Philosophy and Other Nonsense

So what good is it to tinker with your understanding of life? To really examine life, the way it's lived, your place in the greater scheme of things, and so on and so forth?

Well.....

I put it to you this way: except for a narrow, technological sense, there is no such thing as an original thought. If you suddenly have a blinding flash of insight into things and understand better, chances are someone has had that epiphany before you and put it into words already.

The advantage in studying these things is that you don't have to reinvent the wheel. The disadvantage is that unless you have had the experience that would lead naturally to the same conclusion, then it won't really make sense.

Besides, knowledge can be fun for its own sake. *gasp* Yeah. The more you know, the better you can understand things and the better you can understand things, the more it is possible for you to know. Philosophy lets you understand understanding.

Huh?

It also lets you tie your brain in knots, which is fun. At a more advanced level, it lets you tie other peoples' brains in knots, which is a lot more fun. Read about Socrates some time if you doubt it. Or Diogenes. Or Lao-tzu.

As a matter of fact, here are some resources to get started (I know wiki is not a source, but it's a good starting point):

WikiPedia Philosophy Portal

WikiPedia on Logic

Online Philosophy Classes

Now go forth and embrace your ignorance.