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An Introduction to My Philosophy
I do not consider myself a philosopher in the academic sense. I have no grand system to defend, no final answer to offer, and no desire to gather followers around a particular worldview. Most of what I write begins with a question rather than a conclusion.
If there is one observation that returns throughout my writing, it is that human beings live in a world far more chaotic than they like to admit. We cover that chaos with stories, identities, religions, ideologies, political parties, philosophies, and personal narratives. These structures are useful. They help us navigate life. But usefulness should not be confused with truth.
I am skeptical of certainty. Not because truth does not exist, but because human beings are remarkably good at convincing themselves that they already possess it. History is filled with people who knew exactly how the world worked, what God wanted, what society needed, or what human nature really was. Most of them were wrong. The rest were only partly right.
My view of human beings is strongly influenced by science, psychology, history, and philosophers such as Nietzsche, Hume, Spinoza, Wittgenstein, and Krishnamurti. I find it difficult to believe that we are the fully autonomous creatures we imagine ourselves to be. We inherit a body, a language, a culture, a family history, and a particular moment in time. Our thoughts arise from influences we barely understand. We feel free, yet much of what we are was already set in motion long before we became aware of ourselves.
This does not make life meaningless. Quite the opposite. It makes humility necessary.
I suspect that what we call the self is less solid than we think. The opinions we defend, the values we cherish, and even the words we use were largely given to us by others. Original thought exists, but it is rare. Most of us build our lives from inherited materials and then mistake the construction for something entirely our own.
Yet despite this skepticism, I am not a nihilist. I find meaning in curiosity itself. I believe there is value in examining our assumptions, questioning our motives, and looking more closely at the world. Like sitting quietly in the grass until an unseen world of insects appears, understanding often begins when we stop rushing toward conclusions.
I write all my text myself, besides this introduction, which is written by a bot. I don’t think it is a good idea to write this kind of summary about your own thoughts, who am I to know myself? The bot knows better what I write about the most.