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This line of thinking is similar to: "I never took an academic/theoretical computer science course, but I'm able to write code that solves most problems just by

This line of thinking is similar to: "I never took an academic/theoretical computer science course, but I'm able to write code that solves most problems just by thinking, discussing, and occasionally StackOverflow." That might very well be true -- and of course you can (and plenty do) argue that academic CS isn't worthwhile either -- but in both cases it isn't obvious the nuance is useful/justified until you dive into the weeds yourself. I'm in no place to defend the whole field, but I do think it takes a special kind of cynicism to claim that one of the (if not, the) longest running academic projects on Earth "could be summarized on one page with little information loss."

RivieraKid2 9y ago
I think that in philosophy, unlike other fields, one can get very far with little studying, possibly closer to truth than someone who did a lot of it. (Posting under a different username because I got "you're posting too fast" error.)
- jmoss20 9y ago
  Comparing fields this way is a bit apples to oranges (getting "very far" in CS is quite different than in English Lit, which is quite different than Philosophy, etc.) -- these fields all have very different goals. That said, in philosophy I often have the feeling that some "common sense" view I hold is more accurate than the rigorous, less clear views that I'm studying. Almost always, there turn out to be problems with my common sense view that weren't obvious to me at the outset, and necessitate the extra rigor and abstraction. The unfortunate bit is that if you don't "study" (as you put it), you'll never notice these little flaws, and go on thinking that people are intentionally overcomplicating things. (Made worse by the fact that certain people actually are overcomplicating things -- but that's not evidence against the fact that many things are, in fact, complicated)
  - RivieraKid2 9y ago
    Honestly, I doubt that, the philosophy course I took convinced me that the signal-to-noise ratio is pretty bad. I've developed my philosophical view mostly independently and have always been able to defend it. I hoped I would get some hard philosophy questions here but nevermind :)
    - UncleMeat 9y ago
      But you took one course. A phil phd is going to read hundreds of books, likely just for quals. How can you possibly expect to have a grasp of the field after a few hours of work?

RivieraKid2 9y ago

I think that in philosophy, unlike other fields, one can get very far with little studying, possibly closer to truth than someone who did a lot of it. (Posting under a different username because I got "you're posting too fast" error.)

jmoss20 9y ago
Comparing fields this way is a bit apples to oranges (getting "very far" in CS is quite different than in English Lit, which is quite different than Philosophy, etc.) -- these fields all have very different goals. That said, in philosophy I often have the feeling that some "common sense" view I hold is more accurate than the rigorous, less clear views that I'm studying. Almost always, there turn out to be problems with my common sense view that weren't obvious to me at the outset, and necessitate the extra rigor and abstraction. The unfortunate bit is that if you don't "study" (as you put it), you'll never notice these little flaws, and go on thinking that people are intentionally overcomplicating things. (Made worse by the fact that certain people actually are overcomplicating things -- but that's not evidence against the fact that many things are, in fact, complicated)
- RivieraKid2 9y ago
  Honestly, I doubt that, the philosophy course I took convinced me that the signal-to-noise ratio is pretty bad. I've developed my philosophical view mostly independently and have always been able to defend it. I hoped I would get some hard philosophy questions here but nevermind :)
  - UncleMeat 9y ago
    But you took one course. A phil phd is going to read hundreds of books, likely just for quals. How can you possibly expect to have a grasp of the field after a few hours of work?