Constructing My Daily Philosophies

I think everyone lives by certain priorities, whether they set them consciously or not. These priorities are the beginnings of philosophy: how we see the world. As they grow and mature, philosophies can develop into very complex and specific ideas that apply to every niche of life, and since they sometimes become so specialized, many can gather dust like old pocket watches. But there are some philosophies that are so important, they should be remembered and exercised every single day.

I've been thinking a lot about mine lately. For a long time, I've wanted to sit down and construct my Daily Philosophies and see what I come up with. What are my guiding lights? How do I strive to live? What things will I say to myself when things get tough and decisions get hard? As I was constructing them, I made several versions--lists that contained what I felt were ideas worth living by. Finally, I came to something I felt good about when I read. The list that changes ended up looking a little like this:

1. Love others as yourself
2. See things from others' perspective
3. Seek wisdom through experience, observation, and contemplation
4. Be reasonable
   
5. All conclusions are tentative
6. Being wrong may occur often--this is normal
7. Be brave
8. Serve others
9. Do not fear work
10. Health is important and worth striving for
11. One must do what one believes is right
    
12. No person is fundamentally above or below another

Funny. Though almost all of those philosophies changed dramatically from my first draft to my latest, the first one stayed pretty much the same.

Orisinal: Morning Sunshine

When I was a child, I had a certain feeling about me. I had a feeling of imagination and, though I didn't see it that way at the time, a certain purity.

That sort of childlike wonder isn't something that ever really goes away, but it may be more difficult to access as I get older and start to realize through greater amounts of living what the world is really like. But the magical images of my childhood imagination are precious to me, so when I find something that helps me relax and think about magical, adventurous, and beautiful ideas, I always cherish it.

This particular site, Orisonal: Morning Sunshine by Ferry Hallim, is absolutely spectacular for this. This flash website is full of games with breathtaking imagery and enveloping music. Gather flowers into a floating bottle and send it to a loved one in heaven; hop on a frozen lake and watch your reflection gather shooting stars; help a white rabbit jump up and upward on silver bells in a sky of falling snow. There are over 50 games, and they are all worth a try.

Here are some of my favorites:

Monkey Slide

Winterbells

Wake Up Calls

Bubble Bees

Philosophical Examples

It is not often in the world of radio and podcasts that something truly gripping to me comes along, but ever since iTunes introduced a new service called iTunes U, a way institutions of higher learning can present content in podcast form to students and interested parties around the world, I have become more and more interested.

There are many, many worthwhile sources of content on iTunes U sponsored by legitimate universities all around the world, and I may even write about some of them later, but for now, I would like to highlight a fascinating radio program sponsored by Stanford University, called Philosophy Talk.

"The program that questions everything... except your intelligence."

This program is exceptional for a lot of reasons, but firstly, it is supremely legitimate. It is hosted by Ken Taylor, Professor and Chair of Stanford University's Department of Philosophy, and John Perry, Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, and every week they are accompanied by an expert on the topic of discussion. The topics range in diverse philosophical issues including Aging, Global Poverty and International Aid, Intelligent Design, Friendship, and more. The program discusses current philosophical views on these subjects and how these issues may effect the way we live our lives, helping the listener form philosophies for themselves on issues they may not have previously thought about.

What is even more impressive to me is the faithful execution of the program's motto: "The program that questions everything... Except your intelligence." On this show, callers are allowed to contribute to the discussion, and some callers may not be quite as well educated as others or may submit shaky reasoning, but the hosts are always consistently respectful and focus in the the caller's best points and even clarify what they may be trying to say.

The reason this is so incredible to me is because I've been trying to find philosophical role models, people whose philosophy and human relations skills I can truly admire and hope to emulate, but these examples have come very scarce to me.

In the media and especially in other podcasts, hosts always seem to want to abolish or publicly defame something and/or forcefully convert the viewer to a certain way of thinking rather than discuss issues respectfully and look at things from other people's perspectives. These poor examples usually come across as fanatical and intolerant. I do not, nor do I think many reasonable people would, admire either characteristic.

I want very much to find someone able to question life, be open-minded, but not cynical. I want to admire someone who displays consistently admirable human relation skills. The guys on Philosophy Talk very closely fit this description, and so I love to listen to them, and I feel like the program has a lot to offer, not just in content, but also in spirit.

There are ten podcasts of Philosophy Talk available on iTunes U, and dozens and dozens more available on the Philosophy Talk website. Each show is a little less than an hour long. They are well worth the time.

Human Relations

I've been reading a book this summer called How to Win Friends and Influence People, written by Dale Carnegie back in the 1930's. It's been in hearty print since it was published, and it's been for me one of the most eye-opening pieces of literature I have ever read, and it started with a considerable disadvantage with me. I am typically not a huge fan of self-help books.

I may never have read this book at all, but this year, I've been placed in several leadership positions with a frightening degree of responsibility that I've never experienced before. President of a Club, RA in Kitchen dorm... just as a senior in College, I am automatically a leader and a role model to hundreds of people whether I like it or know it or not. As the thought of this became more and more real, it became embarrassingly obvious to me that my human relation skills are in dire need of a tune up. I needed help. So it was principally on Travis Hellstrom's advice that I began reading this book, and I have not stopped thanking him since. Now I can see why the praise surrounding this book is so overwhelming.

This book is very much common since, which, insistently, is not very common at all. I found the ideas very easy to grasp, very logical, and upon every chapter, I could not help reflecting on the many times, just off the top of my head, when this simple advice could have saved a situation or relationship. On rare occasions, I could even think of how I had accidentally followed the advice and how amazingly well it worked.

The book goes into great detail about the benefits of each point and possible applications. I haven't found anything in How to Win Friends and Influence People to be a waste of my time to consider. The chapters are short and very griping. I read each one twice before moving on.

Though I've learned a huge lot of lessons from reading this book, some of the best things it has taught me have been that everyone, like myself, has a desire to feel important and that sympathy without criticism, enthusiastic appreciation, true attempts at seeing things from the other person's point of view, and being, above all, sincere and authentic are the best and most effective ways to live at peace with other people and to receive mutually beneficial cooperation. I can't recommend this book enough.

I have also learned another vital lesson, one which I have been notorious in breaking, and that is: Don't get into arguments. The truth of that statement stings, because I have gone out of my way to wage arguments, not just with the people around me, but even with my own family, causing nothing but tension and hard feelings. It created a lot of tension, but it NEVER changed the other person's mind. That is truly something that can never be done by force. Have I ever changed my mind because someone argued at me that I should? Of course not. Never. So why should I expect someone else to? As the Carnegie puts it: "You Can't Win and Argument."

I use this book's advice every day now. The suggestions aren't hard--they are, in fact, very simple--and even though it has been in print since 1936, every chapter is not only relevant, but intelligent and thrilling.

Relating to other human beings is one of the most important things we do in our lives. Why don't we study it like we study other things like math and science? Why is this so neglected? After getting such benefit out of that knowlege personally, I am seriously running out of answers to that question.