Perception And Thought
- -I consider myself a very philosophical person. - - -
From a7c0b04817a731a025f5e80af586b9a1b5f76e2a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Bill Niblock I consider myself a very philosophical person.
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- I consider myself a very philosophical person. That doesn't mean I'm any
+ good at philosophy, I just tend to think a lot about ethics, morality, and
+ happiness. Recently I've been thinking more about my worldview, what I
+ value as important, and how I achieve happiness in my daily life. I wanted
+ to jot down what I feel is a brief examination of my basic tenants; the
+ basic Philosophy of Bill. I derive a lot of my philosophy from my Christian up-bringing and
+ Stoicism. I'm not a very religious person, though. I never really was. My
+ belief of what God is falls strongly under the agnostic category: I'm not
+ sure what God is, or if I believe in a God, but I do believe in a higher
+ power of some sort. I feel it's logical to always assume there is something
+ more powerful than yourself, but I also feel it's impossible to prove this.
+ I like to define faith as simply irrational belief. I have faith in many
+ things, both permanent and temporary. I like faith, actually, quite a bit.
+ I admire those who have strong faith, so long as they maintain reason and
+ are not fanatical. I also try to maintain a very open approach to religion.
+ I believe everyone has the right to worship however they choose, so long as
+ it does not involve anything overly immoral, such as killing. I have a hard
+ time tolerating people who are overly zealous about their faith, or about
+ denouncing someone else's faith. Nothing is more disgusting than attacking
+ someone for their beliefs. They are called beliefs for a reason; they are
+ not fact, they are opinion. It's ineffective to attack opinions, because
+ they are ephemeral to begin with. Like trying to hit a ghost with a
+ lamp-post: it just won't do what you think it will. I love debate and discussion, but there is a clear difference between
+ debate for truth and argument for winning. I try to keep in the first camp,
+ but I'm not super-human and I have an ego so I often visit the later.
+ However, I always learn when I make mistakes, and I cherish when I fail,
+ because it only serves to better myself. I think that's the most
+ fundamental under-lying theme of my philosophy: always better myself;
+ always learn something. That ego thing, though, that's a tough monster to
+ handle. I've found myself adopting views similar to Zen Buddism (I think)
+ often when trying to quell my ego:Perception And Thought
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- Perception And Thought
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I think most people hear this and grow disheartened or depressed, but I + view it as very uplifting. There's a certain freedom in knowning that, no + matter how much I fail, in the end it won't matter much. It's sobering to + remember that no matter how much I've achieved or won, in the end it won't + matter much. It's important to remember that I am nothing but an improbable + spec of matter floating on a rock in an unimaginably vast and empty space. + Too many people get caught up on that "in the end" part, though, and they + begin to question why they should act at all. Well, there's a bit of time + between now and "the end" and you need to fill the void with something. For + me, that's learning, and understanding, and appreciating.
+ +In my studies, I've discovered and adopted Stoicism as a philosophy. I + won't explain too much what Stoicism is about, since there are many sources + online which do that. I apply Stoicism mostly in the mental aspects of the + philosophy, and less in the faith/religious aspects. From Stoicism, I have + reinforced my beliefs in the importance of understanding our environment. I + remind myself every day of things I cannot control, and that I can only + control my perception of things. I try to act according to logic and + wisdom, and not according to feelings, which can hamper reason. For + example, I try not to let anger control my actions if I get trolled by my + friend Nick. I understand that anger, love, stress, and all other feelings + are very much out of my control, but allowing them to control me is well + within my control. In other words, I very much get angry, or grow lustful, + or prideful, but I try not to let those feelings dictate my actions. I + believe it was Seneca the Younger who said, "Men are not angered by things, + but by their perceptions of them." One of many mantra I keep in + reserve.
+ +The most important thing in my life, though, is not control but + happiness. I can seek to control my perceptions and emotions all I want, + but if it does not lead to happiness, it is a fruitless endeavor. I find + happiness most when I learn; when I understand a system. I'm an engineer at + heart, so I view the world as a system of systems (of systems, of + systems...) each of which is bare to understanding. I free myself from ego + and oppression so that I can learn without fear of failure or the + disapproval of my peers. I like to always remind myself that the only + person who truly cares about me, is me. That's not to say others don't care + about me, but they care about themselves first, and me afterwards. That's + how things are; it's not wrong or depressing or hurtful it's just the way + the system works. I care for many people, but I'm always number one on the + list.
+ +While all this is well and good, philosophy is an ever changing system; + a CICD environment. I am constantly integrating new ideas and concepts into + my understanding of the world, and sometimes purging old or unnecessary + ones. I have my fair-share of quandries, perhaps more so than others; + perhaps it's an unfair-share. That's what makes it worth it, though, to me. + I seek to learn, and in doing so, find happiness and confusion. It's a + recursive system: the confusion leads to learning, which leads to happiness + and confusion. And I love recursion.
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