Not All Who Ponder Are Lost

Having stared at a blank page for longer than I care to admit I have come to two conclusions:

1) The act of writing itself is easy its just arranging words in a meaningful way to convey information or ideas

2) Having something to write about that you can sustain for any length of time is where the real hard work comes in.

I have lots of thoughts, feelings and experiences but currently none of which are fleshed out enough to create a meaningful piece of writing. So, I have taken what some of you may believe to be a bit of a shortcut and that is I have chosen to outsource the thinking part by scouring the internet for inspiration. But after reading enough mind-numbing articles to effectively lower my IQ several points (this is not a comment on the writing, but the content lets be clear) I turned to more tried and tested methods for inspiration…specifically philosophy or philosophy-esque questions.

I have always been intrigued by the idea of philosophy, because why wouldn’t I be I love learning. Philosophy, simply put, is the study of knowledge or ‘thinking about thinking’ more specifically around subjects such as human, the world, existence, ethics etc. Big questions that don’t always have a clear-cut answer or can be answered in multiple ways depending on one’s perspective. It kind of straddles the world between art and science quite nicely. So, in order to give my brain a bit of a workout and help me get the creative juices flowing I thought I would throw my hat into the ring and have a go at answering some of these questions as best I can.

Will religion ever become obsolete?

Jumping right in here with one of those topics that your taught never to talk about in polite society — religion (right up there with politics and finances).

The short answer to me is no I don’t believe religion will ever become obsolete. Let’s look at the basic definition of religion. Religion is a system of faith or worship that usually involves one or more god/s. As we know them, most religions are built around the teachings of some all-knowing divine being or beings that sets out the rules and ways of how the followers of that religion should act, think and behave.

Religion has already evolved over time with the diversity we see in all the major religions of the world all teaching different things depending upon their own perspectives. But truly at the heart of them all religions tend to agree more than they disagree. You would be hard pressed to find one that doesn’t include such rules as, don’t murder people, be kind to everyone etc. The basic rules that we need as a society in order to live good lives.

We as a species are wired for storytelling and most religious texts provide the stories that are used to teach the rules to their followers. We accept these rules because we believe that the stories and rules come from something greater than we could ever hope to be.

In my mind I ask the question well if that’s the case then don’t we all receive the rules of how to be a good person from some higher power than us be it a government, monarchy or whatever. There is always some ‘they’ that is far above us in the pecking order who dictates the rules by which we are all expected to abide.

I often think that I learnt my moral code from pop culture and fiction (despite being raised Catholic) both areas that have simply retold the same stories for millennia in different formats dependant on when in time they are made. Boomers had John Wayne, Gen X’ers had Star Wars, Millennials have the marvel movies, Gen Z have Tik Tok (maybe?). The point is you look hard enough and no matter what the medium they are telling the same stories that humans have been telling forever.

I believe that if we reframe the definition of religion to be ‘The fundamental rules and ways of living as a human in society taught through the medium in which the recipient feels most palatable’ then I would have to argue that no, religion will not become obsolete, but we may simply not identify religions in the way we have historically.

And really provided we all follow the golden rule of don’t be a dick does it really matter?

Is suffering a necessary part of the human condition?

Now we get a bit interesting. I would argue that the human condition is suffering and as such the two are inseparable.

Think about it, all throughout our lives we face adversity from learning to walk, going through school, romantic relationships, parenthood, death etc. nobody ever really sails through these things getting them right first time. They all to some degree involve adversity and adversity can lead to pain and ultimately suffering.

Indeed, even at a biological level we need suffering in order to grow and adapt to our environments and circumstances. The biological principle of specific adaptation to imposed demands (SAID) teaches that in order to change at a biological level we need to go beyond that which we are currently capable and in doing so that normally involves some form of pain and suffering (anybody that has tried to use a toilet after a particularly heavy leg workout will know this all too well).

Suffering leads to change and how that change manifests itself can depend on the individual receiving it. Some people rise to the challenge and become better others use suffering to justify doing horrendous things, but the fact remains that the common factor in both scenarios is the fact that suffering was present.

A better question really is how can suffering be a vehicle for personal growth? Because we know people who have suffered and have been the worst off for it and I suppose that all depends upon the pain that caused the suffering.

