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 Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,088
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 Who Are You?
#9564705 - 01/07/09 12:59 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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There's been some controversy here regarding the use of personalisms during debates/discussions. I agree that they tend to disrupt/degenerate the discussion into a mudslinging match, yet I also agree with the point that our philosophy is based in WHO we are.
The Political forum has a stickied thread which asks posters to describe their background & perspective, and it garners many interesting responses. In the interest of both the need for civilized discussion AND an appreciation for the roots of one's philosophical/spiritual perspective, I'd like to create a similar thread.
You are free to frame your response in any format which makes sense to you, but if you are stumped, here are some questions to answer:
1. What was your upbringing? Did your family have money? Were they religious? Did they discuss philosophy and/or spirituality with you?
2. How was your educational experience? Did you enjoy school? Were you academically-oriented, or disinterested? How much of your education has found application in your daily life?
3. What career interests you? Are you working in this career now? Do you feel satisfied in your work, or is it mainly a paycheck job? What work would you do if you did not have to earn money?
4. Has your philosophy/spirituality changed much over the years? Have you had epiphanies or rude awakenings which led you to reconsider your beliefs/values? At what age did you first become interested in philosophy/spirituality?
5. What are your core values? How are these values expressed in your daily life? Do you feel that your values are similar or dissimilar to those of the majority?
I'll post my own "profile" in a bit. 
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 flangenips
Batshitinsanse
Registered: 01/20/08
Posts: 1,520
Loc: aotearoa 
Last seen: 8 months, 8 days
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 Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9565084 - 01/07/09 02:04 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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1
MY childhood had many influences. But only pseudo-religious. In the sense i was taught values of christianity, but not taught gospel in the sense that there was historical value in christianity. My mother was an advocate of these values, though not a practicing christian herself. Her mother was catholic (by blood) and her father, it seems, a long line of atheists. My father is an atheist/agnostic as is his parents too, but anglican christian by blood. My family have never been rich, bouncing between poor and middle class their entire lives.
So i was more or less raised an atheist with some christian morals. (though alot of these aren't all that different to most morals)
2
I enjoyed primary (elementary) school, and became disinterested in high school, but completed it. After high school I did a Certificate in live sound and event production, after that i completed a BA in philosophy at Uni, and now i'm doing a Diploma of eBusiness. Upon realising that i'm addicted to the student life, yet totally sick of being poor, i think i will get a job when this is completed.
Does philosophy have much application in my daily life? Maybe, with making ethical decisions, but otherwise, not really apart from improving my previous poor english skills.
3
I'm interested in eBusiness, not sure how long that will last though. I have no realised career ambition apart from making a good amount of money to pay rent, eat, power, and purchase a guitar or computer or dvd or game every now and then, that and afford to go out for drinks or dinner occasionally, i would like that too.
If i did not have to earn money i would be a lazy bum who does alot of art and music. (heck i should make a career out of that, but alas, its a hard, luck-laced, road)
4 & 5
My philosophy/spirituality has changed a little over the years. I've generally always been an agnostic, considered religion a few times, dabbled in hedonistic philosophy (including some satanism philosophies when i was younger), but am now more into more collective utilitarianism and am interested in altruism, but do not practice it. This will change, I swing from here to there alot, finding everything imperfect. But to me thats the beauty of life, i find the answers allusive. What works best for everyone? I don't fucking know, and doubt i ever will.
In my daily life:
I do my best to try to be a good person by myself and to those close to me. I have a tendency to not give a shit about most other people, apart from empathy/sympathy. I sometimes get a kick out of disturbing and pissing off random people, particularly when i'm drunk or trippin, hedonism can certainly shine through in me. But naturally i consider myself considerate. heh
I became interested in philosophy around the age of 15 or 16.
Thats all i can think of, i'm probably missing something important, but, bleh.
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All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher. - Ambrose Bierce
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,088
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Thanks for posting!  It's very interesting to hear more about the people who post here. Do you really live in NZ? I've been thinking about moving there once my kids are out of the house.
