a question...
that everyone should ask themselves at some point in their lives at the very least. i find myself asking it more often than not. who am i?
getting past the obvious. human being. having reason, or having a higher factuality than beasts. getting past all these "givens" that we know about ourselves. i don't want to play games of linguistics here. but what makes you, you?
i used to answer this question in the way that moses maimonides answered the question of god in his guide to the perplexed. you can't define god in terms of what he is, but rather what he is not. the short of it being your mind is a limited thing, and it can't conceive an unlimited thing. also, you are putting restrictions on a unlimited things. how can you do that? this is the same line of reasoning that i used to answer "who am i?" i answered by stating what i was not. not what i am.
i was called once over the summer a cyclist. i said that i wasn't. there was surprise. just because i have a couple of bikes. i ride. often. but did that make me a cyclist? so begs the question...what does it take to be considered a cyclist? let me make this parallel...we all do mathematical computations? simple addition. subtraction. figuring out sales tax. a tip at the end of a meal. square foot of an area. does this make you a mathematician? no. in the same way i didn't consider myself a cyclist. i own. i ride. do some minor repairs. as this summer progressed i've noticed something. where my mind was going. if i wasn't on a bike i was thinking about the next time i would be. magazines liter the house. more bikes have been acquired. things need to be done to them. everything that i am able to do in my power i will do. becoming self sufficient. doing it myself. this also brings up a notion that my father has often said. just because you drive a hot rod doesn't make you a hot rodder. (i'm not sure this term is correct). my father builds and works on his cars. for my father one of the keys to being a hot rodder is that you build, and work on them. you don't pay someone to build and take care of, and just drive it around. it becomes a part of you.
i am able to say that cycling has become a part of me. i am a cyclist. it has infected my life. i'm constantly thinking about it. reading about it. being involved in it. (secret plans to come) when did i admit this to myself? my recent trip to a book store. i picked up a cycling mag., and a book called bicycle by david v. herlihy. it is a book on the history of the cycle. the clerk asked if i was a cyclist. i said with pride, yes. which in turn made me realize that i am. not so much saying 'yes' to just move on and get out of the store, but how and the feeling that i said it with made me understand. i am a cyclist. i am so involved in it. i'm getting out of my racingness, because that's not why i began to ride in the first place. i admit that i don't have the racing streak in me. but that doesn't make me less of a cyclist. again going back to one of my other spots...we all specialize in our things.
however this all brings up another question...why didn't the clerk ask if i was a philosopher? i also picked up a book on mathematical logic, and rudy rucker's book "the lifebox, the seashell, and the soul." a couple of weeks ago i picked up a couple of philosophy books, so why not ask that question of me? well, i think that becomes obvious. many people don't know what to make of that. i take no offense.
i am a philosopher. in the most strict sense. in the greek; philosophy means "lover of wisdom." i do. keep in mind though the difference between wisdom and knowledge. plato made this distinction. however, this is another wave for another ocean. see where you surf.
speaking of books...i just finished yann martel's "life of pi." great book. highly recommended. about a boy who finds himself on a lifeboat with a bengal tiger. good read.
to recap...i am a philosopher. i am a cyclist. you are what you are when it takes hold of you. it becomes a part of you. your existence. more than just a hobby.
happy national slaughter turkey day...
getting past the obvious. human being. having reason, or having a higher factuality than beasts. getting past all these "givens" that we know about ourselves. i don't want to play games of linguistics here. but what makes you, you?
i used to answer this question in the way that moses maimonides answered the question of god in his guide to the perplexed. you can't define god in terms of what he is, but rather what he is not. the short of it being your mind is a limited thing, and it can't conceive an unlimited thing. also, you are putting restrictions on a unlimited things. how can you do that? this is the same line of reasoning that i used to answer "who am i?" i answered by stating what i was not. not what i am.
i was called once over the summer a cyclist. i said that i wasn't. there was surprise. just because i have a couple of bikes. i ride. often. but did that make me a cyclist? so begs the question...what does it take to be considered a cyclist? let me make this parallel...we all do mathematical computations? simple addition. subtraction. figuring out sales tax. a tip at the end of a meal. square foot of an area. does this make you a mathematician? no. in the same way i didn't consider myself a cyclist. i own. i ride. do some minor repairs. as this summer progressed i've noticed something. where my mind was going. if i wasn't on a bike i was thinking about the next time i would be. magazines liter the house. more bikes have been acquired. things need to be done to them. everything that i am able to do in my power i will do. becoming self sufficient. doing it myself. this also brings up a notion that my father has often said. just because you drive a hot rod doesn't make you a hot rodder. (i'm not sure this term is correct). my father builds and works on his cars. for my father one of the keys to being a hot rodder is that you build, and work on them. you don't pay someone to build and take care of, and just drive it around. it becomes a part of you.
i am able to say that cycling has become a part of me. i am a cyclist. it has infected my life. i'm constantly thinking about it. reading about it. being involved in it. (secret plans to come) when did i admit this to myself? my recent trip to a book store. i picked up a cycling mag., and a book called bicycle by david v. herlihy. it is a book on the history of the cycle. the clerk asked if i was a cyclist. i said with pride, yes. which in turn made me realize that i am. not so much saying 'yes' to just move on and get out of the store, but how and the feeling that i said it with made me understand. i am a cyclist. i am so involved in it. i'm getting out of my racingness, because that's not why i began to ride in the first place. i admit that i don't have the racing streak in me. but that doesn't make me less of a cyclist. again going back to one of my other spots...we all specialize in our things.
however this all brings up another question...why didn't the clerk ask if i was a philosopher? i also picked up a book on mathematical logic, and rudy rucker's book "the lifebox, the seashell, and the soul." a couple of weeks ago i picked up a couple of philosophy books, so why not ask that question of me? well, i think that becomes obvious. many people don't know what to make of that. i take no offense.
i am a philosopher. in the most strict sense. in the greek; philosophy means "lover of wisdom." i do. keep in mind though the difference between wisdom and knowledge. plato made this distinction. however, this is another wave for another ocean. see where you surf.
speaking of books...i just finished yann martel's "life of pi." great book. highly recommended. about a boy who finds himself on a lifeboat with a bengal tiger. good read.
to recap...i am a philosopher. i am a cyclist. you are what you are when it takes hold of you. it becomes a part of you. your existence. more than just a hobby.
happy national slaughter turkey day...
posted by hamad at
Monday, November 21, 2005
2 Comments:
Liked today's post--posts like this are why I keep shutting down my own blog. Good thoughtful and thought-provoking stuff. Which is why you're a philospoher and I'm just some dude who read some books. Keep it up.
a philosopher doesn't mean a degree. it just means that i paid a university a lot of money to get a piece of paper. maybe i've read more books in the philosophical sense, but there are others who are able to read the same amount and more who have the same understanding. its the ideas, not the paper. plato believed that we all have an innate nature. specific to us. so who i am is not a piece of paper, but my nature. my inner being. we have had many a conversation. my only "skill" is that i may be able to lead the conversation and direct it in a direction through logic, not philosophy. remember: wisdom is philosophy, not knowledge.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home