A layman's definition of Philosophy would be it's etymological meaning: the love for wisdom.Philosophy has been a subject associated with ancient Greeks and Romans. Often, it is thought of as a field that engages in extremely complex thoughts and abstract ideas, which perhaps is only partially true.As we shall see, philosophy could as well be a way of life based on particular values.Based on this, how useful is philosophy today?

Of Philosophy 

We see that philosophy dates back to ancient Greeks. Later on, the Romans also laid hands on the subject and practiced a great deal of philosophy.The nature of philosophy itself, a venture of asking questions about the universe we live in, the life we live and nearly everything conceivable to human mind, makes one ask the question: In an era where information is at the tap of buttons, do we need philosophy?It may seem quite reasonable that in the ancient Greek and Roman era, philosophy was important in generating information and acquiring knowledge.

Do We Need Philosophy Today?

Google a simple question, and you will get a billion hits. Open an app on your phone and you will be welcomed to a sea of ideas and information. Why would we need to think deeply about anything right now?Well, I think philosophy is as important now as it was in the ancient Greek times. One needs to think clearly amidst suffocating information load. It is necessary to cut through this information load with a critical mind. The basic questions of philosophy on what is true and what is not, what is real and what is not may be very much applicable now to dissect information now

Philosophy In Information-Saturated Era

Misinformation is now rampant. Anyone can wake up and write whatever they think without any grain of truth or with plain falsity and it would be shared widely in an easy manner. So, today, we perhaps need philosophy to cut through such loads of misinformation by subjecting that misinformation to the critical eye of philosophy.

Using Philosophy To Combat Misinformation 

Perhaps another need for philosophy now is that the world with its easily accessible information has become challenging to cope with. We are bombarded with information that challenges the reality and meaning of our own existence.A person who thinks is not making enough of his or her life might question that life seeing how others post of their achievements and how much their lives are a success.One who applies philosophy might, in this scenario, ask the basic question "What is it I have in my life that is success?" Perhaps, that very existence is itself a success.

Philosophy As A Way Of Life In A Fast-paced World 

Philosophy may not necessarily mean engaging in complex metaphysical ideas or abstract thoughts. In a modern world, it may actually be a particular way of life that maximises the application of current realities to live this life. And we perhaps need not be another Plato or Aristotle nor do we need to be any of their Eastern counterparts. A way that takes you through this life on well thought-of ideas that promote civility and common good may be enough. For it is not important that we leave behind a huge public impression. It is, however, enough that we live a life we well thought of.

Last Words 

The world is now complex with so much information at our hands. Too much stimulation that may leave us questioning our own lives. How can philosophy help us in this era? I find that practical philosophy is important to live through this life now.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

philosophy

Philosophy

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

education

Learning & Education

Philosophy: For Ancient Greeks or for Modern Societies Too?

A personal view on introverts, based on real-life experiences

Introverts: How We Get Them Wrong 

In many societies introverts are often regarded as individuals lacking social abilities. Often this is generalised, perhaps unfairly and wrongly so, as a bad character.Do introverts lack social skills? I would think, not necessarily. Introverts carefully choose who to be social with and when to. Because they are choosey, they are considered generally as lacking social skills.

Do Introverts Lack Social Skills? 

Now, here is another misconception about introverts: that they are rude. Often this is misinterpreted from the fact that introverts do choose when to open up and when not to. And because they largely spend time with themselves, other societies consider this an act of rudeness. It is not uncommon to hear of a person who chooses to be alone being described as "a rude fellow who does not want to associate with others".This is yet another label given to introverts that simply misrepresents the entire thing about introverts.

Are Introverts Rude?

Yes! They are social, but the key thing is that they do so to people they are comfortable with and at times they themselves are comfortable to.I believe this should not be viewed as anything negative when we consider the fact that in general, we humans seek conditions or environments we are comfortable with before we empty ourselves.

Introverts Too Are Social And Open To People

You might have heard that a person could still be lonely while in a large group. And truly, a sad person could still be in a group of people laughing unstoppably. The point I am making is this: by choosing alone time and avoiding large groups or wild events, introverts aren't necessarily sad.In fact, introverts are happy alone.

Introverts Are Not Sad And Lonely People 

I write this from experience as an introvert myself. I am no professional Psychologist.What I have shared are some of the things that introverts encounter and get misjudged about.If we understand that introverted behaviour is normal, we may avoid trying to push individuals into what they are not. Being an introvert is not (intrinsically) morally and socially unacceptable, I guess.

I Am An Introvert 

Introversion 

Happiness is one of the life elements that we humans seek and want to have. We want to be happy about our life in general, about our acheivements and things we have done well on. In the absence of happiness is probably sorrow where deep emotional breakdown and sometimes despair reigns. Why is happiness important?

