Book 127 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: Mountains and Valleys

Book – The Story of Philosophy: The lives and opinions of the world’s greatest philosophers from Plato to John Dewey by Will Durant

Book Description:

The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers is a 1926 book by Will Durant, in which he profiles several prominent Western philosophers and their ideas, beginning with Socrates and Plato and on through Friedrich Nietzsche. Durant attempts to show the interconnection of their ideas and how one philosopher's ideas informed the next.

There are nine chapters each focused on one philosopher, and two more chapters each containing briefer profiles of three early 20th century philosophers.

Reflection:

If you’ve followed this journey at all or read my previous book, you will have learned that the topic of “philosophy and philosophers” makes my blood boil. I hate reading books by philosophers. They drive me insane. I seemingly don’t retain a single drop of knowledge from any of them and they bore me to tears. I feel like I’m taking a journey inside someone else’s head as they argue with themselves.

There is no story, no plot, no through line, no nothing. I feel like I might as well be reading binary computer programming code. That is not how I, or humans learn. We learn by in stories and using our imaginations to build vivid imagery to create long term memories. We learn from stories, not words. Philosophy to me is just a bunch of words.

I’m working hard to change this perception, which is why I keep trying new books by philosophers or about philosophy. I actually really enjoyed this Story of Philosophy by Will Durant because…it was a story as the name implies. That is how humans learn best, and this was no different. I felt like I got a chance to understand the real men behind the quotes we always see thrown about, context of time and place of when their ideas emerged, how one built on the other, and how their ideas and thoughts have had an impact on how we think about and live our lives today.

I’m starting to get it, but I’m still not all the way there yet. I think my Cofounder of ClubAny, Trieu, summed up my thoughts best when he said, “He loves philosophy, but hates philosophers”.

BINGO!

I do see immense value in the art of philosophy. Thinking, questioning, and exploring ourselves and how we relate to this world are what I’m all about. Hell, most of this entire journey is me documenting my thoughts and ever evolving newfound philosophies on life and finding purpose since losing my daughter. One might even call me a philosopher??? I shudder at the thought and that makes me want to puke.

Here is my problem with philosophers – They are unbalanced!

I’ve always pictured “philosophers” as these dudes that retreat to the metaphorical mountains of their minds and never come back down to the valley floor. They spend all their time up there in isolation, questioning, thinking, going down different rabbit holes, and working through man’s greatest problems in their mind. They seemingly remove themselves from all the valley floors of this world where the real people are that are living their actual lives and interacting with one another.

There is value to this, but they are missing the other side of the coin. I

f they mountain top is where the art of thinking occurs; the valley floors are where the art of living happens.

In the valley floors, I picture the “street rat”, Aladdin, running around singing, “Gotta steal to eat, Gotta eat to live…tell you all about when I’ve got the time!!!” The valley floors are where the rubber meets the road. When the animal instincts come out and everything happens at lightening speed. This is where living happens. This is where theory meets reality to see who shall survive.

I like to think of life as Mountains and Valleys.

This journey is all about finding balance in harmony in my world between the mountains and the valleys in my own life. I sit in my office in the morning learning new things, exploring my thoughts, and writing it down. Then the rest of the day I’m out there scrapping with the rest of the world figuring out what works and doesn’t. The mix of the 2 is intoxicating and never gets old.

That is the art of LIVING in my mind. That is balance!

Question: Are you spending too much time in the mountains or valleys of your life? How can you adjust to find more balance?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - The Story of Philosophy: The lives and opinions of the world’s greatest philosophers from Plato to John Dewey by Will Durant