The True Purpose of Philosophy

    Given the current state of things, I was impelled to expand on the topic. I was brought up with a fairly common attitude (I judge) about Philosophy, what it is, what it does, and what it is for. Essentially, the belief is that Philosophy is for stuffy old men who have no real-world skills and it exists within a closed system—a bit like a snake eating its own tail—passing itself as science. This leads to a number of outcomes: it discourages any respect or appreciation for Philosophy, disconnects it from "the real world", discounts anything associated with it, makes the pursuit of, or ever interest in, Philosophy "silly", and undermines the contributions it has made to society and the world. I had minimal exposure, as I think is common, in my education and it mainly left me with the impression that it was something that happened 'long ago and far away'. Words like "ancient" and "lofty" would come to mind if I had been asked to describe Philosophy. Now, this may seem backwards or absurd to those who had any kind of broad education (as I expect most often happens outside the U.S.). I understand if that is the case, but want to be clear that even if this is not universal within my country of residence, it is common enough. In part, I make the point for outsiders looking at the U.S., potentially wondering why so many clearly incorrect beliefs and so much false information continues to make the rounds. In part, at least, I can attribute it to a lack of critical thinking skills because of the above attitudes about Philosophy.

    We come now to the reason and title of this post. If Philosophy is not just an erudite, ego-stroking, idealistic pursuit of useless nonsense, what is it? In actuality, it is a means to determine truth despite being flawed humans. This is my own simplistic way of explaining, of course, but I came to understand the value of Philosophy once I began to study Psychology and Neurobiology. We learn that human brains are not actually "thinking machines", but are error-riddled assumption devices. There are numerous popular books nowadays which explain that our perceptions are filtered through expectations, our brains manipulate sensory information to make "sense" of reality, and we can be completely convinced within our own thinking of something that is patently false. In fact, all these things happen within every individual everywhere all the time every day. We are not "observing" reality, we are actually "interpreting" the world around us. Once we understand this, it behooves us to find ways to correct for these automatic, internal processes and potentially construct ways to counteract the errors they create. This is, in effect, the basis of Philosophy: to check the things we think in order to error-correct the innate ways our brains process information.

    Let us take a couple practical examples, because there are certainly more esoteric areas. On first exposure to Logic, it can look like a collection of silly "if, then" statements. However, it is a part of Philosophy dealing with how to establish if something holds true and if the steps in arriving at a conclusion actually make sense. Recognizing this, it begins to have more utility to everyone. Next, Epistemology is a big, unwieldy word that seems to bear no resemblance to any other (again, a simplistic excuse to dismiss it). In actuality, it deals with establishing how we know what we know. Quite fundamental, and useful, one might begin to think. Instead of assuming the factual nature of whatever pops into our consciousness, we can interrogate this idea and establish if it does agree with reality. The way that philosophers approach and use this system is part of what makes it rigorous, along with actually making it the basis for much science—in addition to a science unto itself.

Hopefully, this is helpful in some way, and possibly can demonstrate to others who still hold the attitude I did previously how important and practical Philosophy can be. Instead of relegating it to history or uselessness, as it seems happens with most of the education around this topic in the U.S., we might better integrate this into our curriculum. In many ways, it is an oddity that this has not happened already. I do not need to attribute this to any sort of nefarious conspiracy, but it does seem to aid in making fools and dupes out of the citizenry.

Art of the Handshake Deal

It is understandable why one would trust another person when making a deal, as there has to be a certain amount of understanding between the parties. Yet, the expectation is also that there are limits to this trust. Simply taking the word of a stranger that there is a warranty, payments can be missed with no consequences, or even that the item is returnable for a full refund may not be the case, unless there is a written document saying so. The laws about sales, consumer protections, and faulty or misrepresented items can vary greatly from place to place. Especially nowadays, with so much being bought online, and no opportunity to inspect merchandise, the old adage holds true.

However, here we are considering the more traditional scenario of buying something directly from another person. Sales are often in this mode, we agree to something verbally and then sign a document that is supposed to say the same—did you check that? Or a rental agreement, there's the "official" document, and then what the clerk says the rules are—which do you assume is true? These answers will vary, but one thing that can determine whether one trusts the person or the document more is the size of a person's hometown. There are still small towns where people actually have regular contact and their reputations are important. In these places, it is common for a deal to not be written because it is the full weight of the community which is enforcing the terms. This is because if the two parties have a difficulty in resolving any issue that results from dissatisfaction in their deal, the 'injured party' will tell people about it; family, friends, neighbors, and eventually the whole town gets the message that "so-and-so is a crooked dealer". That reputation becomes a real barrier to their life, because others will treat them with suspicion and disdain; they may be a few dollars richer in the short-term, but they lose the chance at future enrichment. This is the mode that persisted for much of human existence, until the advent of big cities where people no longer knew each other. If one never sees the same person twice, it becomes much easier to cheat and escape those reputational repercussions. This is also a trope: the big-city hustler or fast-talking salesman. While such stereotypes may prevent a few from falling prey, most of the time swindlers are aware enough to counteract those warnings. This is part of the reason so many con artists are amiable rather than overbearing. It is a matter not of their own confidence, but of winning the confidence of their target, that is the "art". Additionally, while people may be aware of this in a 'sale' situation, the problem extends beyond this small arena and actually applies to anytime someone makes a claim. Here we find the heart of skepticism: not simply accepting what is presented. Instead, making the effort to understand context—and get it in writing so the claim cannot be changed later.

