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Bringing philosophy into DU


Zephos

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Hello all,

 

I am fairly new to DU, as I just got Alpha access and have only one real test session under my belt. I have been following the game for years, however, intrigued by the possibilities it offers. As I have been thinking more and more about the game and what role I want to play in it, I have come to the realization that there is so much more to build in DU than just ships and bases, and one of the things that DU will let us build is a society, with its own culture and unique characteristics.

 

Many people have already started to build those intangible elements that make up a society or culture. There are religious organizations, political organizations, etc. These are things that have a structure you can't see, and yet are just as important to a society as cities and space ships. We all know this game will force us to cooperate, and these kinds of "social constructs" will provide a way to do this.

 

What I want to build is similar, but different in some ways. It will be an organization dedicated to not politics or religion, but to philosophy. I am a practicing Stoic (stoicism is a branch of hellenistic philosophy, originating in Athens 300 B.C), and as such have a strong interest in philosophy, especially Stoicism. Stoicism is a philosophy whose adherents believe that nothing is within their control except their own actions and reactions, and that such actions and reactions should be carried out with courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice. Stoics also believe that all things are connected, especially all people, and therefore all people should be treated well. Lastly, Stoicism teaches that to live a good life, you must accept what is not in your control and strive to live virtuously regardless of external circumstances or events.

 

In ancient times, philosophers would have physical schools of philosophy to teach their philosophy of life to students. With the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, those schools became obsolete as the Church dictated how people should live instead.

 

I want to bring the school of Stoic philosophy into DU.

 

This is how I want to do this: 

 

First of all, I am not a philosopher, but a student of philosophy, therefore I will defer to the ancient and modern Stoic philosophers to do the actual teaching. Otherwise, I want to build a mecca of philosophy in the DU world. It will be a non-religious temple dedicated to philosophy, if that makes sense. This place will have monuments to the great philosophers as well as resources for those wanting to learn. I imagine screens lit up with stoic wisdom everywhere you turn and some amazing architecture to make the place a tourist destination. It will become a cultural phenomenon and touchstone, even help define the culture inside DU just as the schools of philosophy defined the culture of Ancient Rome. At worst it will be a spectacle that travelers will come to see, and at best it will help spread wisdom throughout the DU population.

 

In order to build such a structure, I will need help. I will need miners, architects, builders, ship builders, and more. I will need people to help flesh out this vision, too. If anyone is interested in joining me on this venture, or joining an organization dedicated to philosophy and stoicism, please respond. I haven't created the org yet, but I will as soon as I see that there is enough interest.

 

Cheers,

Zephos

 

 

 

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"Stoicism teaches that to live a good life, you must accept what is not in your control and strive to live virtuously regardless of external circumstances or events."

 

Live Life, die another day

 

Good luck and if you indeed make a discord please let me know and i will be there.

Also if you are interested in building a Philisophical District i want to build a space City and i would love to have that in the City, a place of reflection.

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Hi Zephos, interesting all what you said.
Now, we all know that we are. But, Do we REALLY know what we are?
Then, the question is, for me, Do you know who are YOU, ACTUALLY?
I mean, not the things you may believe or that you have been programmed to believe or the things you interpretate as real through your senses.
Do you know actually who are you?
And if you don't, then how true or reliable your impresions or interpretations about everything else will be?
Having that said, i wish you good luck with your endevours here. Welcome to DU.

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6 hours ago, Alsan Teamaro said:

Hi Zephos, interesting all what you said.
Now, we all know that we are. But, Do we REALLY know what we are?
Then, the question is, for me, Do you know who are YOU, ACTUALLY?
I mean, not the things you may believe or that you have been programmed to believe or the things you interpretate as real through your senses.
Do you know actually who are you?
And if you don't, then how true or reliable your impresions or interpretations about everything else will be?
Having that said, i wish you good luck with your endevours here. Welcome to DU.

It's precisely this kind of philosophical mumbo jumbo that I try to avoid. Philosophy should be practical, not theoretical. I can't derive anything useful from pondering whether I know what I am or not. I can however find benefit in regulating my reactions to the world, so that I can remain calm and in harmony with the world in any circumstance.

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In my view, I couldn't have been more practical. And I mean every word I say. Because (lets consider only the possibility), if one would start from arbitrary or distorted assumptions about oneself, then the subsequent judgments would be neccesarily arbitrary and distorted. And those wouldn't lead precisely to calm and harmony.
But, please, don't missunderstand me, it's only my view, that is such relative and partial as yours, like when you said -for instance- that my coment was "philosophical mumbo jumbo"... Which, apart from being your own subjetive view on it, is indeed a disqualifying comment (I didn't do that with yours when I wrote). Not very constructive actually, mostly if one wants -as you say-  "to remain calm and in harmony with the world in any circumstance".
However, it has nothing to do with me or my coment. It's just your opinion, each one as valid as any other, from the point of view of who shares it.
Anyway, this ends here, obviously. Have a nice game.

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think you got a point in your first lines AL, it took me about 35 years to finally find who i really am, not who others want me to be, who society wants me to be, even who my family, wife and kids want me to be but who i am without thinking about who i want to be.

And that is a deep reflective vision and a painful process in general. We are almost never who we want to be nor even close to that. But we can strive to be the best ourselves and in that remain true to ourselves and in harmony with ones mind.

The point in the end is to embrace life in the fullest and live to be alive in stead of being alive to live, energy conversions, soul re-balancing, clean mirrors.

 

All starts with two simple things and one harder thing for some, 1 allowing others to freely be who they are, even though some are regular assholes, 2 keep communications open, 3 say Sorry even if you are right. Even if you are right, if the other person was hurt you can say your sorry for hurting them without pulling your words back as words and feelings are not the same and sometimes words hurt as not everyone can stand hearing the truth about themselves or the world.

 

Peace my friends and Harmony and balance

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