This video is partially blocked on YouTube because of some Hulk Hogan footage I used near the end. My apologies to Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Bangladesh, Russia, Bhutan, and Afghanistan for not being able to watch it on YouTube. You can watch it here instead.
And while I’m here, I’d like to explain more about what the GhostofSocrates brand is about. It’s a reference to the spirit (the attitude and vision) of the Socratic Method. Questions are good. They help us seek knowledge and truth. Questions help us learn something new. For the past year, I’ve been slowly learning more about music theory. I posted my first beat on YouTube eight months ago. Six months ago I started learning the guitar.
I’m not doing any of this for money. I’m doing it for fun and for the love of music and passion for creativity. It means a lot to me, even when I’m dressed like a lobster and jump kicking Hulk Hogan in the face.
This is the basis of my martial arts journey, and, when my head is functioning properly, my life in general.
Martial arts is art, which is why it’s in the name. Art is communication, self-expression, and creativity. Over time, a life-long practitioner takes the fundamentals learned and their martial art becomes their own, based on both their personality and physical/emotional strengths and weaknesses. Running a kata or competing in a tournament is akin to the brush strokes of a painter finishing a portrait.
Martial arts is science, at least when one’s martial arts training is focused on practical, logical methods and techniques designed for efficiency. The human body only moves in certain ways. Understanding the biomechanics of the body and physics in general gives a practitioner a greater chance at success in self-defense or sport combat, as well as improve and maintain their health.
Martial arts is philosophy, and while personal views may differ, martial arts training that lacks a cognitive component lacks a reason behind the training. Martial arts functions with the paradox of learning violence to maintain peace, and, in my estimation, each practitioner needs to reconcile their training with their worldview. Martial arts has a deep history from which we can learn, and having a rational basis for why we train will help us become greater martial artists.
And as I said, this triad of art, science, and philosophy serves as the basis of my life in general, though I don’t always apply the principles consistently.
Life should consist of creativity and expression. That’s one reason why I started learning how to create music. Life should be lived according to logic and reason. The better we are able to think and apply critical thinking, the greater our odds of living a quality life. And each of us has a worldview. Everyone is a philosopher. The only question is how good we are at doing philosophy.
As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being.”
Wizards of the Coast is making more money than ever with Magic: The Gathering. A big part of that is the work they’ve done to create a digital version of the game. And while we can debate the quality of their products, WotC continues to make big bucks regardless.
“Taking the high road” only elevates you high enough to get knocked down by those who don’t.
I’m tired of bad people knocking me down. Words have power, and now I’m using mine.
Words have more power than we realize. Every time we speak negatively about ourselves, we rob ourselves of our natural power. Our words can destroy, but they can also heal, build, rebuild, and sustain. Every time we encourage ourselves and those around us, we are bolstering the spirit with loving energy, which makes all of us stronger.
My Facebook feed has been full of people condemning the riots but staying silent on the murderers and the systematic oppression that led to the riots.
“Why can’t they protest peacefully?”
Every attempt at peaceful protest has been met with criticism and scorn. And there has been no change to the system that allows for the murders to continue.
Of course riots aren’t good, but it’s important to try to see things through the eyes of the people who have been affected by the murders – murders which themselves are just one part of the larger problem black people face on a daily basis.
Everyone has a breaking point.
Given the context of the situation, when there’s a choice between condemning the rioters or condemning the murderers who have taken so many lives needlessly, the choice should always be to condemn the murderers. They are the real problem here.
Condemning the rioters rather than the murders is an attempt to treat the symptoms while ignoring the disease.
The mise en scène of philosophy, as depicted by Norman Melchert, is a “great conversation” in which we interact not only with each other, but with the great thinkers of history who have also interacted with each other in the search for truth via an ongoing exchange of ideas and arguments about humanity’s deepest and most importunate concerns. I see the pursuit of philosophy as one’s personal quest for truth couched in the language of a pilgrimage which will continue for the remainder of one’s life. The seeker of truth engages in the great conversation during the course of their journey, administering critical thinking as one encounters the truth claims posited by the remarkable (and not so remarkable) intellectuals of both past and present.
Socrates as presented in Plato’s Dialogues bred much enmity among the self-proclaimed “experts” he questioned due to their embarrassment and humiliation after the Socratic Method – the technique of “question and answer, questioning the answers, questioning those questions, question some more, repeat as necessary” – revealed their ignorance of the subject about which they claimed to have knowledge. This ultimately led to his death. Erroneous accusations of corrupting the youth and advocating religious heresies were made against Socrates and he was brought to trial. The jury of 501 Athenians found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death by hemlock.
There are certain “rules of engagement” I do my best to follow when I am having a conversation, particularly with people who believe something I don’t. Keep in mind these are my own personal guidelines, and while I think they are good guidelines, I do not believe they represent everything that can be said about how to engage with other people in conversation. These rules serve as a solid starting point from which productive discussion in both business and personal relationships can exist:
“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.” — Socrates[Theaetetus, 155d]
A friend of mine who knows I have a degree in philosophy once asked me: “Can you tell me, in one sentence, what philosophy is?” I answered, “Philosophy is the attempt to ask questions about the nature of everything in the pursuit of truth.” I then realized, regardless of how accurate my answer is, it won’t help someone not familiar with philosophy understand what the discipline is. I also considered the fact that several other definitions of “philosophy” can be given that are as accurate, if not more so, than my own. Continue reading “What is Philosophy?”
deadlogic.blog 