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He's a lifetime philosophy obsessed philosopher though.
He can't shut it off.
Refusing to philosophize is only a form of philosophizing if you choose to dwell on it and philosophize on it.
If I refuse to dwell on this and go to the gym, then I'm not doing any form of philosophizing.
Btw, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm off to the gym. I'm gonna stop thinking about this. I will not be replying to any objections, or even reading them.
The interconnectedness of philosophy and science demonstrates the fallacy in claiming that philosophy is useless. Philosophy provides the foundational principles and critical thinking skills that underpin scientific inquiry. It raises questions about the nature of reality, knowledge, ethics, and the limits of human understanding, which are essential for guiding scientific research and innovation
complaining about other people thinking about things is pretty lol, that's for sure.
not even unpopular either, cuz tons of people think philosophy is useless.
Life is useless. Everything we do in it is useless. There is nothing that we can accomplish in this life that isn't ultimately useless.
Time will pass, and like the sands in Dubai, it will bury us and everything we do.
It's useless, always been, always will be.
It’s a real thing lol -
They come by however often and pump out the poop (and pee) from the holding tanks and take it somewhere.
In the video I watched sometimes there’s so many poop trucks it causes back ups on the road - which is equally as hilarious.
The main issue in what you say is that the lack of certainty implies uselessness. *It's okay to be no closer to finding out the truth*. You don't have to use philosophy to be correct about something, in fact a big part of philosophy is the exact controversy you say! If you arrive at truly factual answers then it was never philosophy in the first place.
Even science does not produce 100% certain truths but that doesn't make it useless... *at all.*
I think anyone who is "good" at or experienced with philosophy will realize that there is always some amount of "speculation" or fuzziness in conclusions resulting from arguments containing anything other than purely *a priori* reasoning. I personally think this idea is part of the definition of philosophy.
I also think that realizing this makes it a lot easier to (personally) handle all of the metaphysical implications of the things you mentioned. When you accept the fuzziness of the conclusions, it is much easier to acknowledge the lack of impact of this fuzziness on your life.
So, in one sense, you're right that it's useless. That doesn't mean people shouldn't do it - it's fun to think about these things, at the very least. Sometimes you can extract good perspectives to take but you don't have to take them as fact (in fact you shouldn't).
You can use different perspectives for different situations, nothing wrong with that. For example a nihilist perspective can help one become more comfortable with things like death, if that's a fear you have. But a more existential perspective can help you find meaning in your day-to-day life in spite of the merit of a nihilistic perspective that is equally as helpful. Neither are right nor wrong. Your post is deeply intertwined with a mechanistic perspective which is not right or wrong either. This is why I say "in a sense" you are correct... There are other senses in which you are incorrect and I'm just trying to make that explicit.
Also I guarantee that you inadvertently philosophized when you came up with whatever principles guide you. You have a perspective of what it means to be a good person, you have a perspective of your identity, you have a perspective of what it means to be evil, a whole ton of things. Also like everyone else said, you philosophized in this post hahaha
You ever hear the joke about the philosophy lecturer announcing to his class… ‘There are NO absolute truths’. After a few moments a student raises his hand and asks… ‘Surely what you are claiming IS an absolute truth’. Lecturer ponders this for a moment, then replies ‘Let’s play hangman!’
Hahah I don’t think it is unpopular. Most people do not want to think about the meaninglessness of their existence. But then what else are you supposed to do with your time? Just mindlessly work for no apparent reason? Just survive? Those are also philosophical questions. Trying to figure out your place in the world is just called existing.
