Philosophy Wire: Prisoner’s dilemma… Man’s illusion… God’s tears…

Photo by Spiros Kakos @ Pexels

Prisoner's dilemma game reveals cooperation leads to leadership. [1] But how and why should we cooperate in order to build leadership? Lead to go where? How do you know the destination unless someone has shown you that destination already? God crying. Tiny men smiling. Running fast without knowing where they run into. They will be first. But with nowhere to go to. Tiny men. Trying to lead. Not understanding that those who fall behind will lead at the end…

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Philosophy Wire: Having purpose. Sleeping well. Being. The ouroboros.

Having purpose leads to better sleep [1] (a nonsensical refutal can be found here) We all like to believe we are masters of our own universe and yet we feel empty without a purpose. Because existence (Gr. εξ-ίσταμαι) is always existence under specific causes and towards an end. Only Being is independent of everything. You must do things in order to exist. But you must just Be in order to Be. Our life needs a purpose. So as to sleep well. And forget everything. In order to Be and create a purpose for everything that exists…

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Philosophy Wire: Be a victim [Pupils’ shape. Hunting. Death]

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2015-09-27]: It could be that the shape of the eyes’ pupils of animal could indicate whether the animal is a hunter or a prey [1] Be a victim. Have a more spherical point of view. And death will be just a door for something better. Targets are for those who are narrow-minded. Without a target. That is the purpose of life.

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Philosophy Wire: Walking with no purpose. Life with.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-06-14]:

May is national walking month in the UK, and BBC News Magazine has kicked it off by arguing that purposeless walking is becoming a thing of the past. Now people walk just to get somewhere. [1]
Do things with no purpose.
Stop thinking about goals.
Just enjoy your existence.
And you will see that then - ONLY then - will you be able to discover your real purpose!

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Philosophy Wire: Chess, ants, goals...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-03-15]: Ants solving chess problems! [1] Or so it seems. You see even the most efficient complicated system must have goals set. By someone...

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Why the Journey is more important than the Destination

DARPA announced a call for papers in order to start preparing for a manned interstellar journey (http://www.100yss.org/). But how can humans withstand a journey that may take thousands of years to complete? How can humans start a journey which they will not end if not many generations pass?

Kavafis said “When you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road is long”… This phrase along with its philosophical implications must be well understood by the Starship 2111 designers if the mission is to succeed. An interstellar journey is something much different than any other human endeavor undertaken so far. The people in the spacecraft heading towards another star will have to come in peace with living and dying while travelling. We too live and die, but most of convince ourselves that we “belong” somewhere and that we “reach” our destination at some time in our lives, thus forgetting the vanity of temporal existence. Star Travelers will not have that luxury, since their whole lives will be dictated for aeons by the “travelling” itself. Art, in its more paradoxical forms of poetry and painting, can help the minds of the people endure the journey. Sleeping and waking up in the middle of silence for many generations is as illogical as a Picasso painting or as T.S. Eliot poem. You don’t need to understand Art, as you don’t need to understand a 4,000 year journey: you just have to awaken to its wonder and love it.

(Submitted for the Starship 2111 Symposium)

Philosophy Wire: Libya, Chess and the importance of plan

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-03-20]: Western countries are attacking Libya. Airstrikes are in progress, but no actual plan exists. Coalition countries claim that they will bomb, but not until when. They say that they will hit Gadhafi, but they will not say what they will do if he doesn't give power away. They say that they will hit crucial targets, but nothing more specific than that. They claim that this is a NATO war, but Germany and (islamic) Turkey do not participate so actively. They claim they are covered by the UN resolution, but key superpower-states, like China and Russia, did not back up the plan. Everything has a purpose: how can you know where you are going if you do not have a plan? If they had even play chess once they would know. A bad plan is always better than having no plan at all...

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