of things but I think mostly from my dad. His encouragement of asking questions, getting me interested and maintaining my interest in science and convincing me to take philosophy at A-level led to me falling in love with the subject. A lot of people don't see the point in philosophy to which a great philosophical joke is "Well, what's the point in anything?"
(Just as a side note I actually came up with an hilarious philosophical joke all by myself: What do you call a philosopher wanting to know more about the contradiction between the existence of evil in the world and the proposed existence of an omnibenevolent deity? Epicurious. I know. Hilarious.)
Now I could attempt to throw out some ideas about why philosophy is important but other people who are much cleverer than me have already done it. If you really are that interested read the introduction to the book Think by Simon Blackburn then read the rest of the book because it will explode your mind. (Bet you weren't expecting homework. HA!)
Personally I believe that philosophy is important because for humanity to survive we are going to have to overcome a lot of problems in the future (and right now). To do that we will have to be creative and inventive but also be able to draw all relevant facts together and design solutions. This is the basics of philosophy. The problems we are going to face are momentous so we best get some practice in. Thinking about the existence of God, good and evil, what constitutes the self, the human soul will expand your mind and help you to think critically when you are dealing with problems slightly more down to Earth. I know personally that I can't switch my philosophical feelings off. I want to know the answers and if I can't know then I am going to take a bloody good stab at working out what could possibly be the answers. So that is essentially what this blog is going to be about. Answers. Well opinions. They are fairly informed and consistent opinions though so that's a plus! Anyway. I hope you enjoy this whoever you are.
Happy philosophising! (That isn't a word is it...)
I love philosophy. I could spend (and ideally would like to spend) my entire life sat in a cave thinking about philosophy and exchanging philosophical insights for food as a sort of wise hermit. I don't think this is a realistic dream but it's a dream none the less. My love of philosophy stems from a lot of things but I think mostly from my dad. His encouragement of asking questions, getting me interested and maintaining my interest in science and convincing me to take philosophy at A-level led to me falling in love with the subject. A lot of people don't see the point in philosophy to which a great philosophical joke is "Well, what's the point in anything?"
(Just as a side note I actually came up with an hilarious philosophical joke all by myself: What do you call a philosopher wanting to know more about the contradiction between the existence of evil in the world and the proposed existence of an omnibenevolent deity? Epicurious. I know. Hilarious.)
Now I could attempt to throw out some ideas about why philosophy is important but other people who are much cleverer than me have already done it. If you really are that interested read the introduction to the book Think by Simon Blackburn then read the rest of the book because it will explode your mind. (Bet you weren't expecting homework. HA!)
Personally I believe that philosophy is important because for humanity to survive we are going to have to overcome a lot of problems in the future (and right now). To do that we will have to be creative and inventive but also be able to draw all relevant facts together and design solutions. This is the basics of philosophy. The problems we are going to face are momentous so we best get some practice in. Thinking about the existence of God, good and evil, what constitutes the self, the human soul will expand your mind and help you to think critically when you are dealing with problems slightly more down to Earth. I know personally that I can't switch my philosophical feelings off. I want to know the answers and if I can't know then I am going to take a bloody good stab at working out what could possibly be the answers. So that is essentially what this blog is going to be about. Answers. Well opinions. They are fairly informed and consistent opinions though so that's a plus! Anyway. I hope you enjoy this whoever you are.
Happy philosophising! (That isn't a word is it...)
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