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Lion
Decadent Flower Magnate
Registered: 09/20/05
Posts: 7,375
Last seen: 38 minutes, 42 seconds
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Re: Who Are You? *DELETED* [Re: Veritas]
#9565323 - 01/07/09 02:35 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Post deleted by LionReason for deletion: ...
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flangenips
Batshitinsanse
Registered: 01/20/08
Posts: 1,520
Loc: aotearoa
Last seen: 8 months, 8 days
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9565357 - 01/07/09 02:39 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Yeah, its nice here, a typical westernised country with lots of countryside still in tact. Its a very safe place, though where i am is the current crime capital. (christchurch), only a few murders and savage beatings a year. heh.
This is a great place to retire, but then again so is Australia.
If you want adventure tourism though, this is definately a good place for thrillseeking at your doorstep. with mountains, rivers, and the sea, literally no more than 2-3 hours drive from anywhere its not really all that hard to get out and do shit.
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All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher. - Ambrose Bierce
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OrgoneConclusion
Pharoah & Balanced
Registered: 04/01/07
Posts: 29,388
Loc: Luxor
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I would also like to visit, but would have trouble with the language. 
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This is your drain on brugs.
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,088
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: Lion]
#9565411 - 01/07/09 02:47 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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It sounds like you might have done well with home learning. It's too bad that school was so difficult for you. 
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flangenips
Batshitinsanse
Registered: 01/20/08
Posts: 1,520
Loc: aotearoa
Last seen: 8 months, 8 days
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Quote:
OrgoneConclusion said:
I would also like to visit, but would have trouble with the language.
slack-tongued informal english? surely its easier to understand than irish, scottish and welsh accented english? :P
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All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher. - Ambrose Bierce
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Silversoul
Holon
Registered: 01/01/05
Posts: 22,562
Loc: Mostly harmless
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9565515 - 01/07/09 03:00 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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1. I was brought up in an upper-middle class family in California. Religion wasn't discussed much in our house. We only went to church on Christmas eve when we would visit my grandparents. My grandfather is a theologian, and a rather progressive one, but I didn't really become interested in his ideas until rather recently.
2. Went to private school my whole life. Went to a Catholic High School because that's where everyone from my middle school went. Went to a mid-sized liberal arts college and got a BA in Sociology and Anthropology. My attitude towards school was essentially always the same: loved learning, hated homework.
3. I'd really love to be some sort of public intellectual. You know: publish books, deliver lectures, do interviews. Sort of an academic celebrity who you wouldn't see in People magazine, but might see giving a TED talk. Maybe it's a pipe dream, but it's the one career I can really see myself being truly satisfied with. Maybe I should pursue a PhD in something and try to become a professor, but I'm not sure what subject I'd want to teach. Basically, I'm someone who's in love with ideas, and I'd really love to find a career that allows me to put that to use.
4. My philosophy and spirituality are constantly changing and growing. I think I first became interested in philosophy around age 8 or 9 when I began to wonder if life was just a dream from which I was going to wake up someday(and I hadn't even heard of Plato's allegory of the cave). I guess I discovered spirituality shortly after that. The first spiritual idea that attracted me was animism, the worship of nature. I later explored Druidism, Wicca, and Buddhism. In college, my spirituality waned for a while, especially after taking my first philosophy course. I can't say I ever became an atheist or agnostic, but at some point I could describe me as a naturalistic pantheist who dabbled in Buddhism and Taoism. All along this spiritual journey, I held a certain contempt for Christianity. It seemed like such an arcane and backwards religion that missed the point. That started to change for me when I got into LSD. I had a religious experience in which Jesus Christ appeared before me, and I felt his infinite compassion radiating throughout my entire being. I accepted him as my personal savior that day, though I wasn't quite sure what I meant by that. I continued to have problems with mainstream Christian doctrine and still do today. I initially considered myself a Gnostic Christian, so as to distance myself from the rest of the flock. But I later discovered the mystical heart of Christianity had been there all along and dropped the gnostic label. I've since become interested in philosophers such as Ken Wilber and Alfred North Whitehead who have sought to bridge faith with science and modernity.
