The question often comes up in my thoughts: What makes a philosophical mind what it is? Or put another way: What creates wisdom? The debate of nurture-or-nature can only lead to an admission that both participate in the creation of a human being to some varying unspecific degree. Genetics certainly determine the potentials of every being but the environment decides where on the scales of potential a human being weighs in. I may have the potential to become 7 feet tall but an environment with poor nourishment or a childhood accident or illness may force me to only become 6 feet tall. The more interesting question is: What characteristics combine to lead to a greater degree of awareness? As I’ve written in another essay [‘Human Judgement’], wisdom is the combination of intelligence [analytical ability], knowledge [second hand experience], personal experiences [first hand experience] and, most importantly of all, courage [intellectual integrity]. But these characteristics are not enough, by themselves, to create wisdom. An environment full of challenges and diversity, to ensure the emergence of cognitive fortitude, is essential as well. A mind existing in relative safety and contentment inevitably becomes pampered and gullible, as we all know in our western culture, for intelligence and its product wisdom, is a result of need more than anything else. Yet ironically, leisure is also essential in focusing the mind on subjects other than personal survival and the demands of the physical world. So, I suspect that a perfect balance between a demanding life and one containing some leisure is necessary to shape a flexible mind but not even this is enough to explain why wisdom is found in one person and not in another given a similarity in genetic and environmental conditions. An added factor to be considered is the hypersensitivity or hyperawareness of particular individuals to a greater degree of sensual input. This idea that perception of detail leads to a deeper understanding of ones surroundings is burdened with the ‘chicken or egg’ dilemma: Is sensual hypersensitivity [awareness of details] the cause of intelligence, given the increase of information needing processing or is intelligence the cause of hypersensitivity, given that a higher intelligence is not content with superficial interpretations and facades but searches for information that will go beneath surfaces to the core of the perception? [Here we can find the roots of scepticism due to the inability of a mind to tie up all the loos ends a hypersensitive perception is asked to consider forcing it to doubt its own perceptions.] The before mentioned hypersensitivity has an interesting social consequence as well. In individuals, where deeper awareness is detrimental to their well-being because of a lack of courage to accept what the mind perceives or because of some other psychological ailment, it can lead to insanity, suicide or isolation [the nerd effect]; it can also lead to spirituality, fragility, religion, and a complete denial of what is perceived; the mind will do anything to survive, even lie to itself or grab onto any hope. Here a distinction must be made between delusion created through ignorance or an absence of perceptive depth [The vast majority of mankind] and delusion created through perceptive depth and denial or dissatisfaction with what is perceived [Usually found amongst intellectuals that have experienced a loss or a tragedy, that have reached old age, that have faced their own mortality and vulnerability in some way or have come to realize that science and philosophy only lead to more questions and few answers. These sometimes refer to themselves as ‘born again’, when they return to Christian spirituality, but more often find solace in more mature spiritual outlets, such as eastern philosophies {Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism etc} and new age mysticism]. In these cases hypersensitivity often turns to fragility and forces the individual to become an outcast from the environment it finds itself in, coming across to others as bizarre, weird or eccentric, as compared to the average mind, and sometimes forcing the individual to become an exile from life itself; either by motivating the individual to escape disillusionment and dissatisfaction through death or the denial of living [Nihilism, Pessimism, Buddhism, Christianity] or through social isolation, solitude and extreme asceticism. This disillusionment or seclusion is felt by all hypersensitive minds to some degree. It is hard to participate in environments, whether natural or artificial, when a deeper understanding or awareness of their underlying mechanisms is perceived and it is also difficult to remain interested and engaged in environments that lack substance or that hide superficial ulterior motives. For example a simple average mind may find the game of ‘Monopoly’ engaging and meaningful enough to spend a lifetime playing it but to a deeper thinker the simplicity of the game quickly loses meaning and interest in the playing of it wanes as interest in the underpinnings of the rules and the predictability of the die rolls or the psychologies of the players involved becomes more interesting than winning or losing. Then the game ceases to be fun or something to judge yourself by and the mechanics become more fascinating; the chances of landing on specific squares, the determining factors on who wins and who loses, the coloration schemes of the board, the psychological tricks practiced by the players to increase winning potential, the interpersonal playing dynamics, the balance of the game itself and so on. This is when the player removes himself/herself from the game itself and becomes a disinterested objective observer of it even while he/she may be participating in it. Now replace the game of ‘Monopoly’ with the game of life and you see the beginning of intellectual distance and apathy. Another metaphor: Heightened awareness is like a sensitive lens that is able to absorb much more information than a less sensitive lens is and so risks destruction with every perception. Many misinterpret this heightened sensitivity as fragility because they themselves are not aware of the multitude of information a hypersensitive mind is burdened with as compared to what they are aware of. A blind lens will be oblivious to a sudden sharp light and will perceive the more sensitive lenses reaction to it as a result of exaggeration or fragility. Nevertheless I have concluded that intelligence, knowledge, experience and courage when added to an environment full of diversity, challenge and leisure are crucial for the emergence of wisdom that results in a hypersensitivity to detail that may lead to fragility or empowerment depending on the psychological strength of the individual. How wisdom is used is determined by individual interests yet the common direct consequence of heightened awareness is a relative amount of isolation caused by the difficulty of being understood by individuals that lack the depth to comprehend where you are coming from, an inability to participate in mundane superficial social/religious/cultural practices to the degree that average minds do, a spiritual uniqueness caused by a resentment of popular, conforming attitudes that mimic each other and a desire to control rather than to be controlled.
