How do you get so "smart"

[ollagram88]

I greatly admire how well-versed some people here are in a wide variety of subjects. In particular, I was wondering how one goes about having a strong foundation in philosophy, logic, and generally all classical thought. There are so many interesting things out there to learn about but all of my incredibly limited understanding comes from reading ABOUT them, not actual works. I could go on wikipedia for days and scan topic to topic of all sorts of philosophies and theories and works but I've never really wet my feet in ACTUAL works.

Were many of you philosophy majors? Is philosophy just one of your huge hobbies? Do you just normally read a bunch of classic works?

I actually have an entire Great Books collection library at home. Would tackling some of these books be a good start? It seems like an awfully daunting task to pick up some old book and start reading it, expecting to get the same knowledge and way of thinking I would get from a structured learning environment (i.e., college).

What would be a good start or introduction to philosophy and classic western thought? Do I have any alternatives besides classes, because I'm already going to be a third-year college student and it's going to be difficult to squeeze in extra classes. Any good webpages, essays, or books I should look into?

Also, if anyone has any input for Eastern philosophy (including Buddhism), I am willing to hear suggestions on how to start on that as well.

Thanks.

[realthinker]

I greatly admire how well-versed some people here are in a wide variety of subjects. In particular, I was wondering how one goes about having a strong foundation in philosophy, logic, and generally all classical thought. There are so many interesting things out there to learn about but all of my incredibly limited understanding comes from reading ABOUT them, not actual works. I could go on wikipedia for days and scan topic to topic of all sorts of philosophies and theories and works but I've never really wet my feet in ACTUAL works.

Were many of you philosophy majors? Is philosophy just one of your huge hobbies? Do you just normally read a bunch of classic works?

I actually have an entire Great Books collection library at home. Would tackling some of these books be a good start? It seems like an awfully daunting task to pick up some old book and start reading it, expecting to get the same knowledge and way of thinking I would get from a structured learning environment (i.e., college).

What would be a good start or introduction to philosophy and classic western thought? Do I have any alternatives besides classes, because I'm already going to be a third-year college student and it's going to be difficult to squeeze in extra classes. Any good webpages, essays, or books I should look into?

Also, if anyone has any input for Eastern philosophy (including Buddhism), I am willing to hear suggestions on how to start on that as well.

Thanks.

There are indeed a number of fine examples posting on this forum. One aspect of the most admirable you'll often recognize is precision. We are dealing with a topic that has a lot of loosely defined ideas, a lot of words that mean exactly what the user may wish them to mean. Being able to state clearly, accurately, and precisely what one wishes to convey can short cut a lot of the opposition to one's point of view. With that in mind, spend at least a little time on grammar. Keep a dictionary on hand. Spend time refining your thoughts before you get to the keyboard.

That's the easy part, actually. To prepare in general, try to use rigor in your every day thinking. If you ever find yourself saying, "You know" or "you know what I mean", it usually means someone might not. Pull those thoughts back that lead to such a follow up, and set it right before going on.

Sometimes it's good to break a statement down into semantic components. For example, if you find yourself saying, "I like X", break that down to say, "X has these attributes. This appeals to me because . . ." You start to understand deeper such a word as "like". To "like" something is to appreciate certain attributes of an object. With such simple exercises you'll find you can go much deeper into your thoughts than most find the need to do in every day life.

For what it's worth, I've been in the software business for more than fifteen years. Much of it I've spent as an analyst, working to understand business problems and translating those into software requirements. It's my job, in one sense, to find the hidden meaning behind very simple-sounding statements that make a software developer's job a nightmare.

One of the most enlightening things I do for my customers is to explain to them what a "problem" is. It's a condition that keeps someone from fulfilling their responsibility. To fix their problem we have to understand their responsibilities, describe the conditions, and do something that changes or overcomes those conditions. It's simple when you say it that way, but not many people understand "problems" that way.

[daedalus 2.0]

I greatly admire how well-versed some people here are in a wide variety of subjects. In particular, I was wondering how one goes about having a strong foundation in philosophy, logic, and generally all classical thought. .

I don't know the background of most people here but this is what I have seen that seems to work for the people that I admire:

Put your whole effort into honestly expressing your current beliefs and then honestly accept that they may be wrong, but fight for them.

Make your argument as strong as possible. If there is a weakness in your argument, you either find a way to shore it up, or accept you are in error.

The people who are really good at this understand both sides of the debate intimately - not just regurgitate chapter and verse, and the current Apologetics.

[Jester]

Personally, I think we should incorporate debating as a teaching tool in educational settings. It would at least keep students awake when the students are screaming at each other.

That is brilliant.
And to that end, I'm wondering if might be a good idea to add an "academics" debating area to the site. I know it's off our central theme, but thought I'd ask what everyone thinks.

So, what does everyone think?

[Zzyzx]

.

Personally, I think we should incorporate debating as a teaching tool in educational settings. It would at least keep students awake when the students are screaming at each other.

That is brilliant.
And to that end, I'm wondering if might be a good idea to add an "academics" debating area to the site. I know it's off our central theme, but thought I'd ask what everyone thinks.

So, what does everyone think?

I agree with the idea in general. What description of such a sub-forum might be appropriate?

[daedalus 2.0]

Teach everyone to interact like lawyers? Hmmm.....

I like the spirit of the idea. I think the biggest thing would be to teach logic and especially fallacies.

Kids would love yelling out "Straw Man!" or "Red Herring!" or "Argument ad Antiquiem!"

I only think it (logic and reason) should be taught as a separate class. I think it might be detrimental for kids coming into poerty, art or music classes loaded for bear...

[ollagram88]

thank you everyone for your input, it is greatly appreciated. it seems that the answer is both a combination of education and personal drive/acquired knowledge. i'll look into the books, sites, and ideas given sometime... thanks.