Born with it?

Met a Jordanian father-son-grandfather group who immediately offered me sweets from Syria, coffee, and tea. That's 'typical Arab hospitality', as they put it to which I fervently agreed. I spoke mainly with the father, an American with Libyan heritage, we ended up talking about his dad. Specifically, his proclivity for philosophy. I asked where he thought it came from. He said: probably from his life. The grandfather had been born in Syria, was Libyan, had worked as an engineer for thirty years and was now a high school teacher. Then the father said something that stuck with me, he thought 'people are just born with it' - the desire to philosophize.

I've been thinking about that.

I didn't realize how common it is to dismiss philosophy as meaningless until I studied it. On the surface it seems abstract, unable to provide obvious tangible contributions to society. Look just a little deeper and the truth becomes obvious.

Philosophy isn't about sitting around and thinking — that sentiment drives me into a veritable rage (a "valid crashout" as the kids say). It is the field that teaches you how to think. No more and no less.

Introductory philosophy courses often warn students that they will start to see the world differently by the end of the class, and to consider another course if that possibility makes them uncomfortable. After enough head-spinning reading material, a person starts to shed conventional modes of thinking and opens their mind to new possibilities. Cue "A Whole New World," read up on Descartes' Method of Doubt, and find the Calvin and Hobbes comic I am too tired to look up right now.

Going to bed.