(January 3, 2013 at 2:42 pm)teaearlgreyhot Wrote: Oh man, this is too funny.
Philosophy is inescapable . Every single sentence you wrote is a reflection of your philosophy.
I am a product of my life experiences, that include multiple factors. I am not the product of a stupid word. I am a product of evolution. That is the bare bones fact and since evolution cannot be relegated to a philosophy because it is a SCIENCE above philosophy, there is no need to use such an archaic word.
I am a product of my upbringing, both the good and bad that went with it. I am a product of my education. And I am also a product of my genetics. That is called evolution. And fields like psychiatry and neurobiology are way better suited to study why people do what they do and how our bodies actually tick, not some stupid word that can be applied to non scientific things like religion and politics. Those things are merely our personal predilections as a species, both as individuals and or as groups.
"Philosophy" is simply a woo way of saying "personal predilections".
I have "personal predilections" and most certainly I think my "position" is a better position to hold, but "philosophy" does not insure nor require any quality control or outside independent review.
I simply use different words to describe my leanings and positions. I simply despise that word and see no use for it since we have had solid science for quite some time now.
I would be comfortable with the words "point of view" or simple language like "the way I see it", but I hate the word "philosophy" because it teaches people to get married to it like a religion or political party.
Now your next question instead of "SEE SEE SEE YOU DO HAVE A PHILOSOPHY" skip that damned word and ask me "Ok Brian what leads you in to this conclusion".
And my response is evolution. Which is a science, not a philosophy.
We can and do study the reasons people hold irrational beliefs. Dawkins calls god belief akin to "the moth mistaking the light bulb for moonlight". Our perceptions of reality can be, and are far too many times flawed.
Because we are not mostly scientifically literate, to understand even simple things like why we see a butterfly in the ink blot. Add to that maybe child abuse or mental illness or PTSD in war, and those REAL observable things add to both your input and reaction to input.
It is simple fight vs flight, nature vs nurture(genes and mental stress or illness) and what kind of both positive and negative input we get under our conditions over long periods of times under constantly changing conditions.
Those are observable things, not merely our personal predilections.