I wrestle almost daily on the major questions of our lives. Like Charlie above, what do our lives mean in the big scheme of things? Is there an afterlife or is this it? Is the Universe chaos or managed by a Prime Mover? What is the best in a Bloody Mary, a pickle or meat stick? Do you go light or dark paint in a small room? Why do the Met's always suck?
The answer to those are: Everything, Yes, Yes, Meat Stick, both and the skinflint owners.
I like chewing on big questions, and I also like coming up with some semblance of a answer. Alcohol adds to the discussion. I do not like dangling questions any more than I like dangling participles or chads. At my age I best get as many questions answered as possible or they might be unanswered for eternity. How can I rest in peace when I'm undecided?
One of the things I learned in my philosophy classes is there is seldom a single answer to the big questions. For instance, as to the Bloody Mary question, there are variables: If you are serving a vegetarian then that colors the answer. And there are variables to every question, thus variables to every answer. Easy enough, right?
But you don't need philosophy credits to undergo questioning the big questions. Anyone can do it. It takes no advanced education or degrees. Questioning is fun, try it.
Ruminating on the Greatest Questions is easy. You don't need a diploma to do it. It is open to all. Here is how to do it:
1. Grab a beer or make a cocktail.
2. Think of a question.
3. Now pretend you are an Indian War Party and you have come up to a wagon train that has circled the wagons. (apologies to Indians and a weak stereotype)
4. Ride your horse around the train looking for a weakness, like the stereotype above. What this exercise does is make you look at all sides of the issue.
5. Now, after looking at all sides of the issue, try to turn it inside out. This step is nothing more than simply turbo-thinking. See it as more like common sense on steroids. You'll recognize it when it happens. In fact, you may even utter "Eureka!" I worked with two very good inside-outers, Jeff and Rebecca. I'm still in awe at their abilities.
6. Now come up with a reasonable way of looking at it, and believe me, after all this you will see a solution, then apply your own ethics and morality to it. This adds a layer of strength to your reasoning.
7. Take a swig of beer or drink your Bloody Mary.
8. Sit and mull.
9. Take another swig of whatever you have.
10. You have now come up with an authentic and reasoned philosophical treatise. It is no better or worse than all of the other philosophers throughout history.
My academic success is because I chose to study a field with no answers. One of these days I might grab one of my old bluebooks and prove it isn't the strength of the mind that makes a philosopher, it is the strength of the BS.
But there is one question I can't answer. It is beyond my powers of comprehension. It resides somewhere between the Great Unknowable and the Forever Unfathomable.
How can you hit an 87 mile an hour breaking ball?
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