Hello postphilosophers
Thankyou to Daniel for setting this up. Perhaps a more sane space on the internet, because so much of it has gone to the dogs. Pity the poor people who try to discuss philosophy (or anything else for that matter) on Facebook, and yet that platform has displaced thousands of once-thriving forums. Makings society dumber, for sure. I look forward to see who else turns up.
Doubtless others will let us know a bit about what has happened to them since the heyday of online forums. As for me...I finished a degree in philosophy and cognitive science in 2008 and end up drifting for a long while, lost in a pretty severe sort of nihilism. But I eventually turned a long-time hobby of fungi foraging into a career as a fungi foraging teacher, and started collecting photos with a vague idea of one day writing a book. That book came out in 2016 - the most comprehensive book ever published specifically on edible and poisonous fungi in temperate Europe. You can read the reviews yourself if you're interested. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edible-Mushroo ... 0857843974.
I am now a full-time foraging teacher and working on my second book, which is intended to be the market leading book on foraging for plants and seaweeds in north-west Europe.
Also, after being single for the best part of 15 years, I got married in 2015 and our first child has just turned 1, and started walking in the last couple of days. I am 50, so I left it rather late in life with the family stuff.
Geoff
Hello everybody
Re: Hello everybody
Geoff
Thank you.
As for a, "more sane place", yes, it is a bit calmer than when I'm working with the Van de Graaff generator in the attic. Geez, that thing makes a racket. And the villagers have given up on the torch and pitchfork parade - they got a lawyer.
Makes me wonder if the dumbness is either cause or symptom for what you note as a, "..severe sort of nihilism." At this time in my life I think I'm getting a better handle on dealing with the Nihilism Blues. I mean, if 'nothing is forever', then it would seem that nihilism has an expiration date like so many things.
It seems that you too have found a way especially with your books success. With ringing commendations like, "Brilliant Book", Great", "My mushroom foraging go-to guide", "Good, clear information and photos to help identification.", it sounds like work well done. But then there was one comment: "annoying text. Odd wiggles off some letters". Don't let it bother you, probably one of those villagers who dislike everything. I, for one, am going to get a look at the book when I get a chance.
As for your 1 year-old daughter, that must be a joy and a sense of welcomed responsibility for you. A new life beginning the journey. I wish you and your wife the best on that.
Re this forum, yes, it would be nice to hear from some of the others. Even if not markedly 'academic', that would be pleasantly philosophical unto itself.
Daniel
Thank you.
As for a, "more sane place", yes, it is a bit calmer than when I'm working with the Van de Graaff generator in the attic. Geez, that thing makes a racket. And the villagers have given up on the torch and pitchfork parade - they got a lawyer.
Makes me wonder if the dumbness is either cause or symptom for what you note as a, "..severe sort of nihilism." At this time in my life I think I'm getting a better handle on dealing with the Nihilism Blues. I mean, if 'nothing is forever', then it would seem that nihilism has an expiration date like so many things.
It seems that you too have found a way especially with your books success. With ringing commendations like, "Brilliant Book", Great", "My mushroom foraging go-to guide", "Good, clear information and photos to help identification.", it sounds like work well done. But then there was one comment: "annoying text. Odd wiggles off some letters". Don't let it bother you, probably one of those villagers who dislike everything. I, for one, am going to get a look at the book when I get a chance.
As for your 1 year-old daughter, that must be a joy and a sense of welcomed responsibility for you. A new life beginning the journey. I wish you and your wife the best on that.
Re this forum, yes, it would be nice to hear from some of the others. Even if not markedly 'academic', that would be pleasantly philosophical unto itself.
