the examined life

[randall patrick]

Simon Critchley:

"...philosophy is the reflective life, the examined life, the assumption being that the unexamined life is not worth living. Philosophy should form human beings and not just inform them.

"But it should not be forgotten that although the unexamined life is not worth living, the unlived life is not worth examining, and philosophy for the ancients was not divorced from the pratical to and fro of everyday social life. Rather, philosophy as a reflective practice of examining what passes for truth is something that took place in what the ancient Greeks called the polis, the public realm of political life. Philosophy was an eminently practical activity, which is markedly different from the overwhelmingly theoretical enquiry it has become since the 17th century."



My point, similarly, is that, for those who do not make much of a distinction between "my philosophy" and "my life" [because, perhaps, philosophy is their life for all intents and purposes], words are generally expressed and encompassed as a literal relationship between "in my head" and "out in the world". To suggest this relationship is essentially meaningless and absurd [which I believe it is], tends to discomfit most of them rather considerably. Why? Because it seems to imply, in turn, their very existence is too. And, given that I believe human identity is profoundly problematic...an equally persuasive but essentially meaningless and absurd point of view....it should discomfit them in some respect. If it doesn't, that only speaks volumes [to me] about the gap between how much they think they understand philosophy and how little they actually know, instead, about the enormously complex, convoluted and [ultimately] futile nature of actual human interaction.

The inherent limitations of philosophy in exploring these things as it were. But without exploring them at all philosophy devolves into mere analysis.

Someone [probably me] once noted this: while the unexamined life may not be worth living, the examined one can be sheer hell.

Or as Saul Bellow once suggested, "Maybe an unexaimed life is not worth living. But a man's examined life can make him wish he was dead."

So lots and lots of philosophers go out of their way to make sure their examination has a happy ending. Which is to say this: it ends with a snapshot [if not an out and out sculpturing] of the truth itself.

And this of course is then called wisdom.

But wisdom is often just a conceptual contraption disguised as an edifice---constructed by and large out of words.

Randall Patrick

[rez]

Basically,


Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

I am not sure if Socrates was a rationalist, but of course there are different types of philosophiers with all different types of conclusions. Not just happy ones.


I mean look at John Locke!*







*this is a joke intended to be funny, hopefully somebody can understand it.

[Technosoul]

Hi Randall,. good post. I think the important thing one should examine is the difference between the two so that one knows when they are doing what with their philosophy, so as not to blur the lines between the more abstract and the logical (useful).

As an anology to compare this with I present the following. A scientist might use his occupational knowledge to create pratical solutions that are useful for everyday life, however if he wanted to take time off from that way of life to write a science fiction book, for the pure fun of it, I would say "hey, go for it". No doubt the scientist would one project form the other.

However it seems that a person's philosophy about life should match up with the life they are in fact living. I recall this one famous book that contained a philosophy about how to have a happy marrage and how to raise your kids. Later I find out the writer was devorsed by his wife and that he never had any children. However in spite of the fact he had a failed marrage and no kids he got away with publishing his book of "wisdom" about marrage and family life (because he was a PH.D).
However one could speculate that you can examine married life better from the outside looking in, then you could if you are directly caught-up and involved in all those problems your self.

Also, reflecting on this topic I enjoy (a lot) the folk wisdom I find in some of the old blues recordings, they can be rather illuminating. I was just listening to this song "I love the life I live and live the life I love". Which somehow reminded me of this topic.

As you might know by know I have this philosophy about "information from out of the blue". I use that nearly everyday of practical purposes. Yesterday my wife was in a panic because she could not find her TV remote control that she needs to pre-set the VCR so she can record the soaps while at work. For about 15 mins. she was in the other room tossing stuff upside down looking for it and gripping up a storm. I knew she normally kept it on the bed but now it seems to have totally vanished, so I came in and went into that calm place in my mind so that I could allow the "blue" to inform me about where to look, suddenly I had a logical answer and I acted upon it by looking in this space between the mattress and the footboard, and sure enough, my hand came out with that missing remote control. Technosoul.

[Starboy]

Someone [probably me] once noted this: while the unexamined life may not be worth living, the examined one can be sheer hell.

Or as Saul Bellow once suggested, "Maybe an unexaimed life is not worth living. But a man's examined life can make him wish he was dead."

So lots and lots of philosophers go out of their way to make sure their examination has a happy ending. Which is to say this: it ends with a snapshot [if not an out and out sculpturing] of the truth itself.

