Why do some people want to fly higher?

[polymath]

In the novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach tells a story about a seagull who is interested in flying high, unlike other seagulls who see their flying ability just as an instrumental value, an ability that makes finding food easier.

We humans can't fly, but we have the gift of intelligence far greater than any other living being on earth. Like the seagulls use their flying ability, most people use their intellect only as a tool that makes it easier to do their everyday work and afford their everyday (boring) life.

Then again there are people who see intellectual thought as an intrinsic value, 'end in itself'. These people are the 'philosophers', who want to find the ultimate truth instead of just concentrating on everyday mundane matters. Only a small percentage of people belong to this group, the rest don't have the intuitive ability to grasp philosophical questions.

What is the reason that only some rare people are 'philosophers'? Also, why do some people with the ability for high-flying imagination become monstrous personalities like Adolf Hitler or the terrorists Unabomber and Anders Breivik, instead of creating something positive?

 

[Lost Ego]

Perhaps because u can't do anything with a degree in philosophy except for go mad lol

 

[thujone]

i dunno about this Anders fella but both Hitler and Kaczynski went thru traumatic childhoods. Hitler focused his Jew hatred during WWI while he laid in a hospital temporarily blind. Kaczynski was victimized (IIRC) by land developers and thought that it was all of us (society) who are insane for progressing the way we are and destroying our natural environment for the almighty buck. Can't say I disagree with him, his manifesto laid out a lot of shit that makes a lot of sense.

i think that when we're deeply hurt by events outside of our control it's only human to feel the anger and want some kind of retribution. Unabomber has an Einsteinian IQ, and Hitler had untouchable charisma, and they felt like they could use these superior traits to deliver the retribution that most people just think about for a while before accepting that it's just a part of life.

It's sad that these men were brilliant enough to develop a clear image of what the shortcomings in humanity are, and yet were immature enough to think divesting themselves of their own humanity would help them change us. All they've accomplished in the end was strengthening humanity's resolve against hatred, and maybe that's a noble end in itself, but we still struggle today it's just a different struggle.

Personally, I don't think highly of people who consider themselves sophists. Probably that's my disillusionment speaking (I was majoring in Philosophy before dropping out of university) but it seems to me like any truth worth discovering is not a solitary pursuit but one that incorporates all of humanity. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are probably the most widely-revered philosophers on every continent and they always framed their thoughts with all of humanity in mind. They lectured in public for anyone who would listen and founded schools for all kinds of studies. I think the reason we don't see that shit happening these days is because people who are truly intelligent soon develop a disdain for society and eventually the search for the truth becomes a solitary pursuit because the people around them don't seem to understand or even care about issues that they believe are deeply important.

Epilogue: thanks to the internet people are able to connect with like-minded people who give a shit about the same issues. With the increasing commercialization of the web and government plots to exert some form of control over it, I wonder if this generation won't see the rise of another Kaczynski; commiting violence to express our collective anger about the injustice of denying people knowledge because it's politically inconvenient or simply unprofitable. Or maybe instead we will find a messiah who can address our anger and catalyze change without abandoning humanity in the process.

 

[polymath]

I've always liked Plato's idea that mankind should be ruled by 'philosopher-kings'. Unfortunately, the 'philosophers' are as prone to be morally evil or corrupt as any human being is, which ruins this idea. Hitler is one example.

 

[sidthesloth]

Nietzsche - Beyond good and evil.
He has many thoughts about this, very good read. NEVER take Nietzsche too seriously, he is a madman.

 

[-=SS=-]

I've always liked Plato's idea that mankind should be ruled by 'philosopher-kings'. Unfortunately, the 'philosophers' are as prone to be morally evil or corrupt as any human being is, which ruins this idea. Hitler is one example.

Inherent paradox in this. The true Philosophers, the Enlightened men, would never dare to play God and direct mankind. They know there is no place in this and it will ultimately give rise to exactly the same problems as before, and that the only solution is to point men in the direction of discovering the Truth themselves.

 

[Hear Me Roar]

Everyone has the capability to be a philosopher. They just don't know it. They're to subdued by the fancy intrinsic materialistic objects and fictional goals society has set for us. We all want something more, imagine something more. We all know there is something more. But many don't want to graze in different pastures, when the grass is already green. For some, thinking about what could be, should be, maybe and what is, is pointless. Ultimately, it achieves diddly squat, except make us feel a little closer to something more real. In my world, death is the meaning of life, so I will do everything to gain physical stimulation, until I transcend to higher plane. We only live once.

 

[thujone]

^ agreed! We are so consumed with what we are told we need that we oft forget what we really do need.

 

[Hear Me Roar]

In a way, life is so complicated, yet so simple at the same time. An it doesn't matter whether you view it as being complex (Philosopher), or simple (the average human). Because whether you do or don't, you ultimately achieve nothing, yet change someone else's view, on a subjective society which in essence, doesn't exist except for in the minds of those who believe it. Life is physical, we feel it. So to me, to enjoy life, is to feel. An feeling isn't all about knowing. So to me a philosopher or not a philosopher doesn't matter. Because I will and always will, know nothing. Which in a way relates to Rene Descartes, the french philosophers view.