Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you learned

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Xoxo
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Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you learned

Post by Xoxo »

hey what's the most important and helpful thing you learned in your philosophy studies?

important to you.

and also helpful to you.

if you could, please said briefly why, and it would be great to hear your thoughts!

if you do not know, and if possible, it would be great if you didn't comment as to not clutter up the thread, thanks
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Burning ghost
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Burning ghost »

That is a hard question to answer! I guess if I am put on the spot right now I would say the most useful thing I have learned is about the intricacies of language and how to try and cut to the core with words rather than clothe ideas in misleading analogies and metaphors.

As for the most important/helpful piece of philosophy I've read somewhere I would have to really thing long and hard about that one. I would say the challenge of reading Kant was a tough one and one which proved to be very fruitful (including the above reason).
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by -1- »

1. The most important thing I learned is the law of the excluded middle. Apparently it does not apply in quantum space and quantum mechanics, but in macro physics and in real life as we know it it's a pretty valid thing.

2. The second most important thing I learned was to know how important it is to recognize, name, and call out the user of, logical fallacies.

3. The third most important lesson I learned was to know to back away from arguing with complete imbeciles and devout theists. I am still not good at practicing this learned lesson.
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Xoxo
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Xoxo »

'intricacies of language and how to try and cut to the core with words'

* that's one of the most important lessons in general, where or do you rememebr when you first learned this? or the most prominent memory of learning this?
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Xoxo
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Xoxo »

-1- wrote: the law of the excluded middle.
What are the key reasons why? This would be helpful, especially since you mentioned it's used in real life which I take to mean things we do in life every day.

Would this be close to what you meant?
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Razblo
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Razblo »

That I can not merely and logically be this apparent skin encapsulated body. That I could only logically be all that is being experienced.
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GraphicsGuy
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by GraphicsGuy »

I have not studied philosophy, but I will weigh in that the most important thing I (have) learned is that nobody knows what they are doing in this life. No one knows the ultimate "purpose" or meaning of existence. No one has all the answers. One person's "way" does not apply to the masses or even to another individual for that matter.

My subjective view/opinion/emotion is just as valid as someone more intellectual and/or better educated or as someone in a leadership/authority role.

That does not mean that my subjective perception is necessarily correct, but that does not directly imply that anyone else's is either.
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Steve3007 »

The most important thing I've learnt is the extent to which it's possible to question things that would previously have been taken as axiomatic.
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by -1- »

Xoxo wrote:
-1- wrote: the law of the excluded middle.
What are the key reasons why? This would be helpful, especially since you mentioned it's used in real life which I take to mean things we do in life every day.

Would this be close to what you meant?
I use it in real life in developing the conclusion of an argument. I apply it to real life situations. For instance, if someone says, "the table statue is a doorstop, but it is not a doorstop when it's used for something else, so it goes through a value-transformation", then I apply the law of excluded middle and i show that the table statue does not go through a value tranformation, instead, its reference is changed, and hence it is not a self-contradiction for it to be once a door stop, once something else, without going through a value transformation.
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Ranvier
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Ranvier »

GraphicsGuy wrote:I have not studied philosophy, but I will weigh in that the most important thing I (have) learned is that nobody knows what they are doing in this life. No one knows the ultimate "purpose" or meaning of existence. No one has all the answers. One person's "way" does not apply to the masses or even to another individual for that matter.

My subjective view/opinion/emotion is just as valid as someone more intellectual and/or better educated or as someone in a leadership/authority role.

That does not mean that my subjective perception is necessarily correct, but that does not directly imply that anyone else's is either.
I second this by adding that the greatest clarity I had gained is in how differently we all think
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LuckyR
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by LuckyR »

Obviously there are a number of things that we all pick up over the years, but the one that has helped me the most through difficult dealings is the knowledge that if you can understand other people's motivation, you can predict their "moves" and thus beat them in a direct confrontation or at minimum position yourself to have an optimal outcome in an interaction with them.
"As usual... it depends."
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Eduk »

Personally the socratic method. Which is quite simple at heart. Ask why of everything. Reduce your assumptions as much as possible. The use of this is pretty obvious but to give one very simple example, I don't use the normal shoelace knot that 99% of people seem to because there are strictly better knots. This is because I asked myself one very simple question, why do I use the knot I do.
Unknown means unknown.
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Jacqueline Sheehan
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Jacqueline Sheehan »

Most important and helpful thing I learnt was to cope with stress and anger so that I could remain calm and continue my daily life. LOL
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Alias »

The most important thing I learned from reading philosophy is that even the wisest, most erudite minds can invent, or pursue or be swayed by blatantly absurd notions about the world. This has been shown since the advent of written language; fables and myths from before writing suggest that it has been so for a very long time. Perhaps since humans have been an identifiable species.

Why this is a helpful lesson: Never mind how revered the name - consider the idea on its own merit.
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Sy Borg
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Re: Hey what's the most important and helpful thing you lear

Post by Sy Borg »

What I learned from the School of Life
by Greta, 11/8/2017 :)

Most people notice far more about us than we think, but care far less.

Happy people do things, unhappy people try to tear others down.

Pessimism can be replaced with realism if one does not fear accusations of being "cold" for failing to play (Berne's) "Ain't It Awful?" game.

Correcting misinformation online doesn't get the point across as well as providing alternative, more correct, information.

People are more like ants than they realise. One checks others' morality to see if they are "one of us" before deciding to cooperate or attack, the other checks scent.

We are all innocent - thrust screaming and clueless into an overwhelming and strange reality. From there almost everyone just does the best he or she can, while they can.

With age, authenticity becomes ever more important than others' opinions.

Until you can be happy within no change in your circumstances will make you happy.
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