Brain size vs philosophy

[T'ai Chi]

This post could have gone either in this Philosophy forum, or in the science forum.

Anyway, people often say that philosophy is BS or mental masturbation, that it doesn't do anything, is worthless, etc. Well, I think our big brains, brought about by evolution, enable us to be more philosophical.

So there is something funny about this: bigger brains cause us to think more but think more about things that don't mean anything??

 

[Piscivore]

This post could have gone either in this Philosophy forum, or in the science forum.

Anyway, people often say that philosophy is BS or mental masturbation, that it doesn't do anything, is worthless, etc. Well, I think our big brains, brought about by evolution, enable us to be more philosophical.

So there is something funny about this: bigger brains cause us to think more but think more about things that don't mean anything??

You did see the Harry Potter speculation thread in the History, Lit & Art section, right?

Philosophy is no more than any other mental activity, sometimes valuable, sometimes worthless. Sometimes entertaining, othertimes tedious. Sometimes true or false, accurate or inaccurate.

As a way to understand the universe, it is far less reliable than the scientific method, and that's from where the "mental masturbation" sentiments usually arise.

 

[Gestahl]

This post could have gone either in this Philosophy forum, or in the science forum.

Anyway, people often say that philosophy is BS or mental masturbation, that it doesn't do anything, is worthless, etc. Well, I think our big brains, brought about by evolution, enable us to be more philosophical.

So there is something funny about this: bigger brains cause us to think more but think more about things that don't mean anything??

The problem is that philosophy has had different roles throughout history. First, it was used as a science (Greeks). Then, it was used as a religion (Middle Ages). Then, it was used as an adjunct to everything to clarify language and meaning (1800's). Then, it was justification for logical processes of science and math (early 1900's), then as a way to justify complete relativism (modern deconstructivism). Now of course these are not strict divisions, and philosophy has done all of these things at all times, but these were seen as the overall roles of philosophy in the human world.

Philosophy, in my mind, is the speculative logical weighing of things where evidence either does not yet exist, or cannot exist (teleology and metaphysics) and seeing the conclusions you reach. Philosophy is no more mental masturbation than exercise is physical masturbation... it prepares your mind for real problems where there is evidence and the answers matter. A better example of mental masturbation would be drugs and alcohol, making your mind feel good for no other purpose (usually).

 

[Batman Jr.]

This post could have gone either in this Philosophy forum, or in the science forum.

Anyway, people often say that philosophy is BS or mental masturbation, that it doesn't do anything, is worthless, etc. Well, I think our big brains, brought about by evolution, enable us to be more philosophical.

So there is something funny about this: bigger brains cause us to think more but think more about things that don't mean anything??

Then again, what actually does something? Our whole lives are pretty much pointless when we get down to it.

 

[Radrook]

This post could have gone either in this Philosophy forum, or in the science forum.

Anyway, people often say that philosophy is BS or mental masturbation, that it doesn't do anything, is worthless, etc. Well, I think our big brains, brought about by evolution, enable us to be more philosophical.

So there is something funny about this: bigger brains cause us to think more but think more about things that don't mean anything??

That is completely not so.
Philosophers and their philosophies have been instrumental in bringing about profound social change. Let me give two brief examples:


The Enlightened Philosophers brought about great social change which resulted in both the American and French Revolutions which worked to eradicate absolute monarchy from Europe and its American colonies.

The philosophy of Karl Marx with its focus on the exploitation of workers by those in control of production was influential in the emergence of communism which resulted in ideological cold war between the democracies and the communist governments of Red China and the Soviet Union for the better part of the last century.

Philosophy also provided the foundation for psychology psychology which borrowed from it extensively. The Freudian tripartide depiction of the mind with its id ego and superego for example is said to have been inspired by the tripartide Socratic depiction of the soul in which the appetites, the passions and reason were always vying for dominance.

So to say that philosophy doesn't do anything is really to say that one doesn't understand what philosophy really is all about.

 

[Iacchus]

This post could have gone either in this Philosophy forum, or in the science forum.

Anyway, people often say that philosophy is BS or mental masturbation, that it doesn't do anything, is worthless, etc. Well, I think our big brains, brought about by evolution, enable us to be more philosophical.

So there is something funny about this: bigger brains cause us to think more but think more about things that don't mean anything??

Certainly without a brain there would be no meaning would there? In which case we need to ask, is the brain merely manufacturing the meaning or, is it acknowledging the meaning which is already there? Or, perhaps both?

 

[T'ai Chi]

Re: Re: Brain size vs philosophy

So as we evolve more and probably get better brains, will we devote more or less time to philosophy and religion?

 

[Iacchus]

So as we evolve more and probably get better brains, will we devote more or less time to philosophy and religion?

Except that it seems we've always been predisposed towards philosophy and religion, at least for the last 10,000 years or so. And if anything if, in fact there's anything to it at all, we've lost sight of all of this. Hey, maybe we're just getting too big for our britches?

 

[Radrook]

This thread reminds me of an episode I viewed once on the program One Step Beyond. This fellow was supposedly undergoing self-induced evolutionary changes.


At first there was a slight forehead bulge, a receding hairline and an increase in IQ accompanied by this superior smug smirk of a smile on his evolutionized face as he waxed melodically about man's ignorance in reference to the profundities of reality.

Later, another evolutionary change caused his skull to become dome-like both upwards and sideways. He also became totally bald. His head was precariously perched on a pencil thin neck since the expected neck muscle reinforcements were obviously deemed unnecessary. He had now become cryptic to the point of untintelligibility and tended toward silence though his bearing was that of a god surveying ants.

Finally, the guy's head became really bloated and an assortment of bloated veins became plainly visible on his scalp. Also, his eyebrows slanted upwards and his earshad become pointed. Evolution also somehow saw fit to gift him with a long white satin robe.

Having nothing to say at this stage and maybe because his pencil thin neck was about to snap under the added stress and he needed to make a quick exit, he began to glow, extanded his thin frail arms sideways for a moment or two, and then went up to somewhere in a burst of shimmering glory never to be seen again.

Oh well.
Back to the drawing board!

LOL