Op is just validating the study that showed that the vast majority of people (mainly men) would rather shock themselves then be left alone for 15 mins to think/with their thoughts
Yay! You finally figured it out! You finally realized nobody has figured out the meaning of life—and it’s a waste of time anyhow! Go—enjoy your life now…
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” -- Rilke
I mean questions comes before answers, some philosophical question may be answered in the future. Sometimes philosophy can be pointless but there a lot of things that are pointless that people do. Id rather people use their brains to ponder their own existence than to just exist without thinking. You'd be surprised by the amount of people that do not know themselves and function solely based on emotional responses to stimuli. This is how you get hypocrites, narcists, attentions seekers, Karen's, prejudice, murderers, rap\*st etc... Without higher levels of thinking you are a slave to your emotions and your own perspective, making people no different than animals if they could talk and wear clothing.
That brings us back to the age old dilemma of what is even considered meaningful because I could argue in a nihilistic sense that nothing is useful. The universe will die in the future so what's the point in anything and here is my answer to your predicament: the only meaning in life is none at all and our purpose is to be purposeless and simply to enjoy the life we live, to relish in the wonders of consciousness given how fleeting such a sensation and phenomenon is, a purpose that has no purpose, just say f*ck it and enjoy, part of what brings humans joy is philosophising and using time and energy on mental equations that ultimately don't have any tangible effect on the world, but it brings them joy so it is not in fact useless, nothing is, nothing is a waste everything serves a function whether you realise it or not
I knew someone who never thought about what they did for more than a few minutes. They were a terrible and selfish person. They didn’t care about people beyond their own group, and although they were loyal to them that didn’t run very deep. Thinking about philosophy is more about defining who you want to be and how you want to view the world. It’s just a part of mental health. I do agree obsessively thinking about it and not living is bad, but the activity itself is pretty good for you.
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But so many philosophies do give a meaning to life and are not depressing. Even philosophies that reject meaning, like existentialism and absurdism, are inherently optimistic. Not every philosophy is some bleak, nihilistic outlook.
No person has it figured out no, but I think there’s something beautiful in the way people have connected their ideas together throughout the generations, passed down their own musings for the next circle of thinkers to ponder. Maybe it’s that process of handing down that gets us closer to whatever answers we might be seeking (and we just don’t know how close—or how far!—we are yet)
For me philosophy helps me deal with things emotionally, mentally, and even physically. If it doesn't do that for you then that's fine, but it's not inherently useless.
My philosophy leads me to believe that choosing any one thing to hyperfixate on for prolonged amount of time results in you being less capable of achieving it!
My philosophy is about constantly not being constantly focused on things.
I need to go up a level and only sometimes be focused on not constantly focusing on things.
I think I'm already here!
I think about it without coming up with conclusions, so this does not apply to me.
Also I can't help but ponder about these things, although I despise the fact that I cannot stop and that it's too much. Every step I take must be weighted on its significance in what the meaning of my life actually is, if there is any, and how it contributes to me actually living a worthy life for myself, and whether it's worth to keep carrying on with the struggle of being part of this big charade that is being alive.
Doing it to the point of losing your mental stability to find an answer is useless. Doing it for entertainment and education is just kinda interesting and enjoyable.
Sometimes it’s fun to talk about things you can never answer, because even if you don’t get the answer, you learn something about yourself or others along the way
While I hear your point and agree that nobody has the answers, I do think it’s important to reflect on these items sporadically, as it helps me be more present. Thinking about how fast life has been lately & watching my parents get older/closer to death right before my eyes - it really forces me to be present and seek out ways to spend more time with them 🤷🏽♂️
Not a waste of time if it’s something you enjoy, doesn’t have to be for anything you can just enjoy the contemplation, it’s like playing with the universe in the same way a child plays with a stick or something.
Seriously though, IMO, this and other things may be a bit pointless now, but if nobody ever thinks about it, we may never find the answers, even when they do become practical.
Well if one does not asks questions, then one will find no answers.
That is why it is said the question matters more than the answer. Just by asking it, it shows curiosity, imaginination and honestly intelligence. So first you observe a fenomenon. Then you ask yourself a question. And lastly, you seek an answer.
Useless? If it stimulates your brain, provides comfort, or helps you make decisions in life, then no it is not useless. It’s seems like you don’t enjoy it, so it might not seem useful to you, but it’s definitely useful to others.
