Philosophy annoys me sometimes. It's an arena where a scientifically irrefutable proof can be reduced to nothing more than a possible illusion. There are no absolutes, and strangely enough, even though some define philosophy as the search for truth, there are no ultimate truths. There is much to learn from engaging in a critical analysis of fundamental beliefs or assumptions, and for that I love it. For that, it's valuable. I've always been a deeply philosophical person, but from all my thinking, pondering, reflecting, reading and musings I have come to see one thing very clearly. You need a cornerstone. You need a fundamental belief. You need to plant your feet on something solid. If there is an ultimate truth that I have found, it is that ultimate truths exist. To me, it is profoundly relevant that this belief was born in the realm of philosophy itself. It's ironic in a way that leads one to believe that the irony itself is like a clue, a strong suggestion that that is the whole point.
Something that would serve to demonstrate a small part of what I'm talking about is if you were to suggest that this could be all in my head. Or you could challenge the fundamental assumptions I'm using as my cornerstone. They are as follows. The universe is something that possesses the quality of being absolutely real. It is what it is, even if we think it's something else, and it would be here, being what it is, without any of us. I don't seriously question that anymore, although I might still entertain alternative possibilities just for pure fun of thinking about it. Another assumption I'm making is that I am capable of logical, coherent and intelligent thought lest I be speaking garbled bullshit that could only ever make what I call "sense" to me in my own chaotic mind. The idea is that at a certain point, it becomes counter-productive to persistently question certain things. It is useless to me to engage in a further critical analysis of whether or not the universe really exists, whether or not you are really reading this, whether or not I've always been me, whether or not I'm capable of intelligent thought - the list goes on forever. It's not that one shouldn't. The opposite is true. You need to. But, to me, there is really no point if you don't end up walking away with something real, and I've reached the point where I have, so I naturally roll my eyes and become slightly irritated when someone suggests that even that is in my head. You'll get nowhere thinking like that forever.
The big question is, why? Why do I think I've got it figured out? Where's my evidence? It's everywhere. Everything in the world suggests it. Order, shared experiences, other people asking the same questions, people in this thread, everything. Either the universe truly exists, as do people other than myself, or something, for some reason, is hell bent on trying to make me believe that. When you're young, you just accept reality for what it seems to be, because it seems to be what it seems to be. Obviously it's seeming to be that for a reason. As you get older, you start to wonder, question, seek to understand. If you're like me, you end up back at the beginning because you realize that reality really is what it seems to be, but rather than simply believing something because you don't yet have the capacity to consider alternative possibilities, you believe it because it makes the most sense. If you're me I've talked with a friend of mine about this on quite a number of occasions, and we both find it thoroughly amusing that the quest for truth leads you right back to your humble beginnings. The value in that is the age old cliche "It's the journey that counts". And it really is. You've expanded your perception of the world immeasurably.
That quest is never over however. I'll say that now in case anyone thinks I think I know it all. Something else I've learned, is that often the more you come to understand something, the more you realize that you really understand fark all. The world, the universe, everything, you can't hold it in your hand. You can't even get close to it. It's so incredible, so immense, so ultimately unfathomable, so frighteningly beautiful, even deeply mystical, we wouldn't be able to deal with it all. We can only experience parts of it. We might never be able to grasp the true nature of reality, but it's definitely here, and we are learning more about it everyday. Science one of the things that has taught us that there is much more to the universe than meets the eye, or ears, or any other sense with which we are equipped. Reality is more than what we understand it to be, but that does not mean there is any deception.
I've talked with a friend of mine about this on quite a number of occasions, and we both find it thoroughly amusing that the quest for truth leads you right back to your humble beginnings. The value in that is the age old cliche "It's the journey that counts". And it really is. You've expanded your perception of the world immeasurably.