Daniel
Re: Hello everybody
Hello Geoff, Daniel,
Good to see you! And indeed my thanks to Daniel for setting up the site. Philosophyforums seems to have imploded and the remnants are scattered. There are some other forums, but I do not have the time to read them or participate much. This week was quite hectic as well, but I hope to see more people. Good to see you two in any case, hope life been treating you well. Fungi foraging sounds like quite a good activity for a philosopher. I am still foraging students in the hallway, telling them to pay attention to half the things I say, but that I will not disclose to which half this current conversation belongs...
best,
Tobias
Good to see you! And indeed my thanks to Daniel for setting up the site. Philosophyforums seems to have imploded and the remnants are scattered. There are some other forums, but I do not have the time to read them or participate much. This week was quite hectic as well, but I hope to see more people. Good to see you two in any case, hope life been treating you well. Fungi foraging sounds like quite a good activity for a philosopher. I am still foraging students in the hallway, telling them to pay attention to half the things I say, but that I will not disclose to which half this current conversation belongs...
best,
Tobias
Re: Hello everybody
Tobias
Thank you, and Geoff, for the thanks on setting this up but eventually it will be all those who participate to whom the ultimate thanks will go. I'm just providing the café (we don't serve absinthe but you can bring your own.)
Yes, there are many forums along with social media but the saturation is such that for many it's become an overload of social information. I wonder, did hunter-gatherers ever experience social information overload? What would the Facebook page of a hunter-gatherer look like? What would the "likes" be based on?
I hope whichever way this forum goes that it finds at least some balance between the empyreal and the mundane.
"..telling them to pay attention to half the things I say, but that I will not disclose to which half this current conversation belongs..."
In the interest of not feeling like I'm on a Moebius Strip ride with that sentence, are you referring to this conversation here in forum, or the conversation you would have with the student(s)?
Daniel
Thank you, and Geoff, for the thanks on setting this up but eventually it will be all those who participate to whom the ultimate thanks will go. I'm just providing the café (we don't serve absinthe but you can bring your own.)
Yes, there are many forums along with social media but the saturation is such that for many it's become an overload of social information. I wonder, did hunter-gatherers ever experience social information overload? What would the Facebook page of a hunter-gatherer look like? What would the "likes" be based on?
I hope whichever way this forum goes that it finds at least some balance between the empyreal and the mundane.
"..telling them to pay attention to half the things I say, but that I will not disclose to which half this current conversation belongs..."
In the interest of not feeling like I'm on a Moebius Strip ride with that sentence, are you referring to this conversation here in forum, or the conversation you would have with the student(s)?
Daniel
Re: Hello everybody
Congrats on the book and life achievements!
Nice to see some familiar usernames here.
Nice to see some familiar usernames here.
Re: Hello everybody
Hi Paul.
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Wanderer
Re: Hello everybody
Hello,
My name is ?, a.k.a. Wanderer, a.k.a. Satyr, a.k.a. Outis...I'm an amateur philal-choholic.
I need help...mostly with my spelling, and my linguistic creativity.
I'm cynical so I give a low percentage to this forum's success, and if it does it will remain small. Depends on how we gauge success, I guess.
Dumbing-Down has differentiated the herd from the predators, from the scavengers, from the vermin.
Don't know what category I fall into. Depends on the group.
My name is ?, a.k.a. Wanderer, a.k.a. Satyr, a.k.a. Outis...I'm an amateur philal-choholic.
I need help...mostly with my spelling, and my linguistic creativity.
I'm cynical so I give a low percentage to this forum's success, and if it does it will remain small. Depends on how we gauge success, I guess.
Dumbing-Down has differentiated the herd from the predators, from the scavengers, from the vermin.
Don't know what category I fall into. Depends on the group.
Re: Hello everybody
Hi, Wanderer
Good to see another former member of PF here, and from the first year or two if I remember correctly.
We've had our differences before but what is life if not to experience differences in the quest for genuine balance. I guess for us and some others on this forum it's like walking a tightrope across a chasm. We're here after all these years and made it to the other side in relatively one piece. Doesn't mean that there aren't other challenges, but it's nice to know that some of them have been surmounted. Accomplishments, whether small or large, help to make the journey livable.
