Philosophy overview#

The topic about philosophy doesn't need to be long or boring. The word "philosophy" is the combination of "philo-"(love) and "-sophy" (wisdom). Anyone loves wisdom will explore philosophy in some way.

FireTofu will present its own view of different philosophical concepts, without diving too deep into specific events.

Belief ➡️ Knowledge ➡️ Wisdom#

Wisdom#

The principled knowledge.

• Knowing when and how to use the knowledge properly
• Knowing when not to use the knowledge
• The knowledge guided by kindness

Knowledge#

True, justified belief

Belief#

The acceptance of certain information

Belief ➡️ Logic ➡️ Math ➡️ Sciences#

Logic#

Logic helps us have a more accurate understanding

• All human beings may have good intentions and bad intentions
• No matter how much "right" or "wrong" we have witnessed, logic prevents us from passing judgements on "everything"
• Avoid cynicism:
  • Examples of cynicism:
    • Thinks everyone is only for himself, every voice is "controlled opposition", every law is made to control people, every politician is evil, and every historic event is just a power struggle free from moral judgement
    • Thinks there's no "good" or "bad" and moral is always "relative"
  • If we ever had any genuinely kind thoughts or good deeds, it's likely others will have them too
• Avoid naivety:
  • Examples of naivety:
    • Thinks government always takes care of its people without recognizing it consists of politicians with complex motives
    • Dismissing every theory questioning the motives as "conspiracy theory"
    • Dismissing every shocking information as false without any serious thoughts
  • If we ever had any "bad" thoughts or even unintentional evil deeds, it's likely others will have them too

Math#

• Math is not necessarily the truth. It is similar to a religion because it is based on some fundamental beliefs (axioms) that are thought to be "self-evident"

Science#

• The word "science" refers to both "current scientific consensus" and "scientific methods"
• When we "believe in science", it's better to believe in the latter rather than the former because the "consensus" is hard to determine and often inaccurate
• Science is often treated as a religion in modern world
• Scientific method is an approach to acquire knowledge:

1. Observations
   • Need to have access to as much information as possible
   • Need "blind" observers sometimes to avoid bias
2. Ask questions
   • Need to be able to ask questions, however absurd they may sound
   • Need to share the questions so others can explore together
3. Propose explanations and experiment with it
   • Need to be able to propose explanations, however absurd they may sound
   • Need to actually try it out
   • Need to constantly acknowledge mistakes and adjust models to fit to new observations

Belief ➡️ Politics ➡️ Economics ➡️ Social studies#

Politics#

• Whenever there's more than 1 person, there's politics. We interact with "politics" all the time because everything in society is about politics.
• To demand "no politics" is a political move itself
• Everyone should know the "what" and "why". The passionate should know the "how".

Economics#

Economics is often associated with math these days, as if the study can predict the economic outcomes with the charts and equations. In fact, economics is about the philosophy and politics. It is as complicated as human thoughts and behavior.