While there are protections for consumers from some scams, bad deals, and rip-offs, and legal recourse to prosecute such sellers, there is no such protection for society. What I mean is that some people make a living off of telling people one thing and doing another, of selling false hope and quick fixes while collecting large payoffs. Whether this is a religious figure or politician, a celebrity or "influencer", they somehow experience no consequences for their lies. For every Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, there are 5 climate-change-denying oil companies, cancer-causing-denying tobacco companies, or banking-fraud Enrons (a completely invented statistic, because the amount of scofflaws is likely higher). It takes so much effort and time to build and prosecute a legal case against the largest fraudsters that it overwhelms ordinary citizens. The machinations of these individuals and groups seem too blatant, brazen, and counter-intuitive; less "how did they do it?" and more "how did it occur to anyone to try such a thing?". Even more troubling, if possible, is the fact that the very principles and structures which protect these everyday people from such inconceivably large scams have been under attack for decades. The legal system has been eroded from the inside through influence campaigns like from the Federalist Society. Similarly, the Heritage Foundation has worked to change society by imposing doctrine through the legislative and executive branches of government. Personally, I did rot recognize the attack on education and schools until much too late. The call for "school choice" that has lead to siphoning public money to private institutions has been a tragedy not just for public schools and students, but also those who can no longer escape the ideological indoctrination of those private "schools". All this leads to our current situation, whereby those who say one thing and mean another have twisted the understanding of reality and perverted public institutions to their own benefit. These are, of course, large and complex situations with many repercussions, but the focus here is that somewhere in the process an argument was made as to why something should happen and those making that case may not have been totally honest or forthcoming. This is especially the case when they believe that "the ends justify the means". If someone is convinced that something needs to happen and is then willing to do anything to ensure that it does, we are more likely to encounter deceit and subterfuge.

We've had someone in the office of president of the U.S. who seems incapable of uttering a single truth, and—bizarrely, unbelievably—has returned to that same office. Any attempt to hold this person accountable has utterly failed and—equally incomprehensible—people seem to act like these blatant lies are somehow explainable and/or acceptable. While this is the epitome of our problem, let us not focus too long on a single individual. This is a systemic issue, as evidenced by the ascension of such an individual, and the only real solution is to prevent such criminals from insulating themselves from prosecution. To do this, we can strengthen our education system and include critical thinking skills as core curriculum, we should better define legal issues like "bribery", "graft", 'collusion", "profiteering", and "influence", strengthen governmental apparatus like courts and insulate them from monetary and ideological influence, and overall continue to expand democracy by elevating the many rather than the few.

An Extreme State of Mind

    I am writing this because it addresses something that has been important for me, personally. The title is not about politics. It is not a diagnosis nor mental illness, and is not about "fixing" anything, nor to start a "trend"—I am not an "influencer" (ick).

     What this has to do with is being subject to the dichotomy of "all-or-nothing" and "on or off". The general expectation is having low- or medium-intensity emotions, with people ranking things in order of preference or "being mildly annoyed versus angry or irate", all being higher or lower states of the emotion. However, I find that I do not experience this in many ways. Instead, it seems there are two categories: "important things" and "not". Choosing dinner, which show to watch, or any number of choices are trivial; other people care, they will even argue passionately for their preference. However, most of these day-to-day items do not rise to the level of "important" enough to care about for me. In all other ways I can detect, these is nothing different about me. I have been to therapy and had diagnostic instruments used to detect mental health issues; similarly, I have been seen by a physician all my life with no abnormalities reported. I express emotions and have memories that are easy to recall, I experience pain and exhilaration as others do. I have friends, work, engage in hobbies, and enjoy my family—essentially "normal" in every discernible way, except this minor oddity. It can seem as though I am simply content to "go with the flow" or that I do not actually care about anything that much. However, that is not the case; I have struggled at times to overcome others' expectations about what I "should" care about. In being authentically me in this way, it has appeared as weird or wrong to others.

    Again, this is not about being "special" or having an "excuse" for the way I am. It is simply about understanding something about me and accepting that it for what it is. It causes no difficulties, but serves as a clear indication of something that needs to be addressed. It is not a choice to feel the depth of passion about those few subjects and be dismissive of the others. I have some amount of pride, in truth, that instances of injustice and oppression will trigger such a strong response. My outrage or other strong emotion impels me to say something no matter how impolite it may seem or uncomfortable it makes me, and that is useful. It can be helpful that anyone around me is taken by surprise, only because it causes them to pay more direct attention and analyze the situation differently than if everyone were simply clucking their tongues and saying "isn't that a shame".

    I share this for two reasons. First, in case there are other folks out there with a similar "oddity". Second, to convey that whatever anyone's particular peculiarity is that is "just part of them", it should be acceptable. Despite the disruption to social norms or "decorum", these traits can be useful.