So, how's life been treating you.
Daniel V.
Good to see another former member of PF here, and from the first year or two if I remember correctly.
We've had our differences before but what is life if not to experience differences in the quest for genuine balance. I guess for us and some others on this forum it's like walking a tightrope across a chasm. We're here after all these years and made it to the other side in relatively one piece. Doesn't mean that there aren't other challenges, but it's nice to know that some of them have been surmounted. Accomplishments, whether small or large, help to make the journey livable.
So, how's life been treating you.
Daniel V.
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Wanderer
Re: Hello everybody
Life has been ...life. It has its ups and its downs, with the downs multiplying over time.Daniel V. wrote: ↑December 27th, 2019, 7:11 am Hi, Wanderer
Good to see another former member of PF here, and from the first year or two if I remember correctly.
We've had our differences before but what is life if not to experience differences in the quest for genuine balance. I guess for us and some others on this forum it's like walking a tightrope across a chasm. We're here after all these years and made it to the other side in relatively one piece. Doesn't mean that there aren't other challenges, but it's nice to know that some of them have been surmounted. Accomplishments, whether small or large, help to make the journey livable.
So, how's life been treating you.
Daniel V.
What, exactly, do you wish to accomplish with this forum?
Return to the 'glory days' of our youth?
Share prose and poetry?
Chit-Chat?
Give meaning to our lives?
Why did esophy fail?
If you are asking for details about my life....I married, had a son - now 12 - divorced, and happily, as it was all part of the expected.
Re: Hello everybody
None of them in a context of urgency, and all of them in measures appropriate to sensibilities at this stage of my life. 'Accomplish' is a verb that takes on different meaning with the passage of time. In earlier years there were things that I wanted to accomplish but didn't and later on I realized that many of those things were fool's gold. Google the definition of 'accomplish' and you get: "..achieve or complete successfully." The key word there is, 'successfully'. What is success nowadays? Look around you: Money? Fame? Power? And even if you had any of those you still have to live in a world where the majority of your fellow human beings have none of them. It's what at times I've referred to as the gate-guarded community illusion. You have a nice house, manicured grounds, maybe a maid or two. But the larger world is just outside that gate and if something goes wrong out there: chaos, anarchy, power/water outages, take your pick, then your privileged community would basically be a fancy 'panic room'.
Re youth, there's no returning to youth or, 'glory days'. But there are times and moments in the past that I remember as being, 'Halcyon". I capitalized it because as adjectives go it's one of my favorites. Thus, I hope there are Halcyon days yet to be.
Prose and Poetry? If it's good, honest, and moves me, sure, I'm up for that. As for chit-chat, that goes on every day wherever you are. Perfunctory language.
Give meaning to other people's lives? People give meaning to their own lives. If it happens that others regard something or another from my person as wisdom, meaning, etc., okay, glad that I was able to help in whatever measure. If there's anything I'd like to do with this present forum is elevate the discussion somehow, make it more authentic in terms of the people who participate and/or read the discussions. The only way I think I can do that is to be authentic with myself. Other than that, the winds will have their say.
Esophy didn't fail so much as I left it. I was running that as any professional quarterly would have been with the solicitation of material, making the graphics, writing, proofreading, a deadline, etc., and at that time in tandem also learning HTML and CSS. For awhile there Google Analytics showed that some in just about every country visited at least once if not more. I had compliments from afar. But at the time when I decided to leave it there were also some personal situations involving relatives that we shall just leave at as being not conducive to aesthetic and literary concerns; so much so that I let the hosting account go. I still have all the files of Esophy on various discs. Maybe one of these days I will give another showing of all the issues in one presentation for those that never saw it.
Asking about details and asking for details are two different things. Just want to clear that up.
Yes, I remember you mentioning your son some time back. 12 years old, the teenage years are coming up and that's the time when they start testing the limits of everyone around them, isn't it? Good luck.