5. I guess if there's universal value I could describe, it's balance. Most virtues I could describe can become vices if absolutized. Humility can become complacency, justice can become vengeance, confidence can become narcissism, generosity can become martyrdom, and so on. That's why virtue is generally about finding a balance between two extremes. I'm still searching for that balance.
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deranger
Registered: 01/21/08
Posts: 6,840
Loc: off the wall
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9565844 - 01/07/09 03:49 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm just a guy who likes to have fun.
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mr_kite
The Watcher
Registered: 09/16/02
Posts: 2,577
Loc: shambhala
Last seen: 4 months, 6 days
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Re: Who Are You? *DELETED* [Re: Veritas]
#9565856 - 01/07/09 03:52 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Post deleted by mr_kiteReason for deletion: none
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let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,088
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: mr_kite]
#9566215 - 01/07/09 04:47 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
It's a dream life, I get to make my way from what I love doing most in life
Wow! I love to hear that!
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,088
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Quote:
Basically, I'm someone who's in love with ideas, and I'd really love to find a career that allows me to put that to use.
Based on what I've seen from you in these forums, I think you have a real shot at that! Is there a field you're most interested in? There seems to be an increased focus on ideas which synthesize spirituality and science, so perhaps you could share what you've already been studying?
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WhiskeyClone
Not here
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 16,474
Loc: Longitudinal Center of Ca...
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9566273 - 01/07/09 04:55 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Great thread!
1.
Raised in Manitoba, middle class. Offspring of a science teacher and a salesperson. Both parents were nonreligious, spirituality was rarely spoken about. They were very conscious about letting us discover our own beliefs. My dad was raised catholic but rejected it.
2.
I went to public school, where I was always identified by the adults as gifted and 'special' (in a good way.) This led to an unfortunate sense of superiority and entitlement that caused many problems for me. Everything was too easy for me; I did not encounter anything I didn't know how to do until high school, where I flunked out of honors courses because I didn't know how to work hard or ask for help. This began a long slide into depression and serious self-esteem issues.
3.
After bumbling through community college in computer science with shit grades, I abandoned that field shortly after graduation and began again in geomatics/civil technology. This new field was much more interesting and I am now a surveyor and engineering tech. I do enjoy the work, but I don't quite feel it is my calling. I use it now as a vehicle for improving interpersonal skills and examining my bad habits. If I did not have to earn money, I would employ myself helping people learn how to enjoy life. I suspect I will earn my living this way in the future.
4.
When I was suffering through life in my early twenties, I began to try and figure out what was happening to me. I knew I had every material thing I needed, and every opportunity to be happy, but something was in the way. This prompted me to start reading books on how to be happy, which led to reading about spiritual traditions and philosophy. I slowly accumulated skills of thinking and living until I could actually bear my existence most of the time. About a year ago I experienced a major epiphany and my quality of life has improved about a thousand percent.
5.
My core values are:
Skill in dealing with one's thinking; compassion; nonjudgment; unconditional love; self-knowledge. My daily life is much easier now because I can always figure out what is upsetting me. I am still far from masterful at being calm or nonjudgmental but I have reached a point where I understand the reason for every instance of suffering I experience. From what I can see, my values are not represented by the majority but I find they are ubiquitous in almost every spiritual tradition if you are able to look past the romance and mythology.
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Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.
~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,088
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 you, WC. Thanks for letting us know you.
I have to give credit for the thread idea to Redstorm, who started the stickied thread in the Political forum. He's a smart, smart man. It's way too easy to dehumanize people when you view them as "against" you in a debate, and when you don't interact with them IRL. Debates between friends may get heated, but you both always know that the other person is someone you know & care about.
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NlightNd1
∇Δ∇Δ∇Δ∇
Registered: 12/11/07
Posts: 1,883
Loc: Holographic Omniverse
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 Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9566291 - 01/07/09 04:58 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm just one of infinite cells in the body of the Universe.
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Turn off your mind, relax and floatdown stream. It is not dying. Lay down all thought, surrender to the void. It is shining.
 Pink Floyd
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WhiskeyClone
Not here
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 16,474
Loc: Longitudinal Center of Ca...
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9566308 - 01/07/09 05:00 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.
