What exactly is philosophy? I'm not too clear on that.

I blame Marcus, he made me do it!

I blame DeathsTreaty's icon. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Here's how Wiki defines it. That seems right to me. We leave the little stuff, (how to make a living, how to keep the house in good repair, how to get the kids to school) up to our spouses. That we have time to answer all the important questions in life.

I believe a wise man would say, don't question life, just get busy living it.

That is true.

A different wise man would say, "the unexamined life is not worth living."

A third wise man would say, "get on with your life and learn from it and apply your knowledge as you go along".

A fourth wise man would say, "stop to smell the roses along the way."

A fifth wise man would say "Don't believe anything just because someone told you something."

A sixth wise man would say "without belief there is no life."

A seventh wise man would say "belief is only as good as it helps you gain knowledge."

My favourite female philosopher, Edie Brickell, put it this way:

"Philosopy is a walk on a slippery rock. Religion is a smile on dog."

Philosophy is a love of knowledge in a world where absolute knowledge is plain impossible. Philosophy takes knowledge conditionally accepted as absolute truth, and manipulates it with logic. The aim of any philosopher is to appear smarter and cooler than any other philosopher in the same room at the same time and at the same respect.

Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock. You have to balance your premisses with your logic, and any premiss can become slippery or pulled out from underfoot with little or no warning. In these instances you have to quickly find another footing in shallow water, or else risk slipping and falling. The philosopher who manages to walk least goofily on the rocks, and / or walks the farthest, and / or manages to push other philosophers in the water by rocking the rocks underfoot, is the winner.

Rock Lobster!!!

Btw, it's Friday. That automatically makes it My Fault Day.

As for philosophy? It has a purpose, a meaning, but most ignore it. I just like to absorb views, opinions, knowledge....and maybe incorporate some of it in my own life. I like learning, but I forget so many things. Still, as much as people drive me nuts, there is a little something to learn from everyone.

So, I guess I fit Wux's definition, especially with my penchant for inserting foot in mouth.

A bit of background: All animals revel in learning about their environment. It's a survival advantage, to be sure to know what's around behind each upcoming hidden corner. Humans took it too far, and we question things that have no practical value.

In our quest to gain knowledge, some humans like to dwell on those areas of knowledge, which on one hand yields no practical results, but on the other hand can keep the philosopher and his or her desciples entertained, their self-importance mighty, and the standing of their activities in the community on the same level as a baseball score. In the last sixty years no major philosophy emerged, but the previous theories have outlasted almost all other things. It's the same level; though baseball score's impact are short lived, and the impact of a good philosophy can become household exrpessions lasting millennia. ("The unexamined life, etc.") Two baseball players gave their names to history and immortality indelibly: Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. This was done in the first hundred years of baseball's existence. An average well-learned man can rattle off about 20-30 names of famous philosophers, and no more. That works out to be a philosopher for each century of philosophy.

The lesson is, if you want immortality, playing baseball is a better bet than pursuing excellence in philosophy.

double post.

I never defined you, Actionlynx. My fault. I apolgogize. I'll now try to remedy my failure by catching up to the horrible neglect I have committed.

Actionlynx: a biped feline, famous for its predatorial might when hunting down spiders in his children's bedroom. The actionlynx pounces at every moving theory, and plays with it until the poor theory gives its soul up to its creator. The AL eats it then, or if he is not hungry, puts the dead theory on Mommy's bed.

The Actionlynx, if he was allowed to propagate unchecked, would fill the world seven-foot heigh over all dry land mass area with his progeny in four generations of multiplying.

The Actionlynx eats, shoots, and leaves. The actionlynx has spotted brown fur, big ears, and four eyes, which is peculiar when compared to most mammalian species.

The Actionlynx likes to laugh, but he would rather die than to be mistaken to be a member of a parallel species in a parallel universe, the hyena.

Dude! You got my respect!

:)

LOBSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

I did not take it!! Honest!! I don't know how your respect got into my pocket. Somebody must have just put it there. It wasn't me, I swear. Here, please take it back, but please don't call the cops. I'll pay you double for it even, if you let me have it, and don't call the cops.

Now, this page is some fun reading.

I'm just waiting with lemon and drawn butter for the scraps!

"It wasn't a rock....It was a rock lobsta!"