Philosophy for a Dummy

I remembered that I did actually write something while I was in the hospital, February 8th to be exact. Now I recall being quite lucid, though I can't swear to that fact. I wasn't on morphine then, but they did have some type of codeine-cocktail via my IV to suppress my coughing. Does codeine play with one's perception of reality? Don't know, but the following post could be viewed as an example of distorted reality. Or a bored guy rambling on and on and on. Or a self-important blowhard just talking out his you-know-what. On reflection, it's probably close to the central intersection of all three possibilities.


Note: All the capitalized nouns kinda embarrass me, but I can't think of any alternatives at the moment other than making up strange long German-sounding words.

For what it's worth:

That's a pretty tall order, no? Let's see if we can simplify this philosophical inquest somewhat, by breaking it down into its parts. For starters:

* A powerful and persuassive guiding rule of life

* An explanation of existence and time from the Now Moment to the Destiny of the Omniverse

* An establishment of the connectivity between the Self and the Community of Mankind, linking the Self with the Now Moment to the Community of Mankind with the Destiny of the Omniverse

* A reconciliation with the axioms of mathematics and physics, particularly higher dimensionality and higher geometries

* A definition of internal as well as external language and communication


There. Much better, right? After all, a problem well-defined is a problem well-near solved.

Or maybe not. But let's analyze these bullet points a little deeper.

A powerful and persuassive guiding rule of life

This is just a code of ethics, of morality. For further research: what is the distinction between ethics and morality? The words "poweful" and "persuassive" need to be precisely defined. The word "guiding" suggests something (or someone) who can not only define for us how to behave, to act, but what goal to aim for as well as provide the motivation to strive for that goal.

An explanation of existence and time from the Now Moment to the Destiny of the Omniverse

Ah, this is classic metaphysics meat. But first, some terms to be rigorously defined. What does it mean to "exist"? And what is "time"? The "Now Moment" is obviously the "Now," that fleeting tenth-of-a-second of our awareness of ourselves, our thoughts, our environment. The "Destiny of the Omniverse" is the ultimate fate of all matter, whether one believes as contemporary physics does of an open, closed, or flat universe (and their respective fates), or something else such as a cataclysmic end-to-it-All. "Omniverse" allows for the possibility that what we see, experience, and are aware of may not necessarily be all that there is.

An establishment of the connectivity between the Self and the Community of Mankind, linking the Self with the Now Moment to the Community of Mankind with the Destiny of the Omniverse

Those cryptic Capitalized Philosophical Terms! Again, they must be defined to death (or do they? Hmmmm.) "Self." Sounds very much Eastern Philosophical. "Community of Mankind." Sounds very much Western Hippie. But more interesting, to me, is the intuitive feeling that this Self may be a reflection or aspect of the "Now Moment" in a way similar to the relation between the Community of Mankind and the Omniverse Destiny.

A reconciliation with the axioms of mathematics and physics, particularly higher dimensionality and higher geometries

This is a tough one. Perhaps "reconciliation" is the wrong word. Can any philosophical system be expressed mathematically, no matter how esoteric? After all, metaphysics by its very defintion means beyond physics. Or, the "physics" of physics. But another little intuitive ember implies that somehow higher math and physics, such as the concepts of higher dimensionality and higher geometries, might be involved, as they might be involved in the so-named "Theory of Everything," the cliched grail in modern physics. Now, a philsophy can't be expressed as a mathematical relationship, obviously (note: why "obviously"? Does this have something to do with the fact that the Self or the Now or any other building block of this philosophy can not be "contained"?), but such concepts can be useful in a metaphorical sense.

A definition of internal as well as external language and communication

Language. Me have way with language. Seriously, is anything more necessary, more essential, to our existence? Would you rather be able to see and/or hear, or communicate clearly with another person? It's obvious the power of langauge in our lives: internal influences external and vice versa; of this, there is no doubt. But what I'm interested in is, how is language related to all the above points, spread out over them? In other words, how is language related to the Self, the Community of Mankind, Existence, Time, the Now Moment, the Destiny of the Omniverse, even higher geometries? As well as the relationships between all those philosophic terms. Is language prior to existence? And I mean here the concept of communication, not a specific language like English or Japanese or sign.


Now, all I need to do is get about $100,000, hole up for about a year or so away from humanity (somewhere along the French Riviera would be suitable), and untangle all this mess and see if it makes any sense.