I want to become a philosopher

[Gesundheit2]

Strong desire is good, but it's not enough to make a successful career in this specific domain.

For two reasons:

1. Philosophy had basically died as a principle after the European enlightenment and the birth of materialism. So it basically lost its importance and value, at least temporarily, and as a result the academic path will only lead you to a boring job i.e. a professor.
2. The industrial revolution had made it nearly impossible to recognize talents publicly, because talented people are typically nerds, and those nerds now have to work within a system run by capitalism. So talented people have turned into cogs in a machine, and this machine doesn't require philosophers at least as of today.

So, unless you're smart, you won't likely make it as a career in philosophy. Look at Leo's business model for example. He started out with basic self-help (modern religion basically), and then over time switched to a fully-fledged philosophical channel. If you apply a similar strategy, and put effort into it, there is a good chance you might reach your goal. You gotta know how to market what you have to say, that's number one. So start from there. If you don't think you can pass that challenge, then you might want to move on to something else.

[Ulax]

 

15 minutes ago, Gesundheit2 said:

Strong desire is good, but it's not enough to make a successful career in this specific domain.

For two reasons:

1. Philosophy had basically died as a principle after the European enlightenment and the birth of materialism. So it basically lost its importance and value, at least temporarily, and as a result the academic path will only lead you to a boring job i.e. a professor.
2. The industrial revolution had made it nearly impossible to recognize talents publicly, because talented people are typically nerds, and those nerds now have to work within a system run by capitalism. So talented people have turned into cogs in a machine, and this machine doesn't require philosophers at least as of today.

So, unless you're smart, you won't likely make it as a career in philosophy. Look at Leo's business model for example. He started out with basic self-help (modern religion basically), and then over time switched to a fully-fledged philosophical channel. If you apply a similar strategy, and put effort into it, there is a good chance you might reach your goal. You gotta know how to market what you have to say, that's number one. So start from there. If you don't think you can pass that challenge, then you might want to move on to something else.

??

A large chunk of philosophy taught and researched about is a product of the european enlightenment or post-enlightenment thinking.

The machine does require philosophers. Even on a critical view, philosophers would be vital, in providing an ideological legitimisation of the organisation of society.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Ulax

[Nilsi]

2 hours ago, Someone here said:

That doesn't Rob me from my motivation to become a philosopher.  We are no longer living in the dark ages where people get burned on the stake for their thoughts.  And Nietzsche actually did lose his goddam mind at the end of his career.  So what?  Doesn't mean I will end up like him .

You probably wont get killed for your ideas today but the herd definitely will not appreciate and support your love for truth. 

If you insist on being the smartest, deepest, most fearless thinker there will be a price you have to pay for that.

Im not saying these things to discourage you but I had to learn this stuff the hard way myself. I was and probably still am very naive when it comes to Truth. It sure as hell wont be all rainbows and butterflies and I just want you to be prepared for that.

But yeah, I share your passion for Philosophy so dont get the wrong impression here

[zurew]

6 hours ago, Someone here said:

But even though I follow your work..I want to be an independent thinker rather than a reader of philosophers.that’s exactly what i SHOULDN’T do. The people who recommend me to read as much philosophers as i can clearly do not know what philosophy is about

If you want to develop you own way of thinking , you will have to read or absorb information, because what you will consider your own system/idea chances are high, that it won't be in any way unique to you.

If you read a lot, and you know how others thought about stuff, and if  you can understand their thinking process and why they thought, what they thought, you could start to agree or disagree with their ideas and eventually develop your own new stuff.

Career wise there are different roads you can go down.

You can become a teacher, lawyer, system thinker, system improver [you can find lot of fields here,  you could improve these things on a systemic level: education, politics, law, ethics, science, epistemology etc ], you could become an analyst at different companies (here obviously philosophy won't be enough in an of itself, you will need other background as well like business or compsci or other), you could also become a writer or you could be a person like Leo who share his insights using a medium like youtube. You could get into Datascience, you could create softwares that are related to philosophy and some level of truth etcetc.

You could express your thoughts/ideas in countless ways. You will have to find what medium resonate with you the most.

You can read, think , question, contemplate and repeat that process. Or you could question your own ideas about reality, yourself , about systems, whatever you want to question.

Ethics could be an interesting road to go down or epistemology. 

