Schopy

Though I think Schopy's brand of philosophy is towards the pointless side of things, I like this quote by him.

“To attain something desired is to discover how vain it is; and…though we live all our lives in expectation of better things, we often at the same time long regretfully for what is past. The present, on the other hand, is regarded as something quite temporary and serving only as the road to our goal. That is why most men discover when they look back on their life that they have the whole time been living ad interim, and are surprised to see that which they let go by so unregarded and unenjoyed was precisely their life, was precisely in expectation of which they lived.” --Schopenhauer

I hate to dwell on this but living in the moment is a rarity in people nowadays.

-Brett

PS. Am I just procrastinating before finals? Maybe. Is it fun posting? Yes.

Itunes You

Sweet. If you use Itunes at all you know that you can download songs through the Itunes store. Also, you can download audiobooks and my fav.: podcasts. Well now they added something extra: Itunes U.

Itunes U is classes from all the top schools in the country... in free downloadable format. Check it out. Already they've got everything from physics to metaphysics (and wouldn't you guess, the most popular class right now is on existentialism :) .) If you didn't guess, I'm taking "Existentialism in Literature" from UC-Berkeley and I love it. I listen to lectures on my 20 minutes to class in the mornings (and again on the way back.)


I think it's really exciting as opportunities for education pop up. With all the pointless technology and wasted resources that go along with it, it's a small comfort to know that someone can educate themselves through the library and now the internet for free. I realize that I am paying 80 grand for an education, but if you've seen my favorite movie then you know that that same education costs "$1.50 in late charges from the public library."

Check it out- there might be something that calls your name...

-Brett

The Kingdom of God is Within You

With all the introspection I've been doing the last few weeks, I've been really thinking about Christian existentialism alot. I've really been feeling that with all the doubting I've been doing and focus on figuring out myself (as opposed to God) that I'm somehow doing something wrong.

Right now, I'm having a change of heart. No matter what's true, the searching and introspection is only making me a stronger, more aware person.

Luke 17:21
"nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

*Leo Tolstoy wrote a book entitled The Kingdom of God is Within You. **Tolstoy is the famed Russian writer/philosopher who inspired the likes of Gandhi, and MLK Jr. and who Dostoevsky (One of the greatest authors ever) called one of the greatest authors ever.

There are a couple more external sources for my reasoning

1.) Biblically (mostly Paul's doing)
James 1:2-4 - Count it joy when we face trials (hardly the natural reaction), because this leads to patience and completeness in God's service. Whoever developed patience when his patience was never tried?

Romans 5:3-5 - Rejoice in tribulations because they work steadfastness, approvedness, and hope.

2.) Thomas- The primary theme for the gnostic gospel of Thomas is one of salvation through spiritual and psychological introspection. Mo matter what you think about the gnostic gospel itself, I think it has alot of intrinsic wisdom to be extracted.

3.) Soren, Soren, Soren- It seems like this guy comes up alot in my blog but I think at the very core of existentialism is the very personal idea of figuring yourself out.

4. Socrates- "The unexamined life is not worth living"
(As I've mentioned before, this sentiment is echoed by many of the greats. To be noted specifically are both the founding fathers of existentialism, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard)


"Far out, dude." That's where I feel this is going. My favorite part of philosophy are the ideas that give voice to something within me, something that resonates with me so...

Where's the application?
I think that if you've got happiness, then maybe that's not worth giving up (contrary to the rest of my post... and blog). At the same time, I think there is something special to be gained by questioning, specifically yourself.

Why do you do what you do? Why do you behave like you do? (i.e. What future goals and past experiences influence what you're doing in your life right now?) What relationships and experiences fucked you up, and which ones helped you become more secure with who you really are? What are the parts you love about yourself? What are the parts that could use work?

I think the list is endless. I also think that the list can and should go on... and on... and on...

Finally continued

(continued a few weeks (haha) later...)
The problem with that is: If you say that we don't know what fair is, then how do we really know anything?

If we can't trust our feelings on whether something is fair or not, how can we trust that that's really our conscience telling us to do or not do something. If we don't know what fair is, how do we know what right and wrong are? How do we even know what truth is? I wonder sometimes...