Happiness In A Person's Life

Well, it may appear obvious that a happy life is important for its purpose of making life worth living. It is the psychological registration of satisfaction in something and the mental approval and subsequent emotional wellness attached to it.

Importance Of A Happy Life 

How do people achieve a happy life? Well, there may not be one master plan for acheiving a happy life. Generally people perceive things differently and what makes one happy may not particularly make another so.But basic principles remain the same. 1. Gratitude: One of the ways to achieve a happy life is the element of gratitude - the ability to recognise and be thankful about things we have. 2. Celebrating Small Wins: When we celebrate small wins, we focus our strength on the positive and it has incremental influence on many other things.

Acheiving A Happy Life 

3. Acknowledging we cannot have it all: When we try to reach for everything, to have it all, we are sure to ruin our lives. We can hardly have everything to ourselves. But we could be gifted at some things and being happy with those improves our lives.4. Common good: Yes, you read that right - common good! When we do things for the good of ourselves and of course others, we are likely to have the positive contribution to others. When we know we are of importance to others, we are happy to be of contribution to others.

Buddha"There is no path to happiness; happiness is the path." Jonathan Safran Foer"You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness."﻿

Ending Quote

The Pursuit of Happiness

Regret is one of the things human beings go through from time to time. We might have made a decision that eventually negatively affected our lives in some way and end up thinking: "I should not have done that". Well, you are not alone. Here are a few things I personally learnt about regret in the years I have lived.

Regret

Ever met an individual who has never regretted anything in their life? They must be living perfect lives, you may think. But there is almost no perfect life. Living is riddled with wrong decisions sometimes and regret is sure to come at one point. Human judgement is prone to error and this is exactly why as humans, we will meet some regretful events. Should that scare us? Probably not!

You Will Regret Something At Some Point

As we are almost sure to meet regretful events, there are things we need to do to cope. While the level of regret sometimes depends on the magnitude of the effects of the wrong decisions we make, it is still necessary to find way through and move on. For decisions we can reverse, we can simply reverse them but many other regrets are about things we cannot reverse. What do we do? Learn from such and move on. Continuously regretting on things we cannot reverse changes nothing to the situation, it simply makes life hard.

Regret... Learn... Move On...

Learning from our experiences, whether good or bad, is vital for shaping our life patterns. We are likely to replicate good experiences and avoid bad ones. In the context of regret, learning helps us not repeat the same mistakes. We do not want to regret over the same things, because then this would be insanity if we repeat the same mistakes over and over.

Learn...

The greatest achievement about wrong decisions is the ability to find closure and moving on. If we continually stand on the same point of regret, we shall worsen our experience and make our standard of living very poor. This is certainly not good for us.

Move On...

This is a question. Have you ever heard that you should "never regret"? Well, in my life experience, I firstly do not think it is entirely possible to "never" regret. I think it is however possible to check how much regret we do on a particular thing because continual regret could block the ability to learn from a bad experience and moving on. So maybe it's not about never regretting, but the ability to quickly move out of a situation of regret to getting ourselves together for a new life, new learning.

Never Regret?

As human beings we live in some form of environments. These would be communities in towns or villages with others choosing to stay in the outskirts in solitude. Whether in grouped communities or solitary countrysides, we have an environment around us and observing such environments can sometimes be a rich source of information.

The Power Of Observation

You might have heard that there is a difference between looking and observing, that we can look without really observing. True. Observing our environments enlightens our knowledge of what is around us. We not only see, but also understand the things that surround us.

Observation is Enlightening

As we observe things around us, we allow a deeper understanding and this enables establishment of connection. Take a walk and simply try to observe the many things you have been seeing all along but probably never observed. Then notice the connection you have the more you understand such things.

Connecting With Our Environment

We could build a rich knowledge base by being keen with our environments and observing more. The more we understand, the more accurate knowledge we gather. It is a source of first hand information which is builds factual knowledge.

Building Knowledge

Knowledge through observation opens up the mind about things that we probably knew as otherwise from sources like books or other sources. While observation should not be for the purpose of "disproving" something, it could incidentally give information about long held opinions, helping us get an alternative understanding of things. This makes observation powerful and original in its form.

Opening Up The Mind 

Well, this would be almost obvious. High level, deep and considerable thought of something happens when we understand things deeply. Observation helps us in such understanding and as such acts as a catalyst for critical thinking.Some of the greatests scientists made discoveries through observation and philosophers have been known to be great observers. Observation is a vault of valuable information that we just needed.

Philosophy: For Ancient Greeks or for Modern Societies Too?

Introversion

The Pursuit of Happiness

Regret

Observation

Symon Nayupe