And this of course is then called wisdom.

But wisdom is often just a conceptual contraption disguised as an edifice---constructed by and large out of words.

Randall Patrick

Not all wisdom has a happy ending. One of my favorites is "life is hard and then you die." Isn't that cheery.

Starboy

[orgaelin]

Techno,

I think it's tough to say whether that guy was qualified to write a book about marriage. As a married man, I think I am qualified to write a book about how to endure constant brainwashing! But there are often times when people have become TOO 'in the thick' of things to be able to write an accurate and objective report of something. My description of marriage *certainly* wouldn't be objective, but it would be informed. Perhaps the best thing is to get a Phd and someone who's been there and let them write the book together?!

As for the "out of the blue" idea... you're freakin me out again!

I do the exact same thing when I'm looking for something I've lost!

But the trouble is there are two ways of looking at what is going on here. You can talk psychology... The unconscious mind is powerful, and always working away at things in the background. If you actually stop and listen with a clear mind, it will give you the most likely location for something and it will almost always be right, even when you seem to think it's something you couldn't possibly have known. Or you could talk about it more spiritually. It could be part of a psychic ability within you.

Personally, I know there are always at least two opposing interpretations of something. You can choose to look at it scientifically or spiritually... but in the end I really don't think knowing how/why matters. In fact, not only does it not matter, but it might even be a hinderence.

There are many aspects of life that are not meant to be understood or philosophised about. It's like watching a magic performer... knowing how the trick works spoils everything...

At the end of the day if you have the ability to just sit in a quiet place and come to know things 'out of the blue'... well then just get on and enjoy it - don't question it too much, or do anything that might spoil the magic. Just let it happen.

I'm guessing ahead of time that you agree!

~ Org.

[Suburbanite]

I mean look at John Locke!*
*this is a joke intended to be funny, hopefully somebody can understand it.

My Corpuscularian Sense Recievers are doing just that.

[Technosoul]

Techno,

I think it's tough to say whether that guy was qualified to write a book about marriage. As a married man, I think I am qualified to write a book about how to endure constant brainwashing! But there are often times when people have become TOO 'in the thick' of things to be able to write an accurate and objective report of something. My description of marriage *certainly* wouldn't be objective, but it would be informed. Perhaps the best thing is to get a Phd and someone who's been there and let them write the book together?!

As for the "out of the blue" idea... you're freakin me out again!

I do the exact same thing when I'm looking for something I've lost!

But the trouble is there are two ways of looking at what is going on here. You can talk psychology... The unconscious mind is powerful, and always working away at things in the background. If you actually stop and listen with a clear mind, it will give you the most likely location for something and it will almost always be right, even when you seem to think it's something you couldn't possibly have known. Or you could talk about it more spiritually. It could be part of a psychic ability within you.

Personally, I know there are always at least two opposing interpretations of something. You can choose to look at it scientifically or spiritually... but in the end I really don't think knowing how/why matters. In fact, not only does it not matter, but it might even be a hinderence.

There are many aspects of life that are not meant to be understood or philosophised about. It's like watching a magic performer... knowing how the trick works spoils everything...

At the end of the day if you have the ability to just sit in a quiet place and come to know things 'out of the blue'... well then just get on and enjoy it - don't question it too much, or do anything that might spoil the magic. Just let it happen.

I'm guessing ahead of time that you agree!

~ Org.

You and I will not be providing folks with much of a exciting debate, as I would share with you that opinion but sometimes drift away from it. How our brain operates would no doubt surprise us if we really knew everything it could do for us - more or less automatically. The 'out of the blue" phrase I think I got from scientist Albert E. So I am not really sure if the brain is doing all those computerized deductions of data and pumping out the most likely answers, or if the brain is some kind of receiver for programing from something such as a higher or collective consciousness. But as you pointed out, that would not matter as long as it works. I have as part of my music collection this song (I will attempt later to get more words form it) where the singer is saying "open up your mind and let it all come through, you will find you knew more then you thought you knew, come on - let it happen to you".

But we could not overlook that how we know is how our brain operates even if we cannot know for sure how our brain is operating.

Technosoul.

[Technosoul]

Oh yeah, let me add another post about the "marrage - self help - book". Hmmm?

Marrage is like a steamy bath, after you have been in the bath for a while it is not so hot".

