How much do you like philosophy?

[Whateverist]

Not that its worth much but my take is that I really like aspects of philosophy and that it can be really helpful in clarifying thinking, yet, at other times it just seems to be a road block where rivalling factions of philosophers go way off the original point (whatever it was) to discuss esoteric elements that almost no-one outside of philosophy can understand - least of all, me.

It also seems that at times when I attempt to argue against some philosophical argument or other that I'm told I am not arguing in the right way - even when the point appears valid to me.

Yeah I don't go in for propriety when it comes to formulating arguments. I also don't care about scoring points. If I wanted to be taken seriously in the world of philosophy I'd have to catch up on all the literature so that I could pin down what points have already been brought up and dealt with. But I don't care about any of that. Just one more Joe in the world here thinking about shit for myself. In the end the only one you need to persuade is yourself.

Also I don't go looking for fun arguments to study. The only ones I want to engage are the ones that really interest me, so consciousness and the nature of the self. Unlike science, I don't think philosophy makes any any gains for the masses.

You I trust because you always seem grounded in the reasons you give. I'd rather hear your take than someone practicing presenting an argument for an intro to philosophy class.