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That's the thing about philosophy - it doesn't take any special tools or rely on modern technology to study, just intellect. People today aren't any more or les

That's the thing about philosophy - it doesn't take any special tools or rely on modern technology to study, just intellect. People today aren't any more or less sophisticated than the people of thousands of years ago, and them no more than the people thousands of years before them. Philosophy transcends time and space, and the golden age of Greek and Roman philosophy is full of extremely insightful and applicable knowledge to our modern lives.

stallmanite 7y ago
So philosophy is similar to software as a field in that you don’t need a bunch of equipment to get going? Maybe it’s trivial but I had never considered that fact or it’s implications before.
- refset 7y ago
  My favourite computer-related quote: "programming is applied philosophy" (origin unknown, sorry!)
  - therein 7y ago
    I always thought, and probably not for the most solid reasons: Math is applied philosophy and theory of knowledge. Physics is Math applied on reality. Chemistry is applied Physics. Biology is applied Chemistry.
    - thunderbong 7y ago
      Agree. I had also thought of the sciences in that manner.
    - bigbonch 7y ago
      I would ammend the last two points and say Chemistry is Physics applied to physical primitives and Biology is Chemistry applied to organic phenomena or something like that.
    - drworm 7y ago
      Which brings to mind this classic XKCD: https://xkcd.com/435/ https://xkcd.com/435/
    - rxhernandez 7y ago
      It could be argued that physics has nothing at all to do with math; merely, that it is a convenient and powerful tool for humans to make sense of it. I've seen Susskind convincingly (albeit shallowly) argue that more "primitive" animals understand physics and I would be surprised if it was easy to argue that animals understand mathematics without circular logic or quick and loose definitions of what math is.
  - thunderbong 7y ago
    I'm not so sure. Of course, I have asked many philosophical questions of myself, when understanding software. This, I've noticed, especially happens when you're crossing layers. For example, between hardware / assembly, assembly / C, C / OOP. However, considering that we have not really come up with a language with which we can communicate with computers seamlessly, I have my doubts. Because, unless we have a language, we can't really philosophize. This could be a problem due to the interfaces we have though. Or probably, because our interfaces with computers seem to be getting broader and richer with each generation of hardware, we haven't really been able to freeze on the language through which we communicate.
  - simonh 7y ago
    “What is Magic but applied philosophy?” I’m sure I’ve seen that as a quote, but I can’t find where from. Possibly Dune?
FabHK 7y ago
> People today aren't any more or less sophisticated than the people of thousands of years ago, and them no more than the people thousands of years before them. Well, yes and no. We certainly know a lot more than people knew back then. We know vastly more about the cosmos, we know about atoms, we know about evolution, we know much about the brain. We also face very different challenges than people millennia ago - we have weapons of mass destruction, more obesity than famine (in developed countries), social media, and so on. Thus, I'd say only a small part of philosophy is still applicable and valuable today. (For example, Seneca was a Stoic, and Stoicism had much to say about physics and logic, which is pretty obsolete now, I'd say.) There's a potential fallacy there, like thinking that old music was better, when what we still hear today is just the very best of old music.
- sifar 7y ago
  How does knowing more about the physical world help me understand myself better ? People more than two millennia later still find what he said relevant. What is it that we have produced in the last century would meet that test ? How much of that will be due to our increased knowledge and technology ?
  - Vaskivo 7y ago
    Knowing genetics makes you understand why and how you are similar to your parents. Knowing that physical and psychological state are linked, and that they affect each other. We have ways of introspecting one's mind and body and understand the the "whys" of being an individual and also Human.
    - heavenlyblue 7y ago
      Except genetics is too low level to describe anything but the most basic features. On that matter - my dad and my grandpa were alcoholics; and thus I have the same vice if I don’t pay attention to my motivations in life. However knowing genetics didn’t help me understand that :)
- dsego 7y ago

stallmanite 7y ago

So philosophy is similar to software as a field in that you don’t need a bunch of equipment to get going? Maybe it’s trivial but I had never considered that fact or it’s implications before.

refset 7y ago
My favourite computer-related quote: "programming is applied philosophy" (origin unknown, sorry!)
- therein 7y ago
  I always thought, and probably not for the most solid reasons: Math is applied philosophy and theory of knowledge. Physics is Math applied on reality. Chemistry is applied Physics. Biology is applied Chemistry.
  - thunderbong 7y ago
    Agree. I had also thought of the sciences in that manner.
  - bigbonch 7y ago
    I would ammend the last two points and say Chemistry is Physics applied to physical primitives and Biology is Chemistry applied to organic phenomena or something like that.
  - drworm 7y ago
    Which brings to mind this classic XKCD: https://xkcd.com/435/ https://xkcd.com/435/
  - rxhernandez 7y ago
    It could be argued that physics has nothing at all to do with math; merely, that it is a convenient and powerful tool for humans to make sense of it. I've seen Susskind convincingly (albeit shallowly) argue that more "primitive" animals understand physics and I would be surprised if it was easy to argue that animals understand mathematics without circular logic or quick and loose definitions of what math is.
- thunderbong 7y ago
  I'm not so sure. Of course, I have asked many philosophical questions of myself, when understanding software. This, I've noticed, especially happens when you're crossing layers. For example, between hardware / assembly, assembly / C, C / OOP. However, considering that we have not really come up with a language with which we can communicate with computers seamlessly, I have my doubts. Because, unless we have a language, we can't really philosophize. This could be a problem due to the interfaces we have though. Or probably, because our interfaces with computers seem to be getting broader and richer with each generation of hardware, we haven't really been able to freeze on the language through which we communicate.
- simonh 7y ago
  “What is Magic but applied philosophy?” I’m sure I’ve seen that as a quote, but I can’t find where from. Possibly Dune?

FabHK 7y ago

> People today aren't any more or less sophisticated than the people of thousands of years ago, and them no more than the people thousands of years before them. Well, yes and no. We certainly know a lot more than people knew back then. We know vastly more about the cosmos, we know about atoms, we know about evolution, we know much about the brain. We also face very different challenges than people millennia ago - we have weapons of mass destruction, more obesity than famine (in developed countries), social media, and so on. Thus, I'd say only a small part of philosophy is still applicable and valuable today. (For example, Seneca was a Stoic, and Stoicism had much to say about physics and logic, which is pretty obsolete now, I'd say.) There's a potential fallacy there, like thinking that old music was better, when what we still hear today is just the very best of old music.

sifar 7y ago
How does knowing more about the physical world help me understand myself better ? People more than two millennia later still find what he said relevant. What is it that we have produced in the last century would meet that test ? How much of that will be due to our increased knowledge and technology ?
- Vaskivo 7y ago
  Knowing genetics makes you understand why and how you are similar to your parents. Knowing that physical and psychological state are linked, and that they affect each other. We have ways of introspecting one's mind and body and understand the the "whys" of being an individual and also Human.
  - heavenlyblue 7y ago
    Except genetics is too low level to describe anything but the most basic features. On that matter - my dad and my grandpa were alcoholics; and thus I have the same vice if I don’t pay attention to my motivations in life. However knowing genetics didn’t help me understand that :)
dsego 7y ago