Philosophy is useless

Theology is worse. Discuss. Socrates might ask why.

 

Useless in what sense?

 

Namaste.

 

Although we are created equal in spirit, our minds function in a thousand different ways.

Philosophy is bubblegum for the mind. Theology is also for the mind, because the mind is what hides your spiritual identity from you.

You have to convince it to stand to one side so that your true self can be seen. Philosophy is a stage that one passes through on the way to personal truth. It should be embraced and then let go of at the right time.

To die a philosopher is no better than to die a religious faithful. The mind has been engaged, but the spirit is still eclipsed by the personal "I". If there is no spiritual guidence, the mind becomes too self aware of the mundane world.



x

 

All philosophy ever did for me was drive me to insanity.

 

Philosophy is very important. When is a person a person? When is a person considered "alive"? And other such debates

 

Philosophers are like blind men in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians found it. (That isn't original, but I can't remember where I heard it.

 

Oh, Theologians found it, did they? Ha ha, of course they did. Of course.

And of course philosophy is useless. I mean, unless you actually find what other people think interesting, and believe thought and action are interlinked. Fortunately, as it happens, I am not a self-absorbed git, and find ideas and their impact fascinating.

Since philosophy informs so much of public life, from the sciences to politics to religion to the arts, I like to think knowing a bit about it may, may just be the slightest bit useful.

 

Before there were scientists, there were philosophers. The two words were long considered synonymous.

Philosophy is the birth of reason and science. Philosophy is the conversations (like this one) we have, where ideas are freely shared and critically examined. Philosophy is a responsible, real-world way of looking at life and existence beyond the common perception.

Unlike theology, philosophy is necessarily humble. By it's own standards, philosophy never claims knowledge of super-powers, magical creatures living above the clouds, et cetera (at least, not by philosophers who are taken seriously).

If Socrates had not shared his belief that an exchange of knowledge should be available to all, and had he not spoken against the existence of Gods, he may not have been executed. Although, due largely to the modern lack of education beyond the practical, philosophy is no longer appreciated nor understood as it once was, I'm very, very thankful for Socrates' intellectual bravery.

Without a love of wisdom (philosophy's literal definition), I believe humanity would be truly doomed.

Peacelove,
Aldousage

 

Philosophy is useless?

Then the thread is useless...
unarguable argument...
the end.....

 

You were probably well on the way already. I don't believe you can blame philosophy for depression or anxiety; there's just too much of it. It's an approach to thinking, not a science, and there's no reason why a philosopher shouldn't reach any conclusion he wants so there's no excuse for coming to "the awful realisation" or whatever and blaming Socrates.

 

I love philosophy man, I was Socrates you know. Lao Tsu too.

 

Philosophy: The Art of Asking Questions

To be an artist is to be more human. Artists are more in touch with themselves and are able to convey certain emotions by creating in any form of the arts. The best art of any kind is that that is free of social constructs and the conditioning of the human mind. There are no restraints in art and censorship is murder.

The human brain is imprinted with a sort of social reality. Television tells us what beauty is, what is acceptable and what is not. The media presents a hollow superficial view on the world, propaganda abounds. What the television produces is just a distraction of what America really is, a lie.

It has become extremely easy to not have to do any thinking. People don’t realize that they can think for themselves. To make the world a better place we need more free thinking artists and philosophers. Art is a tangible expression of human emotion. We need more musicians with messages and meaning, an artistic revolution like that of the 1960s. Some of that with great help from Dr. Timothy Leary is due to the rapid use of LSD. When people started eating acid, they became aware that they could think for themselves. Once the youth started protesting the war in Vietnam, LSD was outlawed.

LSD and other psychedelic drugs have the power to open your mind to a higher plane of consciousness and reality. They can provide profound revelations and are an infinite source of inspiration and wisdom. There’s something about the psychedelic era that was simply the best. People realized to know themselves and it came out in the music. Music from this period is pure gold, it was well thought out and much effort was put forth.