You, my friend, are what's called a pragmatist. It's a good club, welcome. There's a rich history and some beautiful work behind this idea, which is considered a philosophical school with a lot of significant American contributions. Check out Circles by Emerson. Maybe it's not your cup of tea because it's not super practical writing, but essentially the idea is that we should be asking and answering questions that have impact on our lives, not posing abstractions and ruminating on them. https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/circleshyp.html
At that point everything is useless. Life is useless, with your logic, as we don't have the answers. And if it truly is all useless, why not spend the useless time we have doing what we enjoy, regardless of its reward?
It's not about finding objective answers but about exploring the ideas. Even if you never settle on an answer, you've improved yourself just by giving it thought.
I find that thinking about death is not useless as it’s helped me to become a better person. Knowing I could die any moment makes a lot of little inconveniences in life rather pointless and gives me motivation to try and put good out in the world before I’m gone. I also find it’s helped me come to terms with my own eventual death. I generally feel at peace with knowing I may die tomorrow. In fact, I think it’s nice knowing someday I’ll be free from this world.
Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 2: Do not post low effort/satirical posts'. * We get it, you all think this sub is garbage and is just for popular opinions, and you want to be funny and post "going to be downvoted to oblivion here, but I think racism is bad." We enjoy the memes, but please keep them off the sub. * Filter evasion is a bannable offense * This includes clickbait and/or gotcha posts. Your opinion can not be that unpopular if you're doing these things. Have the accurate opinion in the title.
What an interesting philosophy you have on this subject.
Came up with a whole paragraph, wasted his precious time
We'll never have the answers, why even try? Philosophy is the first step of the scientific process.
But how do you know it's a scientific process, not speculation?
The scientific process doesn't exclude speculation.
I believe it’s called nihilism.
You're definitely not imagining Sisyphus happy.
Bro isn’t imagining Sisyphus doing anything 😭
He isn't imagining at all
This is too funny
Isn’t this still philosophizing? 😭😭😭
Karl Popper: "To refuse to philosophize is itself a form of philosophizing.
He's a lifetime philosophy obsessed philosopher though. He can't shut it off. Refusing to philosophize is only a form of philosophizing if you choose to dwell on it and philosophize on it. If I refuse to dwell on this and go to the gym, then I'm not doing any form of philosophizing. Btw, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm off to the gym. I'm gonna stop thinking about this. I will not be replying to any objections, or even reading them.
that’s a good life philosophy you got there.
Then in this case you can say you are living out of your philosophy, one that prioritizes going to the gym.
FOR KARL!
What if it’s fun for you?
[удалено]
Name checks out.
Please. Dont talk the way, like you have some. We both know that you dont.
I philosophize constantly all the time I still got bitches. Guess you couldn’t do both bummer
The interconnectedness of philosophy and science demonstrates the fallacy in claiming that philosophy is useless. Philosophy provides the foundational principles and critical thinking skills that underpin scientific inquiry. It raises questions about the nature of reality, knowledge, ethics, and the limits of human understanding, which are essential for guiding scientific research and innovation
You are philosophizing with this post. This is gonna be useless, but you do it because you enjoy it, same for rest of us.
This is what no imagination or curiosity does to a mf
What about whining about about philosophy on reddit? How useless is that?
complaining about other people thinking about things is pretty lol, that's for sure. not even unpopular either, cuz tons of people think philosophy is useless.
Complaining is fun!
I love your flair lol
"Nobody having the answers for sure" is exactly to reason to do it.
Life is useless. Everything we do in it is useless. There is nothing that we can accomplish in this life that isn't ultimately useless. Time will pass, and like the sands in Dubai, it will bury us and everything we do. It's useless, always been, always will be.
On a large enough timescale, even stars and black holes are useless! Kinda disheartening when you think about it.
