philosophy.

now, there has been some criticism of my approach to philosophy recently and so i`d like to adress the issue now that i have a moment.


i am a reasonably well educated man and back that up with some experiential knowledge in what some refer to as the "real" world, and what i`ve discovered about philosophy is this.

you have to get in to get out.

that is, you have to learn the codification of the language used by each philosopher in turn to be able to have a philosophical discussion with those who hold philosophy out as valuable.

the process of reading and attempting to understand what these people are doing with thier writing claims your mind.

you are forever then changed by the process of trying to understand thier points, valid or not.

just as the observer effects the outcome of experiments in quantum mechanics........and everything else.

i have been accused of being closed-minded for not wanting to expose my mind to yet another position so that i may have a discussion with someone..........

i am doing a similar thing here in that i would like to think that people can give themselves the permission to walk away from some of the limits imposed by a dogmatic and repressive culture..........so i know the game.

and the intellectual niavete of some people is staggering.

especially the religious or political.

and i will now include the terminally philosophical.

i can understand the romantic idea of aligning one`s self with the existentialists or nihilists or the ancient greeks, and when you steep yourself in thier work you relive the time and culture that they lived in.

much as you would studying the work of pollock or debussy or andy worhol or jimmy hendrix.

but i don`t want to be those people, or live in thier world.

i prefer to be in this one.

and laugh.

and i`ll spare myself the dogmatic and pedantic heart pain.