Imo, the most exciting would be to question how science works and how its framework could be developed and show what the blindspots are. That would be one of the most difficult jobs to do, but also the most exciting one as well. Providing better tools and frameworks to research, explore with.

Whatever you will do, you will have to deal with a lot of criticism, especially, if you decide to go down the "questioning science" road.

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by zurew

[Razard86]

4 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

I think that was in fact the main thing that triggered me that time you used sex as a metaphor (more so than the emotional dissonance). It was a kind of deconstruction or hyper-generalization of the concept, which seems to be your preferred style of communication (which is perfectly valid). I guess I prefer to work more within a standard linguistic framework and leaving the concepts as they are, although that certainly also has its flaws.

Ehhh I wouldn't say flaws... its just another form of expression. Each of our forms of expression has their own limitation. Me and you just have different perspectives so we are going to see things differently. Reminds me of that probe metaphor Leo used in one of his videos in the past. We are just probing from different angles, different perspectives and so we will see different things. God is the ultimate trickster. Depending on our perspective we will see something different.

[billiesimon]

I feel you, I like philosophy a lot, and I would like to become an impactful teacher and philosopher, and impact the psychological field too.

Philosophy is all about the subject, it is not about finding an objective collective truth. Philosophy is generated by your passion and connection to your personal truth; then this personal truth expands into a more absolute truth.

The main difference between reductionist science and philosophy is the subject's inner passion and connection to Truth.

Almost all philosophers have gained some interesting insights about reality; they are all perspectives on reality, but none of them completely gained an absolute comprehension.

The root of philosophy is completely subjective and feeling-based. No amount of technology, tools, instruments etc are going to give you insights  

[Leo Gura]

18 hours ago, Someone here said:

I don't know should I start a blog or a website or a YouTube channel and start publishing my insights ? Should I write a book ?like what are all the practicalities of becoming a true philosopher .?

It's not easy to turn philosophy into a paying career. But it can be done. Academia is one way. Social media is another way. And there are other ways. But any career is hard and takes lots of work. You have to become so good at your field that your work can provide significant value to people.

So you might want to seriously contemplate the question: How can I use my love of philosophy to help lots of people and offer massive value?

[Someone here]

On 09/06/2022 at 1:14 PM, Leo Gura said:

It's not easy to turn philosophy into a paying career. But it can be done. Academia is one way. Social media is aenother way. And there are other ways. But any career is hard and takes lots of work. You have to become so good at your field that your work can provide significant value to people.

So you might want to seriously contemplate the question: How can I use my love of philosophy to help lots of people and offer massive value?

I can't do it through academia. I study business in university. I think that Becoming a philosopher is more about developing my  own, independent thinking capabilities. Unfortunately, developing the ability to think freely ,to think without the constraints that so severely restrict most people’s capacity for free thinking  is incredibly difficult. So, it would really help to have a guide - a tutor. 

Unlike the previous generation, this era requires doing philosophers and not thinking types.  I think the only option  left for me is to Get thinking, get doing and keep writing about it in my own personal diary or in a blogpost (if if want to make the world know that I'm a philosopher).

I think I know that I can't take the academic route..I will choose the social media path . I'm thinking of compiling my ideas into a book and try to sell it or upload it online on amazon and that way I can start my philosophical business. 

Edited June 10, 2022 by Someone here

[thisintegrated]

You're gonna need to find the Philosopher's Stone.

Once you have it, you'll want to lie down naked and place the stone on your skin.

You will then start to shine bright, and begin the evolution progress and turn into a "philosopher", consuming the stone in the process, iirc.

 

But this is as far as my Pokemon knowledge goes.  Good luck.

Edited June 10, 2022 by thisintegrated

[Someone here]

@thisintegrated what's the philosopher's stone? 

[RendHeaven]

22 hours ago, thisintegrated said:

You're gonna need to find the Philosopher's Stone.

Once you have it, you'll want to lie down naked and place the stone on your skin.

You will then start to shine bright, and begin the evolution progress and turn into a "philosopher", consuming the stone in the process, iirc.

 

But this is as far as my Pokemon knowledge goes.  Good luck.

Naw don't do it broh. Ed and Al discovered that the Philosopher's Stone is made by sacrificing living humans!

[MusicalMillipede]

@Leo Gura  How can someone tell if the understanding of reality is accurate? Can it be completely accurate?