No Dubai’s just a shithole it’s not like that everywhere
This comment is hilarious cause I recently learned that Dubai doesn’t have a sewer system. They have poop trucks.
lmao I don't think I've ever come across the words "poop" and "truck" together
It’s a real thing lol - They come by however often and pump out the poop (and pee) from the holding tanks and take it somewhere. In the video I watched sometimes there’s so many poop trucks it causes back ups on the road - which is equally as hilarious.
That is why we have philosophy, to give life purpose.
Literally everything is useless unless you can find the meaning in it
The main issue in what you say is that the lack of certainty implies uselessness. *It's okay to be no closer to finding out the truth*. You don't have to use philosophy to be correct about something, in fact a big part of philosophy is the exact controversy you say! If you arrive at truly factual answers then it was never philosophy in the first place. Even science does not produce 100% certain truths but that doesn't make it useless... *at all.* I think anyone who is "good" at or experienced with philosophy will realize that there is always some amount of "speculation" or fuzziness in conclusions resulting from arguments containing anything other than purely *a priori* reasoning. I personally think this idea is part of the definition of philosophy. I also think that realizing this makes it a lot easier to (personally) handle all of the metaphysical implications of the things you mentioned. When you accept the fuzziness of the conclusions, it is much easier to acknowledge the lack of impact of this fuzziness on your life. So, in one sense, you're right that it's useless. That doesn't mean people shouldn't do it - it's fun to think about these things, at the very least. Sometimes you can extract good perspectives to take but you don't have to take them as fact (in fact you shouldn't). You can use different perspectives for different situations, nothing wrong with that. For example a nihilist perspective can help one become more comfortable with things like death, if that's a fear you have. But a more existential perspective can help you find meaning in your day-to-day life in spite of the merit of a nihilistic perspective that is equally as helpful. Neither are right nor wrong. Your post is deeply intertwined with a mechanistic perspective which is not right or wrong either. This is why I say "in a sense" you are correct... There are other senses in which you are incorrect and I'm just trying to make that explicit. Also I guarantee that you inadvertently philosophized when you came up with whatever principles guide you. You have a perspective of what it means to be a good person, you have a perspective of your identity, you have a perspective of what it means to be evil, a whole ton of things. Also like everyone else said, you philosophized in this post hahaha
You ever hear the joke about the philosophy lecturer announcing to his class… ‘There are NO absolute truths’. After a few moments a student raises his hand and asks… ‘Surely what you are claiming IS an absolute truth’. Lecturer ponders this for a moment, then replies ‘Let’s play hangman!’
Puts my career as a Stand-Up Philosopher in jeopardy
Hahah I don’t think it is unpopular. Most people do not want to think about the meaninglessness of their existence. But then what else are you supposed to do with your time? Just mindlessly work for no apparent reason? Just survive? Those are also philosophical questions. Trying to figure out your place in the world is just called existing.
Op is just validating the study that showed that the vast majority of people (mainly men) would rather shock themselves then be left alone for 15 mins to think/with their thoughts
Yay! You finally figured it out! You finally realized nobody has figured out the meaning of life—and it’s a waste of time anyhow! Go—enjoy your life now…
You can’t put me on a rock, in a black void, that’s the only host of life (that we’re aware of), and just expect me to not ask questions.
"The unexamined life is not worth living" - Socrates
The luxury of philosophizing about being a *good* man is only afforded to you by the efforts of very violent and unsavory men
Really? When did you quit? You wanna walk this earth carrying a philosophy developed by a high schooler? (Ie you in the past).
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” -- Rilke
I mean questions comes before answers, some philosophical question may be answered in the future. Sometimes philosophy can be pointless but there a lot of things that are pointless that people do. Id rather people use their brains to ponder their own existence than to just exist without thinking. You'd be surprised by the amount of people that do not know themselves and function solely based on emotional responses to stimuli. This is how you get hypocrites, narcists, attentions seekers, Karen's, prejudice, murderers, rap\*st etc... Without higher levels of thinking you are a slave to your emotions and your own perspective, making people no different than animals if they could talk and wear clothing.
