I decided that I will contact the philosophy professor at the local college and ask him if he can be my mentor. — Fermin

I hope that works for you. I was a math prof for many years, and at large universities senior faculty might simply give an unsolicited paper to a grad student as an assignment to critique. It may be the same in philosophy.

How might all these dynamics interact? — Benj96

I wonder how dynamic systems would function. At each step there would be many options.

Wonder what that 8,500 crossings/day means? Not enough energy to check it out.

I say yes. I predict that in my area, math, there will be computer devised concepts and results beyond human understanding. If simply the length of a particular discovery - only so much that can be kept in the mind and be instantly retrievable for comparison.

Maybe not.

While they may not regard him as The Messiah the do believe his is a messiah and like all messiahs persecuted by the enemies of God. — Fooloso4

Or perhaps the only apparent option to remove the Biden cabal. Don't forget, Joe told immigrants to "Surge the Border", and gave Afghanistan back to the Taliban - where recently the supreme Poohbah stated he is bringing back stoning certain women to death.

The only problem with this type of exercise is that the dog does a lot of sniffing and we don't move very fast — Agree-to-Disagree

Be tolerant and thankful for a furry companion. :cool:

**Description**: Apply ethical theories to real-world scenarios. Discuss topics like environmental ethics, personal and social justice, and personal and social responsibility.
- **Age Appropriateness**: Middle schoolers are forming their identities and need guidance on ethical decision-making. — Lif3r

Add The Philosophy of Taylor Swift to the middle school part.

Finally got it down to a decent routine. Here’s my current schedule (in case you want to doze off — Mikie

Good for you. Keep it up. When you are very old something may knock you down, then as you try to recover, doctors will find something else. A downward spiral difficult to pull out of.

But I have not found a single one who will even respond to any question as to anyone who should not have a gun. — tim wood

I tend to vote more conservative than liberal these days and I object to illegal immigrants having guns.

Can a brutha get an AMEN?! :sweat: :up: — 180 Proof

No amen yet. Still hoping for a different Dem ticket. "Surge the Border Biden" deserves defeat.

If most citizens have the right to gun ownership, what of illegal migrants?

I'm proceeding with the assumption A.I. will be overtaking the task of heavy lifting re: thought. I'm rooting for S.A.I. in our lifetimes to run up cognitive yardage pushing past what human can imagine. Wittgenstein has directed our attention towards "the silence," conjecture unimaginable. Its nigh time for The Oracle: SAI to start sending us revelations from Wittgenstein's principled imagination silenced. We won't understand but a fraction of the import of the messages, but we'll get pushed to our utter limitations before being back-numbered into the subordinate section of the evolution hierarchy. — ucarr

:up:

It won't be long before mathematical concepts and results stretch beyond our abilities to comprehend.

If you take pi or the golden ratio or eulers number for example, eventually it will detail your entire genetic sequence from start to finish — Benj96

Reference?

Do you condone dishonesty and pretension? — Corvus

When it amuses. Keep going. :cool:

Agreed. But that philosophy should be provided by the scientists. — jgill

Any bumper sticker you can provide for why? It seems odd to me. Like saying hydrologists need provide the engineering know-how for hydro-dams. — AmadeusD

I am speaking of the actual science, not peripheral sciences nor philosophy concerning the use of scientific discoveries. Also, I included other kinds of philosophers. I suppose it is possible for a pop philosopher to dream up a concept that clarifies an issue defying the best scientists in that area, but unlikely. On the other hand there is ample proof top scientists can produce whoppers, viz. Mathematical Universe and Multiverses.

As for hydrologists who are philosophers as well, go for it!

Anyway, this is just my opinion. When a non-scientist philosopher produces a breakthrough in quantum theory I will eat my beanie.

I can say anything I feel correct — Corvus

Says it all :roll:

Useful for those who are not too lazy to be staring at Truth tables — Banno

So, this entire discussion devolves to something I used to teach freshmen.

