|
What is this creation we live in? From whence do we derive our certainty of the truth? Philosophy can be seen as the apex of each discipline. It is not a discipline in itself. Or rather, I am speaking of that part of philosophy, a rather large part, that is concerned with the matters of the world. More commonly, it is called the 'philosophy of'. The philosophy of science, the philosophy of economics, the philosophy of theology; the list goes on to cover all the various disciplines. Philosophy is a way of thinking. It can be applied to anything. It sounds funny, but one could think of philosophy as being somewhat separatable into 'pure' and 'applied' philosophy. My work is in applied philosophy.
I am looking for connections. I believe that there is a common theme running through much of the world right now, a common perception of reality, and I am trying to tease it out into the open. This is no easy task. It is if you are confronted with a million doors, each with a symbol. Behind one door is the answer you are looking for. If you try to open every door, you will never succeed. The trick is to know which doors show promise and which ones do not. Applied philosophers are always a little outside the field they are applying their philosophy to. They are not tenants of the philosophy they create, they are the architects. I have always found myself not wholly enmeshed in a particular field. This is, I believe, because I am always grasping at the fundamental concept that is being presented and then seeing how looking at the problem in that light changes how I look at other problems, in other disciplines.
Story time. I spent most of my 'formative' years moving from one place to another because my father was in the Navy. Because of this, I had the chance to recreate myself every year or two (between 1st and 9th grade I was in seven different schools). I was constantly finding myself in a different culture, and would immediately adapt my self (mannerisms, outlook, etc) to the group I found myself with. In no place was this most noticeable than my two years in Hawai'i in 7th and 8th grade. I remember actually telling one of my friends about an experiment I was conducting. I had found that I could be in multiple groups of people at the same time. I could hang out with the nerds; I played POGs (milk-bottle caps game) with the party guys; I wrote poetry and short stories as well as studying physics and Latin. I played bassoon and soccer. Many people can say they have done as much. But the thing was, I felt at home in each of the groups. When I was in band, I was a bandie. When I was playing soccer, I was 'one of the guys'. When I was with the nerds, I could hold up my 'gee-whiz' level. And yet, part of me never belonged to any of those groups. It was a game for me. Let's see how many perceptions of the whole I can understand and live in.
As I entered high school, I saw that it was becoming harder and harder to rapidly switch between those perceptions. My mind was becoming a little more set in its ways, as it should as I continued to mature. And so I was very careful, as the set was taking hold, to maintain as much as I could from each of the various perceptions I had held. The result? I became a philosopher :-)
So why, you may ask, am I not studying philosophy? To me that is like asking an athlete why they do not have a master's degree in physiology. I am in the business of using philosophy. At some point I may create some of my own, like the officer who is able to write doctrine, but right now I am first learning the bounds of where current minds go.
Where are they going? Good question. I'll post my paper on the comparison of Quantum Information Theory in physics and Cultural Theory in sociology when I complete it, and that may give you a brief glimpse into my deeper thoughts.
Thanks for indulging me with your time,
~Sam
|