This might tie into the ideas (forgot if it was in this message chain or another) where we (someone) were talking about the extremes between two things and that in the center balance we have "a non-feeling state" which is not stemuated by pain or pleasure. And someone said that would be boring and when people get bored they seek out something stemualting to counter that effect. So when marrage become too normal then one of them might have a mid-life crises and suddenly are out honky tonking around again. Boredom, the norm. A place where only angels would dare to tread.
(and the saints of sedated thrill seeking).

Technosoul.

[rcne]

Rez,

I mean look at John Locke!*

OK , I give up, I can't think of a reason for the John Locke reference.

Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

I'd like to add that the closely examined life is not worth living either. We would spend all our time in a stupor or state of depression.

edit - I like the new quote feature - is it new or is it that I never noticed it before?

[orgaelin]

How our brain operates would no doubt surprise us if we really knew everything it could do for us - more or less automatically.

Back in the "Good stuff and bad stuff" thread is where you started this chain of thought. Automatic control within the brain is a fascinating subject, (as I'm sure you'll agree!! )

There are obviously many different and complicated functions of the brain. And again we can say "of the brain", or, that the brain is just a vehicle by which the results of these functions are passed through to our minds, or, that invisible green monkeys inject it every few seconds. It's the end result that is interesting/relative.

Possibly the best example of automaticity within us is with driving a car. Everyone that drives eventually has the experience where they arrive at work having little or no recollection of their journey. What happens here? How can they drive without knowing it?!

I'm not really asking, as I know! Like you said elsewhere, we don't deal well with repetition. I don't know if you have studied much into the brain, but when you do, you start to realise that the brain has a real thing about repetition...

For example, have you ever seen that optical illusion with the black and white spiral that turns round and round, and then when you look away you can still see everything spinning? The reason this happens is because the brain is trying to filter out the repetition. It does this by trying to mirror within what it is seeing on the outside... a better way to understand why is with sound...

If there is a constant noise going on in the background, let's say a noisy machine in a nearby room, you will often find yourself going about your business having no idea the noise is there. Then suddenly it stops and your brain freaks out! Something just changed, but you're not even sure what it was. The effect is more obvious with babies who sleep through loud music (like my kids do) but wake up as soon as it goes quiet.

Whats happening, again, is that the brain tries to filter out the repetition so that it can focus on things that don't repeat. After all, survivalistically speaking, things that don't change are not dangerous, and it is only changes in the environment that are worth paying attention to if you're trying to avoid danger.

So we filter out repetition from the external world. But when it comes to internal repetition it's a whole different story. It's as though the brain likes to have its resources ever ready to face new situations. If we do something again and again every day (like driving) then it starts to make it an automatic function, leaving our concentration free to do whatever else may need doing. Like daydreaming!

Now the weird thing is that whatever part of us it is which drives the car automatically is the same part which plays the piano, keeps us balanced on a surfboard, or performs any other highly complex function that generally requires lots of practice to perfect.

Now when it comes to playing a piano, we don't actually have to learn to play it at all. The automaticity part of a man who is a master pianist is present and just as fully functional in a man who has never played the piano. "Learning" to play the piano is in fact merely a process of getting the function from manual to automatic. If we could persuade our brain to let us access that functionality on a whim, by choice (kind of like trying to take over your brain's control of your heart beating - the brain is just not going to let you do that easily!) then we could play any piece of music perfectly after just one hearing.

There is evidence to support this too, as in the case of that idiot savant (can't remember his name off hand). He is totally blind, but can, as I said, perfectly reproduce any piece of music he hears without making any mistakes. He's not a genius, he simply has a slight miss-wiring in his brain that allows him access to the extremely powerful functioning of his higher mind - the automatic bit.

Of course I don't know if this is a part of the brain, or if it's fascilitated by a part of the brain which relies on something external to the body to perform the functionality, or something else.

I tend to lean towards your own thinking, Techno, of there being some kind of collective intelligence. I think that this 'intelligence' is a very, very difficult concept for most people to begin to grasp, and that it is extremely far removed from anything our normal perception could allow us to properly begin to understand. I expect it is timeless as well as spaceless, and both finite and infinite in nature. It is not something we will ever measure with physical instruments, or any other kind of instrument. It is totally beyond perception, and the more you seek it the less you will find it.

Better to do as Technosoul's song says. "Let it happen"...

"Watcha think"?!