I would like to have a discussion with Corvus about if the logic used here is actually logical, or if it is perhaps fallacious — flannel jesus

You guys need to find a bedroom. I'm surprised we others are allowed to witness the proceedings.

:roll: .

Royal Robbins, The American Climber
by David Smart (2023)

I do not think the complete scientific method can exist without philosophy — Philosophim

Agreed. But that philosophy should be provided by the scientists.

Maybe it's a stretch, but I think metaphysics as the grammar or rules of procedure offers suggestions as to how methodology might evolve. — ucarr

I don't see how philosophers looking over scientists' shoulders does any good. The various sciences have their own procedures, with the exception of quantum theory where there are questions.

In the modern era the philosophy of science is largely done by scientists who work on the cutting edge of science. Their speculations are the creative philosophical gems that propel discoveries.

There are some philosophers who are versed in contemporary knowledge who might qualify as well.

JMHO

Nonsentient Boulderism

Speaks for itself. Which makes it start of a new trend: Unspoken Philosophy

I initially expected better of this type of forum, but politics gonna politic i guess — AmadeusD

There are few threads like this one on the Forum. Lots of others concern one very dead philosopher vs another very dead philosopher. Those are milder.

OK, back unexpectedly quickly. What little I know of SOL is that it applies to set theory, and foundations wallows in that mire. I suspect if one wants to see how it translates into common mathematics one must start with 0={ }, and work up to sophisticated functions. I did this back in 1962 in my first grad math class. It was done on handout sheets, and we ended up defining the exponential function.

It was entertaining at the time, but not at all useful to me or 97% of the class. One guy went ecstatic and followed this dream. The rest of sighed relief and moved on.

Functions from sets might help.

Oh, here is an example of a Hilbert space: A Hilbert space

sorry.just lost the internet for about a week.

I have about 10 different books on Hilbert space only. — Corvus

Really? You must be a mathematician like I was. And one working in functional analysis. I have perhaps four books that speak of Hilbert spaces in certain chapters.

The first idea in the mind of primitive man would have been the first concept. Impossible to narrow down from there.

At 77, it's been a long time since I was in school — BC

Me too. 87 here.

Thanks to an intervention, I attended a state college. It was tremendously valuable in terms of acquiring some social skills and general knowledge (I majored in English). The degree itself was still very useful in 1968 — BC

I taught at a state university for thirty years. These institutions are undervalued in an era in which media focuses on Harvard and other elite schools. Many an undergraduate education is a real bargain in these reasonably priced universities. As a math professor I have seen a number of our graduates (in math and/or physics) go on to obtain doctorates and have successful careers.

I will make one observation on formal education versus autodidact learning: the absence of studied criticism in the latter.

Can you explain why? I'm not seeing it — Janus

As a retired math person I can see the possibility of the mathematics of Quantum theory somehow reifying into a form of reality. However, I suspect not.

What happened?

It captured and reinforced the liberation experienced by many people as WW2 ended. — Ludwig V

Indeed, I came upon it a bit later, in the late 1950s, and it became popular among young, adventurous men - particularly from California - looking for a path forward that was new and exciting. I suspect its popularity dwindled during the Korean and Vietnam wars when one's path to an exciting and adventurous life either threaded for many through dense jungles or for others freezing cold and was not a freely chosen one.

The Golden age of climbing is now seen by many as the mid 1950s and early 1960s, especially regarding Hillary's conquest of Everest and similarly impressive feats in Yosemite Valley. I got caught up in that adventurous period and, like others, discovered existentialism - an approach to life that correlated well with climbing. But, its popularity dwindled, I suspect, during the decades that followed, especially the Vietnam conflict. I really don't know. It worked for me all the rest of my life.

