On Philosophy

A friend of mine recently asked me what I had against philosophy. Had he known me better he would have suspected me a hypocrite in addition to suspecting me ignorant and hostile. In fact, judging from my blog, it would seem that I either think very much of philosophy or very little of you the reader.

I have long been a slave to curiosity. Though it breeds wisdom, it is a blessing and a curse. I have found in my life that the more I know the farther I find myself from answers. Philosophy, politics, life choices, no matter the subject, if a question is worth asking the search for answers will inevitably disappoint.

Our society suffers from having renounced old ways of thinking. Common sense and faith have been trampled to our own detriment on our quest for a universal morality. I believe that any proper search requires an appreciation for the grace that existed in simpler paradigms. Ignorance, after all, is bliss.

Ray Bradbury, in writing Fahrenheit 451, burned his fair share of books by indicting old ways of thinking. Though his was an impermanent eradication, it nevertheless illustrates how "moving forward" has merely opened one door and shut another. Never mind that our present door opens to a larger room with a better view, we should be able to have our cake and eat it too. Only once we learn this may we have a chance to truly understand.

Because conflicting paradigms cannot coexist in a logical mind, opening multiple doors requires a partitioning of thought. Though this might seem impossible, the tools already exist within each of us. We humans partition thought unconsciously. Sometimes it merely separates chess from checkers. Sometimes it maintains the delicate balance of self-delusion required for daily life. The trick is to do so with your ego at the helm.

This has been a project of mine for many years and I can assure you it is neither a simple nor an easy solution. It requires a strong ego to wrestle one's knowledge into stupidity, but it is possible-- and worth the effort. With mental compartmentalization, we can live the bliss of ignorance while possessing and acting on the wisdom of the world.