Whereas every mildly intelligent person can discuss Nietzsche, Schopenhauer etc. ( I admit that these guys indeed have some important things to say.) , and it feels so good to utter seemingly deep, vague, not falsifiable gibberish, because nobody can say that you’ve made a mistake.
Actually I find that I almost never understand philosophy. I occasionally find phrases clever, or see analogies that make me see ideas in a new light, but a lot of philosophy is so abstract that I feel lost in it. I guess I think very concretely. The parts of math and science that are concrete are easy for me (and fascinating) and I think that’s what I like about science; ultimately, it’s always grounded in something concrete. When I really grasp a piece of pure math, it feels concrete to me in that it’s obviously true and couldn’t be otherwise, and I pretty much always understood my high school science classes on this level, but with the reading I do in my spare time, often I don’t understand the math on a deep enough level for it to seem concrete. So I feel confused.
Actually I find that I almost never understand philosophy.
IMO many philosophers don’t understand the stuff they write themself…
Which philosophy do you have in mind?
I’m from Germany so many of my friends are fans of Heidegger, Sartre, Hegel or some other continental or postmodern philosopher. You know, I don’t claim to understand what these folks are talking about. But it’s probably because most continental philosophers are kinda crazy, not because I’m stupid. In contrast to this I don’t understand QM or AI, simply because it’s too complicated, not because it’s gibberish.
Well, it could be that e.g. Heidegger is simply too intelligent and complicated for guys like me, but this hypothesis appears to be rather improbable after you actually read some lines of this dude.
But if we are talking about, say, Dennett, then the situation is different...
I’m not actually sure. The only philosophy I’ve read is as it relates to moral theories (for school) or other mandatory classes, and LW posts. The former I was able to pass exams on, although I did badly on the essay because my point was ‘unclear’ (because my understanding was unclear, probably).
Actually I find that I almost never understand philosophy. I occasionally find phrases clever, or see analogies that make me see ideas in a new light, but a lot of philosophy is so abstract that I feel lost in it. I guess I think very concretely. The parts of math and science that are concrete are easy for me (and fascinating) and I think that’s what I like about science; ultimately, it’s always grounded in something concrete. When I really grasp a piece of pure math, it feels concrete to me in that it’s obviously true and couldn’t be otherwise, and I pretty much always understood my high school science classes on this level, but with the reading I do in my spare time, often I don’t understand the math on a deep enough level for it to seem concrete. So I feel confused.
IMO many philosophers don’t understand the stuff they write themself… Which philosophy do you have in mind? I’m from Germany so many of my friends are fans of Heidegger, Sartre, Hegel or some other continental or postmodern philosopher. You know, I don’t claim to understand what these folks are talking about. But it’s probably because most continental philosophers are kinda crazy, not because I’m stupid. In contrast to this I don’t understand QM or AI, simply because it’s too complicated, not because it’s gibberish. Well, it could be that e.g. Heidegger is simply too intelligent and complicated for guys like me, but this hypothesis appears to be rather improbable after you actually read some lines of this dude. But if we are talking about, say, Dennett, then the situation is different...
I’m not actually sure. The only philosophy I’ve read is as it relates to moral theories (for school) or other mandatory classes, and LW posts. The former I was able to pass exams on, although I did badly on the essay because my point was ‘unclear’ (because my understanding was unclear, probably).