Though it is true that the world that I am part of and which makes me what I am is a not a matter of choice, but of chance, in a sense — Ludwig V

That's the obvious bug in the ointment, of course. I can only reflect on my own upbringing. As an only child of an roaming academic, I felt a sense of individual responsibility that allowed me to expand my thinking beyond traditional bounds. And when I chose to become a climber through a fluke during my junior year in high school in Georgia, my parents were shocked, but composed. However, when I joined a fellow young climber from Atlanta and we drove to Colorado in the summer of 1954, my father later revealed to me he bought burial insurance for his son.

On the other hand, a friend roughly my age grew up in difficult circumstances, with an absentee and violent father, and he also chose the existentialist path. And another, coming from very humble circumstances, also without a father, may have considered himself an existentialist, but I don't recall talking about the subject. The first of these became known as the most revered climber of that era and in later life created a prominent clothing company. The second became a billionaire.

The complete last sentence of Hazel Barnes' quotation is "Existentialists values intensify consciousness, arouse the passions, and commit the individual to a cause of action that will engage their total energies." A promise of relief from the real pains of anxiety in a meaningless world and also a promise of trouble and fear. But perhaps that's just me — Ludwig V

Barnes seems to view existentialism in a extreme form. It provides a focus - or more than one - and a feeling of the power of an individual to control much in his life. Not all of it by any means. How much of this feeling of control exists before the acceptance of this philosophy varies.

Finally, looking back at the first sentence in Hazel Barnes' quotation - "The function of Existentialists values is to liberate humankind from craven fear, petty anxiety and apathy or tedium." - I notice the powerful rhetoric that she chooses to attach to "humankind", "fear" and "anxiety". This is not existentialist cool at all, is it? — Ludwig V

All I can say is that her comments seem bizarre and don't fit those who I knew who considered themselves existentialists.

I meant that a lot of people choose not to use what intelligence they have, because they just don't care about the truth — Brendan Golledge

There are those on the Forum who think of "truth" as a relative concept. As a retired mathematician, I know mathematical truth is dependent upon certain axioms. One changes the axioms and the notion of truth becomes a bit more vague. But you seem to refer to the existence or character of God. Am I correct? Possibly I misinterpret what you have said.

You mention being awakened by your baby crying. Isn't that a form of truth?

I do wonder whether the frequently-aired complaint that 'quantum physics is incomplete' might arise because of the fact that matter does not exhaust the totality of existence — Wayfarer

Good point. :up:

As it is for just sitting, in Soto Zen, the reward is in the doing. — ENOAH

The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference.

(Wiki)

Without interference, perhaps, but philosophical thoughts are posted here on the Forum before they pass.

I'm not as concerned with Trump winning the election as I am with him losing the vote count. He has been busy keeping his MAGA base stirred up, and if he loses he might incite them to disrupt procedures at the Capital and overturn the presidency by force of arms, not simply wandering the Halls of Congress.

Perhaps not. I wish he would calm his rhetoric.

Sartre's The Gaze and The Look are interesting additions to his fundamental idea of creating meaning in one's life. I suspect every athlete who moves from the playground to the big leagues learns to deal with how others perceive him as he performs. To some the roar of the crowd is stimulating, while others might have a harder time dealing with the interaction between observers and himself. How easy is it for a pro golfer to handle sudden small noises in a crowd? On the other hand how can one reach those levels without mastering control of The Look?

As much psychology as philosophy. Pardon an intrusion into a discussion about past philosophers.

If I see references to God, or when an OP is very lengthy and rambling I usually lose interest very quickly. That's just me. As for thinking and solving problems, I recall Richard Feynman saying something to the effect that one should attack problems that one feels are within one's capabilities to solve.

Alex Honnold ("Greatest athletic feat of all time") and scientists pull their sleds over the Greenland ice cap in a recent Nat'l Geo offering. I wasn't paying a lot of attention as they slogged over the ice, but at some point a scientist remarks that the sheet (glacier) is in good shape, not melting away as suspected. I probably have it wrong. Any others watch this?