The philosopher's curse

Philosophy is renowned for its complex language and so much debate around the semantics - meanings of many words. Getting wrapped up in the language is a daft trap. Keeping it complicated, by using rare and clever sounding words is most useful in the business of excluding undesirables. A trick employed by many a society and numerous clubs to keep them out. What is equally alarming is that we don't always realise that our jargon that seems so common in our circle is completely bewildering to the majority. If most people don't understand most of the concepts written here, then this text is even more of a failure. I hope some find what is presented here profitable in some way.

What is philosophy anyway? The skeleton of the truth? Scratching an itch? Looking for answers through discussion and thought? At the end of the day, it only has utility when shared. When tested on others. If you make a conjecture and gauge the reaction from others and mould it based upon the response, we can say it has been tested. The more people that agree and concur the more merit it appears to gain.

I like to make a proposition, no matter how outrageous and provide some argument, ideas that support it. Sometimes we need to stick to our opinion despite the opposition. Throw out the nonsense, the plain crazy ideas and see where it leads. One can try to distil the information from others and where necessary home in on the bit that seems to contain the error. You must remain resolute, holding out long enough to make progress. However, various objections come along, and it can be a problem if we are too stubborn to change direction. A good few people don't get this balance right. People can be right for the wrong reasons. Some highlight problems in your argument, which means you have to think about it more before letting go of that idea. Being dogmatic is also fatal, not life threatening always, but if your proposition fails test after test then it more than likely needs to be modified or rejected. Saying that nothing is absolute, and everything will always be open to question may be correct to a point, but it can be a curse. Leaving it be, can be unsatisfactory. With some determination to see things through we usually reach clarity on a subject.

‘The only way’ section shows some signs that begin to appear absolute and provides the foundation to understand the definitive structure of the universe. However, due to the extreme complexity that results and because of the existence of random chaos it is indeed very hard to be absolutely certain of very much at all.


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