If Heaven and Hell decide...

So, right now I'm not sure if I really buy the current formula for the aferlife (the current Christian view.

That's right- Heaven and Hell. It's Hell that I have trouble with.

Hell
Does God's infinite love and grace just stop completely for some the instant their body stops breathing? It just seems a little cold and a little, well... finite.

Why would God create someone to go to hell? To me, this whole deal just seems unfair. Why would God make some of us to reject Jesus (and go to hell)?. Why would God put us on earth before 0 AD (condemning us to Hell)? Why would God give us Muslim/Jewish/Atheist/Mormon/Anything besides "Christian" parents? And why would He, at the same time, put someone in a position with a perfect Christian household- in a perfect position to "accept Jesus" and go to heaven.

Free Will
"Now, what about free will?" you might ask. I say free will is irrelevant to the idea of Hell. When God is creating you, he knows if you are going to hell or not (an omnipotent God can see the future) and if he still sends you out into the world knowing that you will choose Hell, how is that God GOOD?

And really, what free will does a human born into a deserted island tribe have to "accept Jesus"? What about those that have never heard? We are not asked whether we want to play this game of life. We are thrown into the world- we don't choose to "try our luck".

It's easy to see that this is a God of favoritism. This God is not fair.

The next thing I usually get at this point is- "Well, who says what fair is? God knows. We don't."

To be continued...
Must... go... to class... Will finish soon.

Pantherism: "Panther is All, All is Panther"

So, I don't believe in pantheism. Pantheism has meant different things to different people but perhaps the best summary is "God is all, All is God"

For many Americans, this is a radical departure from the world as they know it (or atleast think of it). This is mainly because Western thinking got an essentially dualistic start. Aristotle with the idea of classification and separation was the man primarily responsible for this. Western philosophy and Christianity have played off each other alot in the last two millenia.

Pantheism, with slight differences, is central to Eastern religion, especially Buddhism. Buddhism, though, is perhaps pantheism crossbreeded with nontheism.

Spinoza also had a pantheism of his own but his emphasis was on nature. He made a good point: that people mainly think of miracles or crazy acts as "Acts of God." He said that the world getting by on a day-to-day basis is an act of God- that nature itself is God's doing (and that therefore, God is nature- it's actually a bit more complex, but that's Spinoza in a nutshell)

*George Harrison also talks about it in "Within you, without you" - not a Beatles hit but maybe the best of George's hippy Indian songs.


So, here's my idea. This may be nonsensical, but it is original: I say that the idea of mind suggests dualism or a separateness of beings. It's the fact that my nerves are connected to only my body- I can only control my mind and my body. I can't lift a car with my mind. Why can I lift my arm and not the car? Maybe because they are separate.

Mainly, I just think that we can't consciously just "think" for someone else. Their mind is their own, and my mind is my own.

If I go to the circus one day and I witness mind control and telekinesis (and I believe it) I'll change my mind, but for now, this is why I believe in dualism (with the whole "Good and Evil" thing.

I'm still alive

No, I haven't been assassinated- just netless. We've been struggling with both the electricity and the internet in my new house so I've been essentially without the internet for almost a week now. It's interesting that though I value the internet so much, I've been perfectly fine (better even) without it. I've spent more time hanging out with my new sweet housemates.

Outside of the power and the internet I love living in the house I'm in and am excited to be out of those stinkin dorms. I'm just waiting for my class, Intimate Relations, to start, which is in ten minutes, so I thought I'd post.

Some things that have been on my mind:

1. College is fun (but like everything else has it's pros and converse shoes). I really like to meet new people.

2. I'm getting better at college

3. If I run just a little bit slower, I can run much farther. I think I ran over 6 miles last night!

4. Morality and the views that different thinkers have had on it. I particularly have been thinking about Nietzche's take on it.

5. Pascal's Wager

6. I might have a very busy semester (More credits than I've ever taken, men's team leader for Cru, and maybe a part-time job for the first time??) Dang. Good thing I have #2 going for me.

7. You don't know what you got til it's gone: Wow, AC is sweet.

Hot diggity,
Brett