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I agree and I start here each time I realize that I need to make a life plan. What makes that question hard for me is that - it results into a chain of questio

I agree and I start here each time I realize that I need to make a life plan. What makes that question hard for me is that - it results into a chain of questions that appear (but not) less practical, like 'What is this World', 'What is happiness' and what not? Don't you get into (what people call) the Philosophical Questions when you ask that question?

beat 11y ago
There's definitely a danger of Philosophical Questions. But what you want isn't necessarily philosophical. I shamelessly stole the "What do you want?" question from the tv show Babylon 5. Here's the original, meaningful answer from that show, by Ambassador Londo Mollari: "All right. Fine! You really want to know what I want? You really want to know the truth? I want my people to reclaim their rightful place in the galaxy. I want to see the Centauri stretch forth their hand again, and command the stars! I-I want a rebirth of glory, a renaissance of power. I want to stop running through my life like a man late for an appointment, afraid to– to look back, or to look forward. I want us to be what we used to BE! I want…I want it all back, the way that it was! Does that answer your question?" Of course, this leads to a gigantic galactic war and the deaths of billions, but that's another story. Another one that comes to mind is Inigo Montoya, from Princess Bride. He knows exactly what he wants - he wants revenge for his father's murder. He may take odd jobs as a hired sword, but it's all in service of finding the six-fingered man and killing him. So at a certain point, you don't have to keep asking philosophical questions. You just need to understand what motivates you, deep down. Inigo Montoya didn't have to ask why revenge mattered. He loved his father, and that was enough.
msutherl 11y ago
Philosophical Questions are good, you must engage with them! However, look at Wittgenstein, Lao Tzu, Nietzsche, and others who proposed compact solutions (or approaches) vs. the Kantian or analytical treatise style. You don't need to iteratively find Total Solutions, following every decision tree to its root. You just need working answers that you can revise as you go. Think agile vs. waterfall.
- beat 11y ago
  That's great advice. At some point, you need to ask the philosophical questions (or maybe we just can't help ourselves), but it doesn't require a philosophy degree to come up with a useful answer.

beat 11y ago

There's definitely a danger of Philosophical Questions. But what you want isn't necessarily philosophical. I shamelessly stole the "What do you want?" question from the tv show Babylon 5. Here's the original, meaningful answer from that show, by Ambassador Londo Mollari: "All right. Fine! You really want to know what I want? You really want to know the truth? I want my people to reclaim their rightful place in the galaxy. I want to see the Centauri stretch forth their hand again, and command the stars! I-I want a rebirth of glory, a renaissance of power. I want to stop running through my life like a man late for an appointment, afraid to– to look back, or to look forward. I want us to be what we used to BE! I want…I want it all back, the way that it was! Does that answer your question?" Of course, this leads to a gigantic galactic war and the deaths of billions, but that's another story. Another one that comes to mind is Inigo Montoya, from Princess Bride. He knows exactly what he wants - he wants revenge for his father's murder. He may take odd jobs as a hired sword, but it's all in service of finding the six-fingered man and killing him. So at a certain point, you don't have to keep asking philosophical questions. You just need to understand what motivates you, deep down. Inigo Montoya didn't have to ask why revenge mattered. He loved his father, and that was enough.

msutherl 11y ago

Philosophical Questions are good, you must engage with them! However, look at Wittgenstein, Lao Tzu, Nietzsche, and others who proposed compact solutions (or approaches) vs. the Kantian or analytical treatise style. You don't need to iteratively find Total Solutions, following every decision tree to its root. You just need working answers that you can revise as you go. Think agile vs. waterfall.

beat 11y ago
That's great advice. At some point, you need to ask the philosophical questions (or maybe we just can't help ourselves), but it doesn't require a philosophy degree to come up with a useful answer.