Wow. That was a mouthful. You might getter more responses if you break it up so it's a little more legible.
Sure, if your attention span is below that of a fruit fly here it is again: The question often comes up in my thoughts:What makes a philosophical mind what it is? Or put another way:What creates wisdom? The debate of nurture-or-nature can only lead to an admission that both participate in the creation of a human being to some varying unspecific degree. Genetics certainly determine the potentials of every being but the environment decides where on the scales of potential a human being weighs in. I may have the potential to become 7 feet tall but an environment with poor nourishment or a childhood accident or illness may force me to only become 6 feet tall. The more interesting question is: What characteristics combine to lead to a greater degree of awareness? As I’ve written in another essay [‘Human Judgement’], wisdom is the combination of intelligence [analytical ability], knowledge [second hand experience], personal experiences [first hand experience] and, most importantly of all, courage [intellectual integrity]. But these characteristics are not enough, by themselves, to create wisdom. An environment full of challenges and diversity, to ensure the emergence of cognitive fortitude, is essential as well. A mind existing in relative safety and contentment inevitably becomes pampered and gullible, as we all know in our western culture, for intelligence and its product wisdom, is a result of need more than anything else. Yet ironically, leisure is also essential in focusing the mind on subjects other than personal survival and the demands of the physical world. So, I suspect that a perfect balance between a demanding life and one containing some leisure is necessary to shape a flexible mind but not even this is enough to explain why wisdom is found in one person and not in another given a similarity in genetic and environmental conditions. An added factor to be considered is the hypersensitivity or hyperawareness of particular individuals to a greater degree of sensual input. This idea that perception of detail leads to a deeper understanding of ones surroundings is burdened with the ‘chicken or egg’ dilemma: Is sensual hypersensitivity [awareness of details] the cause of intelligence, given the increase of information needing processing or is intelligence the cause of hypersensitivity, given that a higher intelligence is not content with superficial interpretations and facades but searches for information that will go beneath surfaces to the core of the perception? [Here we can find the roots of scepticism due to the inability of a mind to tie up all the loos ends a hypersensitive perception is asked to consider forcing it to doubt its own perceptions.] The before mentioned hypersensitivity has an interesting social consequence as well. In individuals, where deeper awareness is detrimental to their well-being because of a lack of courage to accept what the mind perceives or because of some other psychological ailment, it can lead to insanity, suicide or isolation [the nerd effect]; it can also lead to spirituality, fragility, religion, and a complete denial of what is perceived; the mind will do anything to survive, even lie to itself or grab onto any hope. Here a distinction must be made between delusion created through ignorance or an absence of perceptive depth [The vast majority of mankind] and delusion created through perceptive depth and denial or dissatisfaction with what is perceived [Usually found amongst intellectuals that have experienced a loss or a tragedy, that have reached old age, that have faced their own mortality and vulnerability in some way or have come to realize that science and philosophy only lead to more questions and few answers. These sometimes refer to themselves as ‘born again’, when they return to Christian spirituality, but more often find solace in more mature spiritual outlets, such as eastern philosophies {Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism etc} and new age mysticism]. In these cases hypersensitivity often turns to fragility and forces the individual to become an outcast from the environment it finds itself in, coming across to others as bizarre, weird or eccentric, as compared to the average mind, and sometimes forcing the individual to become an exile from life itself; either by motivating the individual to escape disillusionment and dissatisfaction through death or the denial of living [Nihilism, Pessimism, Buddhism, Christianity] or through social isolation, solitude and extreme asceticism. This disillusionment or seclusion is felt by all hypersensitive minds to some degree. It is hard to participate in environments, whether natural or artificial, when a deeper understanding or awareness of their underlying mechanisms is perceived and it is