Philosophy Now Forum

Hi Woody, it´s only now that I discovered your introduction. As to Jacques Lacan, I do not think that you have missed much. A Frenchman accused him of doing accounts, reading newspapers, leaving the room for a couple of minutes while he was listening to a patient. But he never forgot to charge the p...

I have never tried such a thing and I probably never will. It would be like playing chess with oneself, turning the board after each move. However, it is true that you can develop different personalities on different forums, especially if you use different languages and your way of expressing yourse...

I go more or less regularly to a discussion group, which is not necessrily a philosophical one, but sometimes the topics sound philosophical. At least, they are always controversial. People usually want to say much more than they are allowed to. Many stretch their hands in vain. Some just speak with...

Claim 2. and 3. implies clearly that health benefits are POSSIBLE. And should be discussed ecstatically and enthousiastically etc. I doubt it. Because generalizations are not possible, according to me. But I have to leave anyway. Good night. But maybe I really missed the point. Sorry. It was not int...

Let us review things, shall we. My Claims: 1.) That New Scientist has reported, as a side note, that there is a correlation between the consumption of beer and increased memory function in old age. 2.) That if beer was a less taboo product, such as coffee, any possible health benefits would receive...

And after beer and wine, at least three cups of coffee and you are safe from Alzheimer. Give me a break, Psycho . The factors are in their millions. You would need at least ten clones, who lead identical lives in EVERY respect, and five of them drink beer, and the other five do not. Then you could s...

And also a pop song can express something .... poetic ? I hear one now, an old one, coming to me from next door. I do not understand the lyrics, just pieces of it, but the feeling behind it comes across, subconsciously. It´s like the tone of the voice. The words do not matter as such, only as decora...

I would not believe it. There are also some "scientific" studies that drinking red wine protects you against ... I have forgotten. And only recently, that drinking coffee protects you against Alzheimer. But at least three cups per day. How about all the other factors ? I do not drink alcohol, and ve...

I wanted to say before that not only your poem sounded poetic to me, but also, and quite as much, your post finishing with the words: Have a poem ... (I did not consider it clumsy though.) I am not sure to know very welll what poetry is. The opposite would probably be "stupid talk for hours". Poetry...

Nice poem, Mr. Palmer.

On the other hand, even the clumsiest piece of prose can sound very poetic in certain circumstances. I do not know exactly why, but it does for sure.
Anything can sound like poetry if you are in the right mood.
But you could also be over-interpreting.

I think that understanding someone is a very complex procedure, which goes on mostly intuitively or unconsciously. The tone of the voice may be crucial, depending on the act of speech. That is why employers do not employ people just after reading the application. They usually want to talk to the app...

A 70 % chance means that it is a good idea to take an umbrella with you. A little one, that you can put in your backpack. A 95 % chance means that you should take a big umbrella with you. A 10 % chance means that you can risk going out without an umbrella at all. Apart from people using umbrellas fa...

What do you need fun for ?

In order to kill the time because you have too much of it at your disposal ?

Or in order to forget the basic anxieties of the human condition (like the inevitableness of death, the fragility of our existence ... ) ?

Fun sounds shallow to me.

Yes, but I meant something else. Socializing may teach you something about the human nature, but only indirectly. Whereas philosophysing consists in verbalizing the insights, so you search for the truth directly or openly. Socializing can serve some other aims, sometimes unconscious, like getting a ...

You mean idle chit-chat ?
I thought we were supposed to search for truth on this forum ...
Can you derive any wisdom from socializing ?