People in America are bred to be completely programmable. The human mind is impressionable enough as it is, and the establishment exploits this as far as humanly possible. Public schools are being dumbed down to keep the children unaware and unable to ask questions. It is best to believe what is heard undeniably instead of putting forth independent thought and ask “Why?”

People seem to be in predisposition to conformity. Everyone wants to fit in and be accepted. What they fail to realize is that by conforming to a social standard, they are sacrificing what makes them unique and in effect, harvesting their own souls. What no one understands is that there is no one true comprehension of reality. There are no limits as to what can be conceived by the human mind.

The human mind that is completely free is the most powerful tool ever created. There is nothing that cannot be achieved by the human mind. Absorbing the government’s propaganda and the television’s hollow façade of the mind effectively places limits as to what is acceptable in our society. The only way to reject our social programming and brainwashing is to start genuinely thinking for ourselves. Instead of hearing something that is stated as fact and immediately believing it to be a fact, one should arrive at a decision after some focused independent thought.


People are told to believe that marijuana, LSD and other illicit drugs are bad for them. In over ten thousand years of people smoking marijuana, there has not been one documented death from a pot overdose. LSD is believed to destroy your mind, LSD is non-toxic and an astronomical amount is needed in order to die from an overdose. LSD does not incur any brain damage; it does no physical harm to the brain. That’s not to say there are no drawbacks to it, with LSD and other psychedelic drugs, it depends on the user’s mindset and setting he or she is in. One who takes LSD for meditation or spiritual purposes will most likely achieve the desired effect. One who takes LSD just to get fucked up will most likely do just that. LSD has the ability to bring latent mental illnesses to the surface. If you have been diagnosed with any mental illness, you should probably refrain from LSD and other psychedelic drugs.

Taking more LSD than one can handle could have adverse affects on the mind. One could go completely insane. One who understands the correct usage of psychedelics knows that during the experience anything one can conceive is at that moment possible. One reason that LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms and marijuana are illegal is that they are all capable of producing intense and immensely deep thoughts. When people start having really deep thoughts, the government gets scared and proclaims these sacraments illegal and their users insane.

In 1953, the CIA initiated a mind control program called “MKULTRA” The purpose of MKULTRA was to experiment with LSD to see if it was possible to manipulate a person such as a foreign leader. The CIA was concerned about the rumors of the brainwashing of POWs in the Korean War. The plan was to see if LSD could cause a drug induced stupor, one target for this program was one mister Fidel Castro, leader of communist Cuba.

The experiment went like this, the CIA set up brothels that had installed two-way mirrors so they could observe the drug’s effects on unwitting subjects. In one instance of the experiment in Kentucky, seven people were given LSD for seventy-seven days straight. On November 19, 1953 an Army scientist and germ warfare expert, one Frank Olsen was working on MKULTRA was given an extreme dose of LSD. He spent eight days stumbling around in a daze described as a depressed and paranoid state. Olsen plunged out a hotel window and fell ten stories to his ultimate demise.

The CIA did its best to cover up Olsen’s death, as they were solely responsible for it. It wasn’t for twenty-two years that Olsen’s family learned the events that led to his death. From its beginning in 1953 until its termination in 1963, the program of administering LSD to unwittingly non-volunteers demonstrates a failure of the CIA’s leadership to pay adequate attention to the rights of individuals and to provide effective guidance to CIA employees. It was known to be dangerous; the lives of subjects were placed in jeopardy and were ignored. Although it was apparent that America’s laws were being violated, the testing continued. The CIA was looking for a mind altering substance that would:

• Promote illogical thinking and impulsiveness to the point where the recipient would be discredited in public.
• Increase the efficiency of mentation and perception
• Prevent or counter-act the intoxication effect of alcohol
• Promote the intoxicating effects of alcohol
• Produce the signs and symptoms of recognized diseases in a reversible so that they may be used malingering etc.
• Render the indication of hypnosis easier or otherwise enhance it’s usefulness
• Enhance the ability of individuals to withstand privation, torture, coercion during interrogation and so-called “brainwashing.”
• Produce amnesia for events preceding and during their use.
• Produce shock and confusion over extended periods of time and capable of surreptitious use.
• Produce physical disablement such as paralysis of the legs, acute anemia, etc.
• Produce “pure” euphoria with no subsequent let down.
• Alter personality structure in such a way that the tendency of the recipient to become dependent upon another person is enhanced.
• Cause mental confusion of such a type that the individual under influence will find it difficult to maintain a fabrication under questioning.
• Lower the ambition and general working efficiency of men when administered in untraceable amounts.
• Promote weakness or distortion of the eyesight or hearing facilities, preferably without permanent effects.

Few of MKULTRA’s objectives were realized, but the very conduct of these experiments caused many critics of the CIA to argue that successful or not, CIA scientists shouldn’t pry at the doors of perception. As one can clearly see, the government will stop at nothing to keep its citizens under wraps. It is not the people that should fear the government; the government should fear its people. One can imagine how horrible it would be to be on an LSD trip for months on end without any knowledge about what is happening to them. The established order is not to be trusted. Anyone who trusts the government is a fool, and has fallen prey to their social conditioning and brainwashing.

The government conditions us to be weak and helpless and incapable of original thought. Of course, some realize that they don’t have to believe everything they hear, but the majority will buy into any bullshit they find feasible. Brain scans have revealed that the politically biased are virtually addicted to lying to themselves to maintain their views and that their party leaders are flawless.

People of both political “sides” are equally affected by bias. When viewing truth that doesn’t suit our ideals, most of us deny and go on as if it never happened, mainly because few of us even understand the way bias affects us and makes us completely irrational. Millions of Americans suffer from this, and nationalism bias runs even deeper. Most people think that blindly believing what our government tells us is patriotism. Most people doubt that our leaders would ever do anything that isn’t in our best interest. Most of us live in a delusional reality based on denial as a result.

Polls have revealed that Americans know more about “The Simpsons” than the first amendment. Most don’t even notice when they rape or manipulate our rights. Everyone pretends that our government is good in its entirety, while they build their system of economic, political and technological enslavement. People refuse to see the plain truth as bias and ignorance marches on. That bias brain scan study revealed that when people see contradictions, they subconsciously lie to themselves.

We’ve all been programmed to live in ignorance and false realities after decades and generations of ignorance promoting television and radio. People think that our nation can’t crumble. Nationalism bias has us refusing to accept that it’s slipping when we see it happen. Bias combined with ignorance allows it to happen, but it’s fear that drives it.

“Wars are not won on the battlefield, they are won in the minds of the people.”

-Mark Phillips, former CIA operative

We need to go back to the birth of this nation. In the beginning, America was a land of freedom, opportunity, and beauty. We were given liberty and many wonderful rights. Our founding fathers were pure geniuses and did an excellent job at laying the foundation of a glorious nation. We were guaranteed freedom of speech, privacy, and religion. Everyone was equal. That’s just not the way it is anymore. We are slowly and almost imperceptivity losing our rights.

 

America is a shithole and never a land of freedom. America is where Europe sent its religious nutjobs. Don't consider any right you think you have to be any more than a punishment disguised as a privilege.

 

Lose the illusion, brother. You would love my late boss; to quote Rock Ziemann, "If I could just call everybody 'asshole' I'd alway's be right." RIP Rock repairing roofs in Heaven, we miss you.

 

See my sig. Take joyous arrogant self-aggrandising pessimism as a startpoint, and everything that follows seems awesome.

 

Free your mind, the rest will follow. Namaste.

 

Namaste is a cool name. Sounds like some kind of Alaskan booblady.

 

Technically no, he never specified that the the thread or this discussion was meant to serve a "useful" purpose, so it's potential absence of one doesn't actually refute it.

 

But since he's indulging in this thread, he is no better than those who indulge in apparently useless philosophy. It is an indulgence, but "time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time".