This isn’t a blame game or an advocation of seeking out suffering, merely an acknowledgement of the fact that provided you are alive and a human you will suffer to some extent and the extent of said suffering will depend upon the context upon which the suffering is delivered and experienced. I believe in the idea that suffering is caused by resistance to pain and an absence of acknowledging and dealing with said pain henceforth we as humans have some degree of control in how long and how severely we suffer, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish.

Would you want to know you are going to die before hand or die suddenly without warning?

Our own mortality is a funny one and I have wrestled with both scenarios as being my preferred answer.

If you knew exactly when you would die you have the benefit of foresight. You could plan your days accordingly and at least know what is and isn’t feasible achievement wise in your lifetime. But on the other hand, we are all painfully human. The likelihood is that this knowledge would be a burden one that we wouldn’t be able to carry alone. We would inevitably end up disclosing this information with at least one other person and then we have made them share our pain.

Also, if people knew you were going to die and when what would stop some nefarious types using this to their advantage? For instance, what would stop someone getting into your good favour for their gain? What might stop potential employers giving you a job if they knew your literal expiration date?

Still, I like to know things so there is a part of me that would be curious to know but I can’t for certain be sure I would like the answer all that much. It’s also kind of one of those things that once you know it you can’t unlearn it. So you can’t even get a little taster for it.

On the other hand, I know for certain that if I had any choice in the matter I would like my final moments to be over quickly. I don’t want people to have the burden of watching me slowly slipping off my mortal coil, becoming a shell of who I once was. I’d much prefer for them to have it come out of the blue so it’s a shock for everyone.

I also think knowing that my demise would come quickly and without warning would offer some sort of freedom in a way. You may not know when, but you know its going to be quick and that’s a comfort most don’t have the luxury of. Id like to think that in this scenario I would do my best to live each day literally as if it were my last on the off chance that it was.

So I’m opting for sudden death on this one even though my curiosity wants to get the better of me.

Is intelligence or wisdom more useful?

This one almost felt like a trick question to me. Intelligence to me is defined as our ability to apply knowledge effectively, knowledge is the things we learn or skills we acquire through experience and wisdom is the sum of our learnings. Hence by definition you cannot be intelligent without having wisdom.

But in practice things aren’t always so straight forward. Like we all know the cautionary tale of the person who has multiple degrees and doctorates but does something incredibly lacking in common sense. Similarly, we know stories of people who drop out of school with no qualifications and end up being billionaires. So, although in theory there is a link between intelligence, knowledge and wisdom in practice it doesn’t always work.

If I had to pick between the two, I would opt for wisdom over intelligence. Wisdom, to me at least, comes from our ability to reflect on our knowledge and summarise it in a way which benefits ourselves and others in the future. It’s like the cliff notes version of knowledge you get all the benefits of having it in half the time.

Subsequently a person who has high levels of wisdom can act in ways that are or appear to be intelligent, but I can’t be entirely sure that the same happens the other way. That’s not to say an intelligent person can’t have wisdom but it’s not always guaranteed.

If knowledge is the parts and tools and intelligence is the bookcase, then wisdom is the instruction book. Some people might be able to build the bookcase without the instructions but it’s almost a certainty that you will succeed if you have the instructions (and a healthy dose of cursing)

Should there be limitations on the right to free speech?

Eugh, this is a painful no from me even if I wish it wasn’t.

There are definitely some people in the world who I wished didn’t have the right to free speech simply because of how dangerous or innately stupid they are. In fact, if I had the power to prevent individuals from having free speech then I am fairly confident that I would abuse that power.

But that’s the problem innately in regulating free speech. Who decides who gets it and who doesn’t? Now there’s a tricky grey moral area. Imagine a world where someone had the ability to silence you and your opinion whenever and however they see fit? Scary isn’t it?

However, if we allow for free speech, we also have to allow that people will use their free speech for negative means. They will use it to inflict pain, hatred and worse on others and frankly this is a painful thing to acknowledge. Because in their minds they are right. Nobody in their stories makes themselves the bad guy, so there are people out their who say things that I hold in utter contempt and want nothing more than to shut down who fully believe they are justified and right in doing so.

It’s not an ideal situation to live with but the alternative, a world where free speech doesn’t exist for everyone, is far worse and as a result I have to say that there should not be limitations on free speech.

So, there you have it. A little bit of a brain workout for me (I really did have to think hard on some of these) and a hopefully entertaining read for you. Hopefully I can flesh out some of my other ideas in order to write something a bit more on programme next time.