Obstacles to Wisdom

Where does wisdom come from? Is it a given or is it acquired? What is the role of literature? How does one recognize wisdom literature? Is it necessary to have a teacher? How can the unwise distinguish between a wise teacher and the false prophet? How does the company you keep facilitate or obstruct the path to wisdom? Is it more conducive to engage or to withdraw? What about age and experience as teachers? Is there a hierarchy of wisdom corresponding to different levels of development or enlightenment? How do fear, complacency, and arrogance affect the cultivation of wisdom?

Participants: Billie Lagerwerff, John Tytus, Mike Grosso, Uriah J. Fields

To subscribe to the podcast with your podcast software (such as iTunes or iPodder) copy and past the following link into your software:

www.citizenphilosopher.com/rss/tol_podcasts.xml

If you have iTunes, you can find us listed in the Apple Music Store directory under Podcasts/Society & Culture/Philosophy, or just do a search in iTunes on Thinking Out Loud People. The direct iTunes link is:

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=214321935

If you don't have iTunes or other podcast software and just want to download the mp3 file directly, use this link:

Listen to the broadcast (mp3)

You are invited to add your thoughts by clicking on the "comments" link at the lower right hand corner of this post.

Limits to Knowledge

Are there any limits to knowledge? What is knowledge? Must you be able to prove something in order to know it? What is the role of experience? What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? What role does environment play in limiting knowledge? How does reason interact with knowledge? How can we evaluated knowledge for its validity? What are the different ways of knowing? Is secondhand knowledge really knowledge? What about mystical experiences? How does public knowledge differ from private knowledge? Do the different kinds of knowledge have different limits? How much knowledge do we really need?

Participants: Derek Breen, John Tytus, Ken Thompson

To subscribe to the podcast with your podcast software (such as iTunes or iPodder) copy and past the following link into your software:

www.citizenphilosopher.com/rss/tol_podcasts.xml

If you have iTunes, you can find us listed in the Apple Music Store directory under Podcasts/Society & Culture/Philosophy, or just do a search in iTunes on Thinking Out Loud People. The direct iTunes link is:

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=214321935

If you don't have iTunes or other podcast software and just want to download the mp3 file directly, use this link:

Listen to the broadcast (mp3)

In our next podcast we will discuss: Obstacles to Wisdom. Stay tuned.

You are invited to add your thoughts by clicking on the "comments" link at the lower right hand corner of this post.

How do we fool ourselves?

What do we mean when we say someone is fooling oneself? Is one part of the self fooling another part of the self? Is our self really multiple selves? Who is is the fooler and who is the fooled? Is it necessarily a bad thing to fool oneself? How universal is self-deception? Can it ever be avoided? What are the harmful effects of fooling oneself? What are the benefits? What is the relationship between disillusionment and personal growth? What factors tend to prolong illusions? What factors help one see past the veil of illusions? What is the difference between being deluded and being creatively optimistic? Does disillusionment stifle creativity and productivity? Does it open one up to a deeper truth?

Participants: Billie Lagerwerff, David Rood, George Garrett, John Tytus, Mike Grosso

To subscribe to the podcast with your podcast software (such as iTunes or iPodder) copy and past the following link into your software:

www.citizenphilosopher.com/rss/tol_podcasts.xml

If you have iTunes, you can find us listed in the Apple Music Store directory under Podcasts/Society & Culture/Philosophy, or just do a search in iTunes on Thinking Out Loud People. The direct iTunes link is:

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=214321935

If you don't have iTunes or other podcast software and just want to download the mp3 file directly, use this link:

Listen to the broadcast (mp3)

In our next podcast we will discuss: Limits to Knowledge. Stay tuned.

You are invited to add your thoughts by clicking on the "comments" link at the lower right hand corner of this post.

Live Discussion - Postscript

Okay, we had a wonderful discussion on Wednesday. The topic we chose was: "What are the obstacles to wisdom?". Present in real space, or "meat space" as some would say, were Billie Lagerwerff, John Tytus, Mike Grosso, Uriah J. Fields and myself. We didn't have any cyber participants this time, but we did have a number of cyber listeners via Skype (up to 15 at one point). If you did not catch it live, you can still catch it when it is released as a podcast on iTunes on June 24.

Our next live discussion will be on Wednesday, July 4, at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, US. If you would like to participate long distance, leave a comment on this blog (click on lower right label, "comments"). Be sure and check back for my response. (It might take a day or so for me to get back to you so please be patient, as this is not my full-time occupation.)

Whether you wish go participate or just listen live, you will need the Skype software installed on you computer. You can download the latest version of Skype for free from their web site, www.skype.com.

Of course, you can also listen to any previously released podcast by downloading the mp3 file directly from this web site (see left side bar).

So thank you participants for participating and listeners for tuning in.

Cheers,

-Steve

Live Discussion Tonight - June 6, 7:00 ET

Hello All,

The next Thinking Out Loud session is this evening, June 6, at 7:00 PM US Eastern Time and you can listen to it live via Skypecast. Due to the ongoing anomilies in the Skypecast scheduling software, I cannot post the Skypecast ID in advance. However, a Skypecast will be created shortly before 7:00 and should then appear in the Skypecast directory under "On Now". The following link will take you to the "On Now" Skypecast directory.

https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/ongoing

When you find "Thinking Out Loud" in the directory, click on "Join this Skypecast". You will need to have Skype already installed on your computer to connect to the Skypecast. Everyone will be able to listen, but only those who have contacted me in advance may participate. As of now, this includes David, Anthony, Brooklyn, and Peace Maker. Of course we will also have our regular flesh and blood citizen philosophers present to round out the circle for what promises to be a stimulating discussion. Hope you can make it.

-Steve

Has Science Hit a Wall?

Modern physics introduced the concepts of the Uncertainty Principle, Probability Waves, and Black Hole Horizons beyond which we cannot see. Do these findings signify permanent, insurmountable limits to further progress in physics? If physics is the most fundamental of the sciences, are the other sciences equally limited as a consequence? What does this do to our faith in science as our institution of truth and understanding? Are there ways around these limitations? Are there other, more troubling limitations built into the structure of the institution of science itself? Does the present nature of the institution of science itself need to change to break the impasse? What role does culture play in the rise and fall of our faith in science? What role does politics play in the integrity of science? Are our current practices of science education conducive to producing the next Einstein? Have we passed our peak, or are we on the verge of a monumental breakthrough?

Participants: Billie Lagerwerff, John Tytus

To subscribe to the podcast with your podcast software (such as iTunes or iPodder) copy and past the following link into your software:

www.citizenphilosopher.com/rss/tol_podcasts.xml

If you have iTunes, you can find us listed in the Apple Music Store directory under Podcasts/Society & Culture/Philosophy, or just do a search in iTunes on Thinking Out Loud People. The direct iTunes link is:

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=214321935

If you don't have iTunes or other podcast software and just want to download the mp3 file directly, use this link:

Listen to the broadcast (mp3)

In our next podcast we will discuss: How do we fool ourselves?. Stay tuned.

You are invited to add your thoughts by clicking on the "comments" link at the lower right hand corner of this post.