~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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Silversoul
Holon
Registered: 01/01/05
Posts: 22,562
Loc: Mostly harmless
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9566464 - 01/07/09 05:25 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Veritas said:
Quote:
Basically, I'm someone who's in love with ideas, and I'd really love to find a career that allows me to put that to use.
Based on what I've seen from you in these forums, I think you have a real shot at that! Is there a field you're most interested in? There seems to be an increased focus on ideas which synthesize spirituality and science, so perhaps you could share what you've already been studying?
Well, I've been reading a lot of philosophy and theology lately. I've been particularly interested in the mind-body problem, as it seems to be the central battleground between spiritual and materialist metaphysical views. I recently started a journal where I write down my views on everything from theology to metaphysics to ethics to politics and economics. I kind of want to cover them all.
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,088
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Sounds interesting! Maybe exploring the underlying issues which are common to all your subjects of interest could be your "niche"?
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supernovasky
Comrade
Registered: 01/10/08
Posts: 8,394
Loc: Louisiana
Last seen: 3 days, 15 hours
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Re: Who Are You? [Re: Veritas]
#9566752 - 01/07/09 06:12 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Yup. This is a very cool idea.
1. What was your upbringing? Did your family have money? Were they religious? Did they discuss philosophy and/or spirituality with you?
I was brought up in a very poor family. My mother was a stay at home mom, and my dad was a truck-driver when I was born. Because of an accident that was my fathers fault, he split up with my mom so as to avoid bankruptcy, because he was going to get sued by the other driver. It was understood that it was going to be a fake divorce, but that was simply not the case... he was never going to get sued, and the divorce was real.
After the divorce, both became very religious... I was only 7 years old, so I was forced to go to church every day. My father attended a church that he called the "ah gah pay" (I don't know how it is properly spelled), but was only a marginal member. The church was disbanded when it was discovered that the pastor was money laundering, and when a dead baby was brought in and kept on ice so that they could "resurect it in the name of jesus." (I only wish this was a lie. My dad was not there for the incident and left the church before it got that bad)..
My mom was more of a liberal christian. She went to one of those community churches where they were very open and nondenominational. I preferred her church, there was no speaking in tongues or crazy people like in my dad's church. All the same, religion, especially christianity, left me dissatisfied early on.
I think the major reason that I left the spiritual and become a STRONG atheist in my teenage years was the internet. I was always naturally curious, so I researched everything online often. I found this website, godisalie.com, and was so afraid to type it in... but I did anyway, read it, and thought, "Man... this makes sense. I am ... an atheist." I said, a little fearful, haha. Eventually in my later teenage years, my parents learned about my views on their religious belief. At first, I was disowned, but they gradually came to accept me. My dad is now a "good christian" who does not force his views on anyone else, not like he used to be... he used to be kind of an asshole about it. My mom is still a liberal christian who is just trying to make her way in the world.
2. How was your educational experience? Did you enjoy school? Were you academically-oriented, or disinterested? How much of your education has found application in your daily life?
I had an amazing educational experience. At grades 1, I was determined to have a 7th grade math level, and a college reading level. I was very, very motivated when I was younger. That changed upon me becoming a teenager. Teenagers in the 90's were not concerned about academics, and if you seemed to be excessively concerned with academics, it was a bad thing that got you teased and bullied. I also was a bit fat because I ate way too much junk food, so things were bad for me back then.
However, in the 10th grade, I lost a LOT of weight, because I had a major stomach surgery for congenital defects. I also opened up, and joined debate, although nobody was any challenge back at my old high school. I left that school and went to a residential high school for the gifted taught completely by college professors, and got out of 28 hours of credit because of it. Being at a new, residential high school, I completely remade myself, became very outgoing, and very sociable. I also flourished in this environment, because I learned so many new things and met so many smart people. I found my wife there and married her, and we have been married for 3 years. I also tried marijuana there for my first time.
College is a new story. I focus on sociology, although I am about to apply to medical school.
3. What career interests you? Are you working in this career now? Do you feel satisfied in your work, or is it mainly a paycheck job? What work would you do if you did not have to earn money?
My ultimate goal is to work in neuropharmacology. I want to study the effects of drugs on the brain, especially for augmentation of cognition. I am well on my way on going to medical school, and I would quite honestly still pursue this line of work if I did not have to earn money. However, my backup plan and something I still will pursue even if I graduate medical school is obtaining a Ph.D. in anthropology. The origin and direction of man is a topic that I have strong opinions and ideas on, and I would love to write someday about it.
4. Has your philosophy/spirituality changed much over the years? Have you had epiphanies or rude awakenings which led you to reconsider your beliefs/values? At what age did you first become interested in philosophy/spirituality?
My philosophy/spirituality has changed enormously. My very first rude awakening/epiphany came right before I searched that www.godisalie.com site. I was in a church, a sunday school, and they brought in this man who used the hand-on-forhead thing and said "HEEL!" to make you fall. Each of the other kids fell, and he got to me. I closed my eyes and he did it. I felt nothing. But I fell anyway... Upon falling I realized that each of the other kids probably did the same thing, because they didn't want to appear embarrassed. I was embarrassed to be human because of this. Its what originally led me to atheism.
My second epiphany came as a result of my STRONG atheism. I was what you would describe as a militant atheist. I reveled in showing christians how stupid their ideas were. I threw science at everyone, hated anyone who had any degree of faith in any religion, wrote everything religious off, and fiercely debated anyone who disagreed with my worldview. Upon going to my residential high school, I was exposed to a much more diverse range of viewpoints. Smoking marijuana chilled me out, and I reevaluated my militant atheism, and came to the determination that it was simply not for me. I became an agnostic.
I still maintain agnosticism, because it would be dumb for me to claim that I know anything with certainty. LSD has changed my spiritual views profoundly, though. I've seemed to merge spirituality and science in my own mind, and I have taken on a worldview similar to pantheism, deism, taoism, and humanism.
5. What are your core values? How are these values expressed in your daily life? Do you feel that your values are similar or dissimilar to those of the majority?
Waaay to deep to sum up. Let me do a quick copy and paste of the best attempt I've made on these forums so far at summing up my worldview:
I don't identify my "self" as flesh and bone, anymore, but rather the series of actions that my flesh and bone create. The mind, to me, is different, though caused, by the brain, a mass of neurons interacting with one another to produce actions, and the sum of those actions are my mind. Every mind is merely a form of collective consciousness, just as an ant has neurons that all secrete chemicals leading to the greater organization of thoughts in the ants brain, as simple as those thoughts may be, an ant colony is made up of a bunch of ants doing exactly what their neurons are doing, secreting chemicals and complex interactions leading to the formation of a greater mind than each individual ants. Humans do the same thing, secreting words and ideas, leading to the formation of societies and cultures that seemingly make decisions as a whole. I believe that galaxies, seas of stars and matter do the same, secreting light, gravity, and other forms of information transfer leading to a superstructure that is just like many of the structures far smaller than it. The universe works like a sea of neurons, relaying information down the most efficiently conductive channels through natural laws of physics.
I recognize that my mind is but one of an unimaginable number of these channels through which the matter in this universe has passed. I recognize that my living form, as I am today, is only a small blip in the history of my self, the series of atoms and energy that has come together to form my body, all of which come from an initial singularity, all of which come from the heart of a star, and all of which will end up where everyone else in this universe will end up.
Death of the physical body is not the end, in my opinion. It is simply a return to the state of being that I was in for the vast majority of my existence. In life, I was just as much a child of the universe as I will be in death. Every action that I made in life, as much as we like to believe in free will, was caused by a series of actions that happened before I was born. Even my deepest morals, my deepest feelings come from the influences that affected me during my life... I think its pretty pointless then to see self as something independent of everything else... So if I am not independent of everything else, if I am part of everything else, than my death is not the death of self, just the death of one of many manifestations of a greater self, a sea of influences.
I hope I'm not rambling too much... I guess I was called out to explain what I believe in. I know not all of this is taoist in nature, but much of it was formed through my readings of Taoist literature and practicing taoist traditions. I am not asking anyone to subscribe to any of these thoughts and feelings, and like always, I believe that much of what I have said above is not fully comprehensive of the greater picture, and like my own life, it is a work in progress.
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