Maybe nobody owns anybody. Maybe we don't even own ourselves. It's not transactional or quid pro quo or tit for tat. Don't give anything to anybody just share. Don't sacrifice expecting something in return just share. Granted there will be those who believe they have received something, that they own a part of you, that they have taken a part of you, that it is theirs now and not yours. But such people are delusional. They walk away empty handed and out of touch with reality. Granted there are so many delusional people out there reinforcing each others delusions, the majority even, but that makes them no less delusional. There is no give and take transaction to be bargained and haggled over, to be cheated out of or to take. There is only sharing and not sharing. Everything else is a delusion.

Yeah I think there's a little bit of a hospital here too, an apothecary, a therapist. Sometimes we are looking for a cure for ourselves, sometimes for someone else and generally the later implies the former.

This all reminds me of a short song I wrote a while back:

Open to suggestions on that bridge part. Just pay attention to the meter.

:shifty: Maybe we have to start to live up to our Names. Philosophy comes in all sort & sizes. As long as we don't harm the general public. Raising the Philosophers Stone (silicate) we could be Djin. We need Guidance. Not Guru X or SO.

Humanistics might be a way... In-corporating Wisdom in Daily life !

Hence the phrase, "Less is More."

Hence the phrase, "Less is More."

Yes, well, Einstein said 'things should be a simple as possible - but no simpler'.

Reminds me of an old joke. A guy I knew did a speed reading course. Some time later, he read the whole of War and Peace in a single sitting. 'It's about Russia', he said.

Sir Thomas More comes to mind. Very well intentioned yet in the end a head shorter than the rest of us.:detective:

I joined IN THE LAST HOUR to find real philosophical discussions that I cannot hold with my friends. To see if I belong in the world of philosophy or if I am merely an interested amateur. I have much reading to do but guidance would be greatly appreciated.

A lecturer I once had, Dr. Buffacci in U.C.C - Ireland, once said that philosophy is something you do. You discuss and debate philosophy. That is what I am here to do. It's a shame that I am more socially inept on the internet than I am in person.

I joined IN THE LAST HOUR to find real philosophical discussions that I cannot hold with my friends. To see if I belong in the world of philosophy or if I am merely an interested amateur. I have much reading to do but guidance would be greatly appreciated.

A lecturer I once had, Dr. Buffacci in U.C.C - Ireland, once said that philosophy is something you do. You discuss and debate philosophy. That is what I am here to do. It's a shame that I am more socially inept on the internet than I am in person.

Guidance is external compass, are you here to lead or to follow? both professions philosophy will teach and learn from your example.

Do you wish me to leave and perhaps return someday when I feel I am adequate enough to join the discussion?

I can't say I completely understand the question. I am here to to educate myself and participate when I can or when I feel it is necessary.

I have done half a year of philosophy in college and dropped out due to my own incompetence. Recently I have felt I would like to return to college and pursue studying philosophy once again. I have a BASIC knowledge of moral theory and existentialism, provided by my course reader, and I am currently interested in the works of Ayn Rand and Alan Watts. I wish to explore further and find my niche.

You say guidance is external compass. Do you wish me to leave and perhaps return someday when I feel I am adequate enough to join the discussion?

That may be read as if I were angry but I assure you it is an honest question.

Things are pretty easy-going on this Forum. There are people with a wide range of training, skills and experience, from very little up to a great deal. So I wouldn't fret about that. You seem to take care to express yourself and write clearly, that counts for a lot straight up!

Ayn Rand and Alan Watts eh? Now there's an odd couple if ever I saw one.:bigsmile: