Why I reject the title 'Philosopher'

I thought that I'd write a short piece about the only real academic passion I've ever had, and why I'd like to comfortably distance myself from it. There is a book written by Simon Blackburn called 'Think' and it's aimed at introducing people to the subject Philosophy - whether they be students or just people interested in or curious about the subject. 

Here's a quote from his introduction: "the word 'philosophy' carries unfortunate connotations: impractical, unworldly, weird. I suspect that all philosophers and philosophy students share that moment of silent embarrassment when someone innocently asks us what we do".
I can only really speak for myself, but Blackburn does hit the nail on the head when he talks of silent embarrassment. Whenever my interest in Philosophy is acknowledged, half the room asks me what philosophy is and the other half assume it's some kind of spiritual nonsense involving maxims about how to live a stoic-like lifestyle.

Admittedly, the subject matter of Philosophy does include that of the ancient Greeks - for example, Plato's other-worldly Forms. It also includes the theological writings of the religious philosophers such as St. Thomas Aquinas. However, Philosophy has evolved since those days. While these ideas are acknowledged in Philosophy courses, that cover the whole spectrum of Philosophy, they aren't immune to modern ideas and criticism.  Modern philosophers generally reject these ideas.


(Picture to the left: this is Plato and Aristotle. Plato, the older man points towards the sky, representing his theory of the forms and his idea that only reason can reveal true knowledge - indeed the forms. Aristotle, by contrast,  gestures to the Earth which represents his idea that knowledge is to be found in the observable, physical world through empirical means)


Modern Philosophers aren't interested in nonsense ideas about other-worldly entities. They see philosophy as the creator of science which acts/works with science rather than against it. The critical mind of the philosopher is extremely important for keeping science in check with the scientific method.

So when I explain that I'm into philosophy, this is what I mean. I think critically and rationally. I don't introduce random, groundless other-worldly entities and I'm not arrogant enough to give 'rules' for living a 'good' life. Somehow I think that if everyone thought more like a philosopher, the world wouldn't be in such a mess.

Birthday post

So yesterday was my birthday. I hit the big two-zero. I went for breakfast with Fred - full English at Phil's Diner. Great place. Check it out. Then Fred and I went shopping. That was until about 4pm. We ran into some others in town. They tried to organise a surprise but failed because I'm a genius.

Here is a picture of all the gifts I received as well as what I bought for myself. The brown bag in the centre is something I picked up for myself. It cost me about £14. Above that is 11.22.63 by Stephen King. I've only read 5-6 chapters in but it's fantastic. It's looking to be a really good read. Also the brown book that is touching the top right of the brown bag is a travel journal. I thought it was relevant.

The book next to Stephen King is a book called 'Sofies verden' or 'Sophie's World'. It's a popular book that takes you through some basics in Philosophy. I've never read it but the fact that it's in Norwegian makes it a bit more difficult. However, hopefully that'll help me learn. Thanks to Fred for that one (as well as the fake lottery ticket... You'll need to do better than that to fool me).
Next to 'Sophies verden' there's a big black book which was made for me. I have Jasmine to thank for that.
Bottom right, we have a wash bag from my brother's lot. Top left is chocolate from Rob. To the far left we have two cards which were made. The Nintendo themed one is from my mother. The other is from Hannah. Cheers everyone. Everyone else who got me something, got me cash. Good shout.

So yeah, I'm 20. I've come far from being a crazy-haired party maniac. I'm now a slightly-more-tamed-haired party maniac. My desire to drink and make a prat of myself hasn't faded from the transition from 19 to 20. Unfortunately for some and fortunately for others, I'll still act like a teenager. Cue pictures.

Happiness in Relationships

One thing that bothers me about this society is how unhappy people seem to be and their overall acceptance of the melancholy. It has been said that the more we have the less we appreciate it. Perhaps we could conduct a survey, comparing richer nations to poorer ones. However, I'm not here to discuss this kind of statistics - partly due to lack of means or funding to conduct such a survey and partly due to the problem of trying to measure a subjective sense of happiness on an objective scale.

