God? What do you think:

[HAL9000]

Philosophy isn't the love of knowledge, it's the love of the endless discourse on subjects that no longer impact a modern world. Tribes lost in the Amazon will profit greatly from philosophy while modern, 1st world nations are hindered by it.

Science teaches you to love knowledge, provides an avenue for higher learning that actually impacts everyone, teaches you not only to question everything and be analytical, but also provides an avenue for you to test and revise your questions and analyses with real-world results.

Philosophy is for people who are detached from reality and who want an easy A in college.

Philosophy is a science.

 

[Nik]

Yeah, it's a science about as much as religion is a science.

 

[HAL9000]

Yeah, it's a science about as much as religion is a science.

Sigh. It is a social science. Religion is not a branch of education or thinking.

 

[datalink7]

Yeah, it's a science about as much as religion is a science.

Philosophy is hardly useless. Of all of what I learned at college, philosophy was most applicable and helpful to me when I deployed to Iraq.

 

[HAL9000]

Philosophy is hardly useless. Of all of what I learned at college, philosophy was most applicable and helpful to me when I deployed to Iraq.

I agree, studying philosophy has definitely benefitted me a great deal.

 

[destrekor]

This philosophy is useless/bullshit/not a science argument is quite patently... uh... bullshit.

It's a soft-science, for one. In that manner, it can be grouped with the likes of psychology and sociology.

My degree was essentially composed of courses within the International Studies, Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, and Political Science topics. Each typically geared toward: 1) why we are so fucked up; 2) why we generally are a failure of a species; and to bring the picture into a little more focus and in broader terms, 3) what constitutes our main drives, or what is our most basic unconscious goals, that so commonly pushes us toward conflict at all levels of the totem pole that is civilization; and lastly, 4) What the hell do we do about all of it?.

Of course, the major and topic didn't say it in so many words; the school called it International Studies: Security and Intelligence

For people in leadership, it's actually very good knowledge to use. The soft-sciences, with the right focus in mind (especially for intuitive-type people), can really help one understand what drives people who are seemingly nothing like you. For people who are low on the leadership ladder, like boots on the ground leaders, it might not change foreign policy, but it can definitely aid in local-level conflict-resolution and can in fact be a huge tool for the "win the hearts and minds" goal.

In essence, the soft-sciences aren't great for problems of the Present, not in the structure of today's world. But in the mind of the right people, especially people who yearn to understand what drives cultural movements, it is great.

A problem though, unless one wants to be a teacher/instructor, Philosophy is hardly something with which one can make a living using only that science. But does that mean it's not a science, or worthless? People who are a cog in the public-policy world, in some shape or form, need to be multi-talented. It's one of many pieces of knowledge that, combined with many other tools, can only help.

Social sciences are a very different world from physical sciences, but physical science isn't the only thing mankind needs to save our asses from the world, because physical science isn't doing anything but making better tools to either take or save lives. We need it, yes, because it's the only path toward revolutionary progress in the natural world, i.e. better tools that make our lives better - but all that research, without anyone trying to understand and hopefully change the way we view the world, only leads to more problems. The physical sciences need the soft sciences if we are to ever really understand the brain, understand our mental processes; the physical sciences can only help lead to seeing how everything works, the soft sciences will help put the pieces together so that we can understand how the civilizations function in ways that are almost like a colony organism. The pieces fit together in so many convoluted ways, and the physical sciences will never lead to actually solving any problems on that frontier.
The worst part is the soft sciences have actually come to many similar conclusions over the generations, but nobody has ever actually tried to implement anything that we have learned. It's actually kind of disgusting to see how the global civilization has not changed over the past 2000+ years, and in fact some might say we have only regressed from any progress that had been made. Nobody cares, because as a collective whole, civilization lacks foresight and generally could give a rat's ass about future generations.

In short, to say philosophy or the other soft sciences are useless is laughable. They are extremely useful, but nobody cares to make any real use of the knowledge. And that's why we'll probably never survive ourselves.

 

[Nik]

Making Philosophy critical to human evolution is probably just as faulty as dismissing it completely.

Admittedly, I didn't read your whole post and I probably never will, but fuck philosophy because I'm going to lump it right in with religion and flush the whole bit down the toilet. Fuck all of it.

 

[moshquerade]

how many of these threads will we have?
oh yes, make it one more.

 

[zinfamous]

I keep reading the thread title as "God, what do you think?" and responding "Dude, you're barking up the wrong tree here."

:awe:

 

[zinfamous]

Making Philosophy critical to human evolution is probably just as faulty as dismissing it completely.

Admittedly, I didn't read your whole post and I probably never will, but fuck philosophy because I'm going to lump it right in with religion and flush the whole bit down the toilet. Fuck all of it.

ah...this is how I know you fail.

yes indeed.

 

[Nik]

Trees!?

Prove trees exist zinfamous


prove it



























PROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[epidemis]

Philosophy is a science.

C'mon frakkin Galileo is rolling in his grave right now

 

[Sea Moose]

I keep reading the thread title as "God, what do you think?" and responding "Dude, you're barking up the wrong tree here."

