Introducing myself

Social Forums Non-Philosophical Chat
1

Hello,

I’m gib (short for Gibran Shah).

I’m not a professional philosopher, but I do enjoy philosophical discussions. I have a degree in psychology and computer science, and I almost minored in philosophy (one more course and I could have).

I’m not sure what the proper edicate is in this forum, so let me tell you how I intend to partake in discussions here. Most of the time, I like to start discussions without necessarily taking a certain stance on the issue - that is, I like doing philosophy with others just for the sake of exchanging interesting ideas. I assume the atmosphere here is amenable to that as opposed to other forums whose purpose is to strictly answer questions for academic purposes, critique arguments/theories, or settle otherwise important debates (i.e. in which the moderators would put their time and effort into delivering quality responses). Other times, I’ll ask questions because I’m honestly curious as to what most professional philosophers take to be the answers, or ask for a critique for an argument I’m trying to push.

I’m currently writing a paper on the mind/body problem, and so another purpose I hope this forum can serve is to guide me in giving good arguments, educate me as to what world renowned philosophers have already said on the subject, and let me know if my assumptions are correct.

All that being said, I’d like to know how the moderators (and other members) feel about my aforementioned purposes. Do you prefer that I try researching answers to my questions before posting, or would you, like a lot of philosophers I know, jump at the chance to answer my questions regardless of how stupid they might sound or how readily available the answers are elsewhere? Is this a place for leisure discussion, or do you consider philosophical discussion to be a more serious labor that should only be done if necessary? How do you feel about including members who don’t have a formal education in philosophy or might not know the standard philosophical methods, terminology, or background?

I look forward to getting to know you all and I’m sure I’ll enjoy your community. Now I’m off to ask my first question… about Descartes.

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gib, welcome to the forums. what an introduction.
I can only speak for myself so I’ll share my impressions, also being relatively new.

  1. Papers and assignments: First, read the forum rules. I think that most people around here would like you to bring something to the table when you’re asking questions about papers. The worst way to start out around here is:

"Hi, I’m new and I have this big paper due in a couple of weeks and I really don’t understand [insert philosopher here]'s theory of [insert theory here] and I was hoping that someone could help.

Thanks, bye."

I think questions that can’t be answered by a quick google or wikipedia search and that are thought provoking are appreciated by almost everyone. There is a vast amount of knowledge contained in the people who post in these forums.You’ll still need to read - they aren’t going to spoonfeed you, but certainly people will gladly direct you to sources they think highly of.

  1. there are places here for both leisure and more rigorous enquiry. I think both are valuable and worthwhile.

  2. As far as having a formal philosophy background, some do, some don’t. I don’t, and I’ve never felt like I wasn’t allowed to comment because of it. I think the key is to learn where you can, tap into the experience of those who come from that background, and you can definitely learn a lot.

  3. We all do it once in a while (and I’m just as guilty as the next guy) but try not to take things personally, and flame wars are so not hot. There are a lot of different viewpoints here, try to respect what people say.

I hope you enjoy the time you spend here…

cheers,
gemty