No, I'm here to discuss a strange trend in western society - particularly in the entertainment industry. The portrayal of the average family/relationship. Oddly, it's hardly ever a pleasant portrayal. The portrayal is that of a dysfunctional family/relationship.
In Comedies, there's a sense of bitterness between couples - particularly married couples. It's written in order to be an amusing bitterness but it still holds that connotation of dysfunction. In soaps and dramas, there's a common theme of affairs and cheating - in which, the person in a relationship feels more affection towards another.

Not only in the media, but in everyday life, we all witness dysfunctional families or couples. We all know of people who are divorced, people that are going through an extremely rocky break up, arguments between couples, people who have cheated or who are cheating, etc. Even in the news, we always read stories about celebrity love affairs.

Overall, in this society, a successful and long lasting relationship is something of a rarity. Obviously each person has their own idea of a perfect relationship and how it should work. I know people will disagree with my view. That's not to say I'm wrong, nor is it to say that they're wrong. It's just one of those rare occasions where it is simply down to personal taste and not fact. Therefore, I'm not trying to enforce an idea about how a relationship should work - this is simply how I see things.

In my view, this overall negative portrayal of a committed relationship is depressing. Why do these unhappy couples end up 'stuck' together? In my experience, it's either for financial reasons or for their kids. The latter is admirable, but at the same time it's still depressing.
Perhaps it's because I'm young and my experience on these matters is minimal. Perhaps my ideals and fears are born out of insecurities. Perhaps the media is behind this negativity. Perhaps the media exaggerates and twists. Perhaps the media is more directly to blame for the glamorous portrayal of love affairs and the tendency to force feed the public 'dirty secrets', making them crave more.

Maybe people are happier than I perceive them to be. Maybe people are happy in relationships where the passion has vanished like a drawing in the sand. For me, losing my passion for a relationship, indeed, for a person, would be a terrible loss. A relationship for me is friendship and a passion for another human being. A partnership where no one else is needed above the status of 'friend'.

Travelling

Mmmhmmm...

It's a shame that the move to Oslo will be after Christmas now though.

On the plus-side, I'll have more money, get to spend Christmas in a familiar environment, and I can get myself a new iPod. Totally just ordered a new iPod. 5-8 days to wait :(

Also I need to work on speaking Norwegian. I know an extremely small amount. These extra months will help me out a little bit. Perhaps I'll just stick with "Jeg snakker ikke så bra norsk" the whole time I'm there and just not talk to anyone who doesn't speak English! That is a joke... I intend to learn the language... 

Eastenders

Anyone watching Eastenders at the moment? I want to hear more from Lauren's story. I'm pretty bored of all the other crap. 
Not really that much of a fan if I'm honest. I just think Jacqueline Jossa (Lauren) is a fantastic actress.


When she first started playing Lauren, her character was a bit stuck up. Lauren, as a character, is quite complicated. She does appear, on the surface, to be stuck up and bitchy. She is definitely one of the more interesting characters. 


Well, there's my post of the day. It's a very British one. 


:)

Welcome to Bjørn stuff!

Bjørn stuff is a place where I'm going to write my ideas. They could be on politics, Philosophy, science, etc. I'm not going into this without some prior knowledge. My A-levels consisted of two science subjects and Philosophy. I achieved high grades, particularly in Philosophy. So This blog shouldn't be mistaken for the usual opinionated nonsense you get from other people who write about politics or science. However, we're all still learning, so feel free to contact me if you see any problems with my work. 

My name is Billy (Bill). I'm moving to Norway with my best friend, Fred (see picture to the left). I've adopted Bjørn as my Norwegian name after noticing that 'Billy' sounds extremely similar to the Norwegian word 'billig' which means 'cheap'. 

Anyway, I aim to post something twice a week. Hopefully people will read it. If not, it's still a place were I can let off some steam. 

Ha det! 

(and to the right you'll see how I roll when I'm drunk... It was the only picture I could find. I tried to take a new one but they all sucked)