:awe:

meh i was thinking the same thing

Dear Lord: The gods have been good to me. For the first time in my life, everything is absolutely perfect just the way it is. So here's the deal: You freeze everything the way it is, and I won't ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. OK, deal. In gratitude, I present you this offering of cookies and milk. If you want me to eat them for you, give me no sign. Thy will be done.

 

[wuliheron]

I think it's genetic. Some people are very predisposed to believing in something "greater" than themselves. I think we all have it to a degree due to evolution (because it is advantageous to listen to a leader when in packs) but it is stronger in some people than others. I do wonder if it is the same or similar to the trait of believing in woo (aliens, ghosts, homeopathy, chiropractic, etc).

Maybe so, but the evidence is not there yet.

On the other hand there is strong evidence that nurture has a great deal to do with the issue. For example, the majority of the world's thriving democracies today are moderately socialist and overwhelmingly secular. It seems once people feel supported to a significant extent by society they no longer rely so much on miracle solutions to their problems.

Fundamentalist Christianity is particularly popular the more classist and capitalistic the society, which explains why the US is the only thriving democracy that is so overwhelmingly religious. There could be many reasons for this particular association, but it seems clear the all-or-nothing world view of both has something to do with it.

 

[Minjin]

Maybe so, but the evidence is not there yet.

On the other hand there is strong evidence that nurture has a great deal to do with the issue. For example, the majority of the world's thriving democracies today are moderately socialist and overwhelmingly secular. It seems once people feel supported to a significant extent by society they no longer rely so much on miracle solutions to their problems.

Fundamentalist Christianity is particularly popular the more classist and capitalistic the society, which explains why the US is the only thriving democracy that is so overwhelmingly religious. There could be many reasons for this particular association, but it seems clear the all-or-nothing world view of both has something to do with it.

How would you square that with China? They have a very high percentage of atheists/agnostics with most of the remaining people believing in religions that are barely religions. They are arguably more capitalistic than the US and while I am no expert on it, I believe they are fairly "classist".

 

[Onceler]

I believe in Karma and that Christ was sent to relieve people of bad Karma that was preventing them from rejoining with the Creator. You get many chances (reincarnation) it says so in the bible besides people thought Christ was Moses come back in the new testiment.
I don't buy the crap that everything is only thousands of years old or that there is no Evolution(a process which is guided by God to fill different jobs).
I think that the original bible was altered by popes and polititions who thought that the people would never believe that the earth was as old as it is. Also in Genesis God took Adam's rib to make Eve(thats DNA baby yeah).
I don't believe in the bible it is just too flawed like the book of Job where God put his servant through all kinds of hell just to prove to the devil(my God kisses no one's ass) that he would not stray.
And it was Science that led me to believe in God.

 

[Kadarin]

Philosophy is a science.

wat

(quotin' for stupidity)

 

[datalink7]

Trees!?

Prove trees exist zinfamous


prove it



























PROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If this is your snapshot view of philosophy it is woefully deficient.

 

[jonks]

Fuck all of it.

now that's a philosophy

 

[Malak]

No your right I'm not being biased in one way or the other, I'm interested in the TRUTH, unlike you, I don't care if the truth comes from a god or science, just as long as it is a logical truth.

That is inaccurate, I am interested in the truth regardless of source as well. You imply God and science are mutually exclusive, when it is the opposite.

 

[Malak]

The fact of the matter is that nobody has ever seen proof that god exists. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the Judeo-Christian god or any other god actually exists.

And there is the very bottom of the barrel. You finally said it straight up. Took you long enough. Don't know why it's so hard to get you to talk straight, wasting time with pointless arguments and trolling.

So there we are, you with no reason and me with plenty of reason. That is the basis of any discussion from now on.

 

[Kev]

I completely disagree, philosophy and philosophers have moulded and shaped all of civilisation from ancient greece to modern day, encompassing our entire system of ethics and morality, or our own perception of what we are and why we are here.

Usually wrongly. Philosophy is generally worthless.

 

[HAL9000]

That is inaccurate, I am interested in the truth regardless of source as well. You imply God and science are mutually exclusive, when it is the opposite.

You are not interested in truth, you are interested in assigning fiction as truth. Also it's not the opposite at all, that is you again stating fiction as fact. Unless your reply is the proof you implied you had earlier, I have nothing more to say to someone who lies.

Usually wrongly. Philosophy is generally worthless.

I disagree, Philosophy is the greatest subject, and it's ability to enable a philosopher to reason cannot be underestimated.

 

[jonks]

And it was Science that led me to believe in God.

then yer doin it wrong

 

[datalink7]

Usually wrongly. Philosophy is generally worthless.

Generally people who hold this viewpoint tend to think philosophy is people sitting around trying to prove whether a chair exists or not.

Philosophical subjects are of great importance to any civilization. What is justice? That is a philosophical question. More specifically, is the Patriot Act a worthwhile exchange of some of your freedoms for some security? To consider these questions is to delve into philosophy, and I'd hardly consider that a worthless exercise.