also difficult to remain interested and engaged in environments that lack substance or that hide superficial ulterior motives. For example a simple average mind may find the game of ‘Monopoly’ engaging and meaningful enough to spend a lifetime playing it but to a deeper thinker the simplicity of the game quickly loses meaning and interest in the playing of it wanes as interest in the underpinnings of the rules and the predictability of the die rolls or the psychologies of the players involved becomes more interesting than winning or losing. Then the game ceases to be fun or something to judge yourself by and the mechanics become more fascinating; the chances of landing on specific squares, the determining factors on who wins and who loses, the coloration schemes of the board, the psychological tricks practiced by the players to increase winning potential, the interpersonal playing dynamics, the balance of the game itself and so on. This is when the player removes himself/herself from the game itself and becomes a disinterested objective observer of it even while he/she may be participating in it. Now replace the game of ‘Monopoly’ with the game of life and you see the beginning of intellectual distance and apathy. Another metaphor: Heightened awareness is like a sensitive lens that is able to absorb much more information than a less sensitive lens is and so risks destruction with every perception. Many misinterpret this heightened sensitivity as fragility because they themselves are not aware of the multitude of information a hypersensitive mind is burdened with as compared to what they are aware of. A blind lens will be oblivious to a sudden sharp light and will perceive the more sensitive lenses reaction to it as a result of exaggeration or fragility. Nevertheless I have concluded that intelligence, knowledge, experience and courage when added to an environment full of diversity, challenge and leisure are crucial for the emergence of wisdom that results in a hypersensitivity to detail that may lead to fragility or empowerment depending on the psychological strength of the individual. How wisdom is used is determined by individual interests yet the common direct consequence of heightened awareness is a relative amount of isolation caused by the difficulty of being understood by individuals that lack the depth to comprehend where you are coming from, an inability to participate in mundane superficial social/religious/cultural practices to the degree that average minds do, a spiritual uniqueness caused by a resentment of popular, conforming attitudes that mimic each other and a desire to control rather than to be controlled.
I thought wisdom was just the search for truth and attaining that knowledge. For instance, I meet person A and think he/she is an asshole and all of thier tribe are as well as they have traits they share and think group B and C are better. Then I have the same experience with B and C and realize my original assumption or value judgement was off from lack of experience. What wisdom I gained was not the group's traits that differed but the traits they shared partly highlighting my one-sided perspective and that indeed they all shared the particular trait which I deemed to one group. As for other traits that may not be the case. But then again, there are those who think nonobjectively as they step off the platform and will never be aware on a level that they could. Wisdom takes an honest approach and mind which may be impossible with some people if they are looking to confirm a nursed belief. Some people are fine and satisfied with this approach. They are hardwired that way. The trait that all groups shared was simply the capacity for 'evil'. Now it may be true that the style may be different or expression and many people erroneously misjudge style as an indication of an intent or capacity. An animal housed in bars and space so small it's unable to barely turn around, it eats off a metal trough like clockwork and it's babies are separated by bars and allowed access to mother only for feeding, the baby's natural instinct is to be with mother and will seek her out wimpering in nonunderstanding as it's unnatural, no sunlight, no light, cement all around it for it's entire life being driven insane by loneliness and boredom is no less evil than another animal considered a pet killed by a different practice. It seems one is worse than another but it's really just a tradeoff technically.
Pretty interesting. But Satyr/wanderer, it is a mouthfull. It's like an entire essay for christs sake; you won't get too much debate unless someone were to seriously consider some of its applications!! Hypersensitivity is a good name, sure; and that of what the individual is capalbe of, etc; sure. But what is the point of it; or do I actually have to read the entire frikkin essay and attempt a more elaborate response?