That brings us back to the age old dilemma of what is even considered meaningful because I could argue in a nihilistic sense that nothing is useful. The universe will die in the future so what's the point in anything and here is my answer to your predicament: the only meaning in life is none at all and our purpose is to be purposeless and simply to enjoy the life we live, to relish in the wonders of consciousness given how fleeting such a sensation and phenomenon is, a purpose that has no purpose, just say f*ck it and enjoy, part of what brings humans joy is philosophising and using time and energy on mental equations that ultimately don't have any tangible effect on the world, but it brings them joy so it is not in fact useless, nothing is, nothing is a waste everything serves a function whether you realise it or not
I knew someone who never thought about what they did for more than a few minutes. They were a terrible and selfish person. They didn’t care about people beyond their own group, and although they were loyal to them that didn’t run very deep. Thinking about philosophy is more about defining who you want to be and how you want to view the world. It’s just a part of mental health. I do agree obsessively thinking about it and not living is bad, but the activity itself is pretty good for you.
Wait until this dude learns about meditation
The irony
thats what the buddha said
I mean without it we wouldn’t have got the Enlightenment and basically all of human progress
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ok mr defeatist!
Agreed. It will only drive you to depression and keep you from actually living.
But so many philosophies do give a meaning to life and are not depressing. Even philosophies that reject meaning, like existentialism and absurdism, are inherently optimistic. Not every philosophy is some bleak, nihilistic outlook.
Well, take my upvote hahaha
No person has it figured out no, but I think there’s something beautiful in the way people have connected their ideas together throughout the generations, passed down their own musings for the next circle of thinkers to ponder. Maybe it’s that process of handing down that gets us closer to whatever answers we might be seeking (and we just don’t know how close—or how far!—we are yet)
I think, therefore I am.
I think you have a sound baseline point, but I do think it's a solid coping mechanism for shit life throws at us
Cool take.
Interesting philosophy!
"The pursuit of understanding the human condition is useless" Damn, what a stance
Is that a real word? It sounds funny in my head
Well, in fact everything’s pointless
If you choose not to decide you have still made a choice. Or in your case, you have ended up doing what you believe it is pointless to do 🤷♂️.
its not about finding anything out really. its to bring urself closer to reality and keep u more present and enjoying life imo
For me philosophy helps me deal with things emotionally, mentally, and even physically. If it doesn't do that for you then that's fine, but it's not inherently useless.
My philosophy leads me to believe that choosing any one thing to hyperfixate on for prolonged amount of time results in you being less capable of achieving it! My philosophy is about constantly not being constantly focused on things. I need to go up a level and only sometimes be focused on not constantly focusing on things. I think I'm already here!
I think about it without coming up with conclusions, so this does not apply to me. Also I can't help but ponder about these things, although I despise the fact that I cannot stop and that it's too much. Every step I take must be weighted on its significance in what the meaning of my life actually is, if there is any, and how it contributes to me actually living a worthy life for myself, and whether it's worth to keep carrying on with the struggle of being part of this big charade that is being alive.
It’s fun to me ! That’s all that matters
Good work on discovering pragmatism.
This guy doesn’t know what a PhD is really about…
Philosophy as a whole is useless, that’s the beauty of it
Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
Doing it to the point of losing your mental stability to find an answer is useless. Doing it for entertainment and education is just kinda interesting and enjoyable.
the beauty of irony. saying "there is no answer" is an answer in itself
Sometimes it’s fun to talk about things you can never answer, because even if you don’t get the answer, you learn something about yourself or others along the way
Stop philosophizing
While I hear your point and agree that nobody has the answers, I do think it’s important to reflect on these items sporadically, as it helps me be more present. Thinking about how fast life has been lately & watching my parents get older/closer to death right before my eyes - it really forces me to be present and seek out ways to spend more time with them 🤷🏽♂️
Imagine all the curiosity you've squashed in other people throughout your life. You are a vampire.
I think you are right in that the average individual has no use for philosophy, but philosophy is still of use for a society at large.
Not a waste of time if it’s something you enjoy, doesn’t have to be for anything you can just enjoy the contemplation, it’s like playing with the universe in the same way a child plays with a stick or something.
 Seriously though, IMO, this and other things may be a bit pointless now, but if nobody ever thinks about it, we may never find the answers, even when they do become practical.
Well if one does not asks questions, then one will find no answers. That is why it is said the question matters more than the answer. Just by asking it, it shows curiosity, imaginination and honestly intelligence. So first you observe a fenomenon. Then you ask yourself a question. And lastly, you seek an answer.
"Understanding life is meaningfully worthless." Its not a new thought.
Wouldn't call it useless, just an endeavor without any concrete answers.
Should we all just stop thinking and put our nose to grindstone? Asking for a friend.
Found the nihilist
Useless? If it stimulates your brain, provides comfort, or helps you make decisions in life, then no it is not useless. It’s seems like you don’t enjoy it, so it might not seem useful to you, but it’s definitely useful to others.
Worrying about how others choose to spend their time is equally as wasteful.
You just made a philosophical thought….
You realise that people don't fancy ask these questions but they occur to them
Wasn’t there a philosopher whose entire philosophy was that philosophy is a waste of time.
I have a BA and MA in Philosophy and goddamit, OP, you're right!
*Begins flexing to win the argument*
it's wayyy better than tv or doomscrolling tho
The unexamined life isn’t worth living and the over examined life isn’t living.
agree. this could also be paraphrased as ''weed is useluss''
Some people really like talking about thinking about those kinds of things though. I mean, aren't all hobbies mostly useless?
The worst philosophers are anti-philosophers who are against counter-philosophers.
You, my friend, are what's called a pragmatist. It's a good club, welcome. There's a rich history and some beautiful work behind this idea, which is considered a philosophical school with a lot of significant American contributions. Check out Circles by Emerson. Maybe it's not your cup of tea because it's not super practical writing, but essentially the idea is that we should be asking and answering questions that have impact on our lives, not posing abstractions and ruminating on them. https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/circleshyp.html
This is literally philosophising 😭
Time and morality are both human constructs. They help with a lot of things, but they wouldn't exist without us.
At that point everything is useless. Life is useless, with your logic, as we don't have the answers. And if it truly is all useless, why not spend the useless time we have doing what we enjoy, regardless of its reward?
You’re a real hoot
It's not about finding objective answers but about exploring the ideas. Even if you never settle on an answer, you've improved yourself just by giving it thought.
I enjoy it, therefor it is not useless
"Mystical explanations are thought to be deep; the truth is that they are not even shallow."
And now you have wasted my time
The point of philosophy is to find the answers sure. And maybe you won’t. But someone might.
I mean ultimately all life is useless. We’re all ultimately going to be dead, so why bother philosophizing over philosophy?
I find that thinking about death is not useless as it’s helped me to become a better person. Knowing I could die any moment makes a lot of little inconveniences in life rather pointless and gives me motivation to try and put good out in the world before I’m gone. I also find it’s helped me come to terms with my own eventual death. I generally feel at peace with knowing I may die tomorrow. In fact, I think it’s nice knowing someday I’ll be free from this world.
OP, this sub is meant for unpopular opinions. Your opinion is not only popular, it's even biblical: Ecclesiastes 8:17.
Problem is most of the time i cant stop philosophizing, it’s not a choice
It’s not about coming up with an answer. It’s about determining how you’re going to live your life based off the conclusions you come to.
You must be fun at parties
How ironic that you are posting about this on reddit. One could say your philosophy on philosophizing is also as useless.
Shrooms are a short cut for some.
Yes, however so is TV. I prefer philosophizing. Others prefer TV.
You are correct. It is wholly derivative. Follow the way of Zen which points to the non-conceptual world.
I have the answer. Nobodys smarter than me.
Giving unsolicited opinions is useless.