A Controversial Point of View

[madnak]

There is one core assumption that virtually everyone is making in the .999~ thread. That assumption is dead wrong.

Also, this assumption is why David Sklansky's thinking is muddled.

Philosophy >>>>>>> practical applications. A philosopher or scientist is to an engineer as an engineer is to a robot or computer. Being able to follow a particular procedure doesn't indicate understanding of a subject. Being able to memorize formulas doesn't indicate understanding of mathematics.

It's true that some useful formulas and theorems have been derived from processes rather than insights - but the most powerful principles (in mathematics and elsewhere) were created through philosophy.

Philosophy is sometimes defined based on its etymology as "love of wisdom." It's sometimes defined based on classical or academic groupings. It's sometimes described as a "relative" thing. I will clarify here that I mean philosohy in the original sense, and in the basic sense that's applied throughout all cultures. Philosophy is a drive to understand. Those who possess such a drive will be inherently attracted to the things we label "philosophy." And, while most scholars, academics, scientists, and other "learned" people will claim such a desire, only a very few of them will actually possess it.

This is much more important than David's high-IQ concern in terms of significant genius. It's also much more important than the ability to solve partial differential equations (although I imagine everyone in this category can learn to do so). Personally, I don't suggest elitism - but if elitism is justified, then it's justified only as it applies to the philosophers. They're the ones, in fact, who represent all three of the unique human attributes - imagination, communication, and understanding.

"A finely tempered nature longs to escape from personal life into the world of objective perception and thought; this desire may be compared with the townsman's irresistible longing to escape from his noisy, cramped surroundings into the silence of high mountains, where the eye ranges freely through the still, pure air and fondly traces out the restful contours apparently built for eternity."

- Albert Einstein