[Leo Gura]

On 6/16/2022 at 3:30 PM, MusicalMillipede said:

@Leo Gura  How can someone tell if the understanding of reality is accurate? Can it be completely accurate?

Well, that takes you into the tricky domain of epistemology, which is notoriously murky.

However, to make thing simple:

Conceptual knowledge will always be partial, relative, limited, and oversimplified. So you will never have 100% accuracy there.

Absolute Consciousness is possible. But this takes you beyond the domain of normal knowledge. Absolute Consciousness is self-validating because it is Truth itself.

But even so, it's possible to fool yourself with Absolute Consciousness. Self-deception is always possible.

[Someone here]

49 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Absolute Consciousness is possible. But this takes you beyond the domain of normal knowledge. Absolute Consciousness is self-validating because it is Truth itself.

What do you mean exactly by "absolute Consciousness "?  Is it just simply my field of perceptions that I'm locked in the whole time ? But then that means everyone is Conscious of absolute truth all the time because its ever-present.  Why portary it like its something supernatural or some other realm filled with pink unicorns and Butterflies?

Edited June 19, 2022 by Someone here

[UnbornTao]

4 hours ago, Someone here said:

What do you mean exactly by "absolute Consciousness "?  Is it just simply my field of perceptions that I'm locked in the whole time ? But then that means everyone is Conscious of absolute truth all the time because its ever-present.  Why portary it like its something supernatural or some other realm filled with pink unicorns and Butterflies?

You!

[Leo Gura]

7 hours ago, Someone here said:

What do you mean exactly by "absolute Consciousness "?  Is it just simply my field of perceptions that I'm locked in the whole time ?

Yes, but you are not awake to it, you're asleep to it. The content of your field doesn't need to change, but your state needs to change.

Quote

But then that means everyone is Conscious of absolute truth all the time because its ever-present.

No, it doesn't mean that at all. 99.99999% of people are not conscious of the absoluteness of their experience. They are stuck in a relative state.

You are not aware of the absolute, even though it is everything you see.

Quote

  Why portary it like its something supernatural or some other realm filled with pink unicorns and Butterflies?

Take a psychedelic and see for yourself.

It's more radical than pink unicorns and butterflies. But it is not some other realm.

[JosephKnecht]

On 11/06/2022 at 11:53 PM, RendHeaven said:

Naw don't do it broh. Ed and Al discovered that the Philosopher's Stone is made by sacrificing living humans!

Yea.. But that which is lost can always be replaced by full metal with some alchemy.  

[puporing]

Just start doing it, ask questions, find answers, ask some more. 

For most people they're okay to just keep things to themselves. 

But sometimes you find some stuff that is not being talked about, and it makes you want to share it, or not!

I think what you're really asking is perhaps how to make this your full time, paying "career".  Well, that's gonna require your creativity . 

Edited June 20, 2022 by puporing

[Someone here]

4 hours ago, puporing said:

I think what you're really asking is perhaps how to make this your full time, paying "career".  Well, that's gonna require your creativity  . 

Yes exactly.

I did some research and found some of the potential paths I can go through philosophy. I think There's a lot of work going on today in contemporary philosophy, somewhat related to previous philosophers, but it's mostly growing and there are more interesting things to study as well. I can go at least two paths as a philosopher, i can become an academic and write on whatever issues ranging from traditional metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, to more contemporary stuff like philosophy of physics and biology. I can also do historical philosophy if i find philosophers from the past to be particularly relevant. There's also the public intellectual path where i can use my philosophical knowledge as a way to reach more broad audiences.

But the only question is how am I gonna do it ? I study business in university and haven't taken any courses on philosophy. So I definitely need to take courses .

[Nilsi]

On 6/20/2022 at 11:27 AM, Someone here said:

I can go at least two paths as a philosopher, i can become an academic and write on whatever issues ranging from traditional metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, to more contemporary stuff like philosophy of physics and biology. I can also do historical philosophy if i find philosophers from the past to be particularly relevant. There's also the public intellectual path where i can use my philosophical knowledge as a way to reach more broad audiences.

With the emergence of new complex technologies like AI or CRISPR there is definitely an emergent need for people thinking about this stuff deeply, what it means for mankind, how it can be used responsibly how to organize society in the face of existential risk etc. A lot of these questions have to be answered at a philosophical, abstract level before anything practical can even begin to emerge, so that is definitely also an interesting and potentially meaningful path you could take.