On The Importance Of Philosophy

I'm Just An Amateur Philosopher

Philosophy examines and studies existence, as well as knowledge, action, force and the arts. At the root it stems from the need to understand existence and the nature of existence. Life and death, as far as we, conscious and sentient living things are concerned.

Well, as far as I'm concerned. But I'm a real amateur philosopher. A newbie, not because I'm young - I'm not - but because I wasted too much time dabbling with the same fundamental issues that philosophy deals with but without the proper tools. And without a solid framework such as the one presented for instance here, on The Importance Of Philosophy.

It is based on an Objectivist worldview, first laid out by author and philosopher Ayn Rand, who said:

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute....

And we, the self-aware, can't escape philosophy. On this other website, Objectivism 101, it says

...that everyone has a philosophy, even if they don't know it. There's no way to avoid it. It's the way you make sense of the world. It's how you put your knowledge together into an understanding of the world. It's how you make choices, weigh costs and benefits, and decide how to live your life.

A statement with which I wholeheartedly agree. For years I developped "a" philosophical point of view without my knowing it. As I was examining the development of my own condition, in itself and within human society, as I was searching for answers and more knowledge on this universe I found myself in, ideas somehow organised themselves around a few pivotal concepts and I slowly became an amateur philosopher...

One who's trying to attain a little more clarity from whithin this chaotic and entropic life he woke up in, fifty eight years ago....

A Belief

My only faith:

There will be one more day for me.

My only certainty:

And once, there won't!

Status: So far so good.

My Pretension

Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.

Bre Pettis and Kio Stark's "Cult of Done manifesto".

So let's pretend that I'm a human animal, bent on science and philosophy, an artist and a curious observer of both inside and outside realities.

That's what I say I am.

Singularities

Singularity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Singularity may refer to any of a variety of concepts.

Mathematics:
Mathematical singularity, a point at which a given mathematical object is not defined

In complex analysis:
Essential singularity, a singularity near which a function exhibits extreme behavior
Isolated singularity, a mathematical singularity that has no other singularities close to it
Movable singularity, a concept in singularity theory
Removable singularity, a point at which a function is not defined but at which it can be so defined that it is continuous at the singularity

In algebraic geometry:
Singular point of an algebraic variety, a point where an algebraic variety is not locally flat
Rational singularity, a concept in singularity theory
Singularity theory, which deals with these concepts

Science:
Gravitational singularity, a point in spacetime in which gravitational forces cause matter to have an infinite density and zero volume
Mechanical singularity, a position or configuration of a mechanism or a machine where the subsequent behaviour cannot be predicted
Prandtl-Glauert singularity, the point at which a sudden drop in air pressure occurs
Singularity (climate), a weather phenomenon associated with a specific calendar date
Technological singularity, a theoretical point in the development of a technological civilization
Van Hove singularity in the density of states of a material

Singularity is an interesting concept in a universe where things are
generally self-similar and continuous (as part of a continuum).
Singularities also happen in one's life. A birth, a tragic loss, a very
close call with death, a brush with mental illness, something or an event that changes the rules for ever.

The Table's End

Where does the table effectively end?

Infinitesimally, atoms of solid wood turn into flowing atoms of air while from my point of view, there is a surface of solid wood. But is there?

We know that however polished that surface is, if you look close enough, it is rough and ragged. And at the atomic level, there are places that are wood and places that are not. There's even a level of uncertainty on what is part of the table and what, is part of the room's air.

We also know that this solid wood surface is constantly being modified by traveling molecules and electromagnetic bombardments and other contacts with solid objects. And that atoms and molecules of the table are constantly let loose from the solid. We also know that some particles can even go through that solid wood table.

What's interesting it that there is no exact frontier between the table and the air, even though from my point of view, there seems to be one. Then my assuming that there is a trustable interface between solid and gaseous would be "close enough for rock and roll".

So for most of us, most of the time, approximate assumptions are more than enough for functional living. If it wasn't for challenges and curiosity.

Dry

Atheism is dry?

Not so much if you consider that I believe in Science, in the ways it acquires knowledge and in all the marvels it constantly reveals. I gape at the universe and at the fancy apes that call themselves humans, at the quasi-unfathomable scale of everything, and at the existence of organic awareness.

So many more mysteries to unravel, observations to engage in, knowledge to refine and adjust, that I would never consider my predicament as dry.

My only complaint will be: not enough time.