Bored with Nonsense?

Social Forums Non-Philosophical Chat
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It’s been a long time since anyone seriously challanged my views and made me reflect on them critically, or presented me with new ideas and perspectives to broaden my horizons or give me insight I previously lacked… or for that matter even TRIED to accomplish any of those things.

I’m growing increasingly bored with the verbal chess game that passes for argumentation these days, masking the pissing contests between two people who’s main concerns are to appear the “greater” thinker… It’s all the same drivel set on repeat anyway.

But maybe I log on to ILP for the wrong reasons? It makes me wonder… Why do the rest of you come here? what is it you hope to find?

P.S. There are of course those here on ILP that I have grown to respect and have learned from in one way or another… So it’s not like I NEVER find what I’m looking for… it’s just very rare.

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We joined about the same time I think - I think we’ve just listened to the same music so long our ears have have gotten jaded.

The old dead must make way for the new dead. :wink:

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPNgjA4i6gM[/youtube]

new dead? right…

-Imp

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Aren’t these topics also set on repeat? I personally can’t read long posts, because ultimately, I have no clue how credible that person is. If one wanted to have a serious discussion, wouldn’t it be better to attend lectures and conferences? I don’t think internet forums can offer much more than what is already available here. I actually think this forum has improved incredibly since the resident unoriginals, jokers, satyrical figures and hardline religious/atheists have gone to make mental excretions elsewhere.

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What makes a person credible should be one’s own judgment - can you not read and decide for yourself if someone is ‘credible’?

Or is it ultimately a man’s CV and reputation, rather than strictly their content, that makes a man credible to you?

It is often the case that the philosophers who go on to have a deep and lasting impact on the world are rarely thought to be credible to their contemporaries - it is only after they have long been dead that people begin to understand what they actually said.

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In that case, I am destined for fame.

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^

Prudence teaches us that one ought to practice a particular caution in evaluating oneself :wink:

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I come here primarily to further my Nietzsche studies, and secondarily to further auxiliary studies (e.g., in language and logic).

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Bored with nonsense - I suppose it depends on the kind of nonsense that it is.

Oddly enough, I am learning in here that nonsense can teach one about human behavior, especially one’s own, especially my own.

That said, I do not call nonsense itself a negative nor people who sometimes become nonsensical as lacking in intelligence. I guess I might think of nonsense, at least in this forum, as a kind of backdraft or a “brimming over” of one’s own human passions, actually caring about philosophy, ego and great intelligence.

So nonsense can be an invaluable tool if looked at and evaluated especially in relation to one’s self. But then one has to stop, take a breath, and observe “what am I doing here” what is this all about" is all of this nonsense really so important? What is it that is really important here?

I am personnally quite amazed many times in here, especially when it comes to discussions on Nietzsche. It would seem to me that he is either regarded as a god or a devil and like Christ, has so many different interpretations put upon him and everyone is either right or wrong about him.

But really, what is the most important thing about discussing Nietzsche and his thoughts or the thoughts of any other philosopher? At least for me, I have this feeling that it isn’t the philosopher or even the thoughts or opinions that the philosophers had that matter so much - as it is what we do with it when we go out into the world. Do our discussions about Nietzsche or any other philosopher help us to understand our own lives and our own lives in relation to others? Do they help us to attain the wisdom necessary to figure life out, to explore it? Do they help us to see our self in another person? That is one that I most definitely think is, not only possible, but extremely valuable, if we are looking in the right direction. :laughing:

I mean really at the end of the day is philosophy supposed to be “the end” or the means to an end. Isn’t it just perhaps another tool albeit wonderful tool to help us on our way? Why is it that we get so waylaid by all of this wonderful nonsense? No, I do not call philosophy nonsense - I love philosopy - just the backdraft that our human natures cause. Even that last question perhaps could be just as valuable to us as much of what the philosophers wrote.

Of course, having said all of this I realize that what I have written here too is much a bunch of nonsense. :wink:

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Maybe it’s time to stop looking for wisdom and start distributing it.

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Odd that despite all that i’ve learned I now feel as though I have so much less to teach… Maybe it’s natural that as our vision broadens, we begin to see how small we really are… and once we’re done trying to inflate our egos to compensate, we can sit back down and accept our place.

Maybe we’re not the teachers… maybe we’re the students comparing notes. I have nothing to teach… but you can take a look in my note-book if you think it helps. :smiley:

I suppose I’m looking for others who paied attention in class, so as to compare notes… trying to avoid the slackers knowing I’ll only find doodles and dirty words in their notes. You know the type.

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In other words, the more we know the more we realize the less we know. (that’s an axiom I think but so true). So I suppose that any true knowledge teaches us awareness.

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“Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.”
-Bokonon