New thought

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This was something i was thinking about some time ago and wanted to see if anyone can relate. What i have found as i have gotten older is that you are constantly questioning and finding out what your purpose is. And you come across many thoughts that i consider to be internal, in that you came to these thoughts by what you have seen in life. Not from something you read about by some philosopher. BUt while you have these ideas as soon as you pursue them you see that people have had the same questions as you throughout the ages and have written books and are considered to be genious'. Yet you have come to the same ideas they have maybe not as well thought out but the same idea. To me i get frustrated because it seems like no matter what ground breaking idea you think you ve thought of someone has already thought about. Am i wrong though if i had been born early on in humanity would i have had as enlightened ideas as i do now. I guess not cause society helps you get to those ideas and you are not born with them. Was it as hard for great thinkers of the past to come up with a new idea as it is for me.

What are your feelings in this topic?

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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 784 • Replies: 11

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What happens to a thought when it's gone. Where does it go? Is there a home for retired or misplaced thoughts. Do they all sit around and play checkers?

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And do you think it is possible for a select bunch of humans to discover the true meaning of life but because not enough people were told of their discovery the discovery would be evaporated by time. How many ideas do you think the human race has lost in the past

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Perhaps part of our purpose here is to figure out our individual purpose.

No one can do that for us except ourselves.

I do not doubt many wise people have lived in the past and knew things that are now lost.

But, however wise they were (or are, if they are still living)--they cannot tell you or I the purpose of our lives.

That is up to us to explore, learn, and carry out.

Kind of scary, huh?

But its part of the thrill of actually living, I believe.

Too many people are looking for someone wise or smart to tell them the purpose of life.

I say screw that.

D, I can tell, you are a strong & intelligent person.

Find your own purpose.

And I hope that it is something positive in this world.

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Society affects us to a large extent. When Columbus bumped into America, He and the rest of Europe though the Earth was the center of the universe, unique, and created as merely a temporary home for people. Imagine their attitude toward the native Americans, who had never heard of Christianity. They were thought of as little more than animals.

Now, there were always some people who were exceptions and had a enlightened attitude, but they were in the minority, and they kept quiet about it.
Often, in the past, to speak openly as we do here, would have meant a death sentence imposed by the government or the church.

Just imagine being a white kid living in the South just fifty years ago. What would your attitude toward blacks have been compared to today? Society has a big influence on people.

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Someone somewhere in one of these forum said "Majority rules, minority rights"

I thought it was a good phrase im not sure where it was though

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Re: New thought

Discreet wrote:

To me i get frustrated because it seems like no matter what ground breaking idea you think you ve thought of someone has already thought about.

I know what you mean. I used to have this feeling a lot.

Perhaps this will help a little: Someone might have thought things a similar to you, done things similar to you, but no one has been exactly like you. Ever.

Its a mystery, but one thing we know for sure (pretty much): you are a unique being like no other.

I'd say find some things you love and take those interests to the limit. People tend to excel at things they enjoy. It took me too long to learn that.

Do things you enjoy. Then, even if it ends up you've covered ground others have, etc., at least you've enjoyed your time, and I believe that is important.

Few people have done great things, doing something they hate.

Oh I'm sure a few have, but for the most part they had a passion for what they were doing.

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Yeah thats a good attitude. Something you can apply to anything. Especially now adays when it seems like everyone complains about going to work and can't wait till the weekend. I would rather have a job i enjoy and get paid less then get paid well and hate every min of the job

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Re: New thought

Discreet wrote:

This was something i was thinking about some time ago and wanted to see if anyone can relate. What i have found as i have gotten older is that you are constantly questioning and finding out what your purpose is.

Indeed. I personally get an amazing thrill as I look back over my life and see how my thought processes are developing. It's amazing how much clearer the world becomes as you get older and learn more.

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And you come across many thoughts that i consider to be internal, in that you came to these thoughts by what you have seen in life.

However the lives of people haven't changed in tens of thousands of years. The graffiti of ancient Egypt was all about who was getting promoted because they slept with their boss and all the other elements of a modern soap opera. Thus if a thought is derived from life-experience, it has most likely already been thought. Originality can only really be found by looking far outside the confines of our own rather limited lives.

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you see that people have had the same questions as you throughout the ages and have written books and are considered to be genious'.

Ahhh, fame.

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To me i get frustrated because it seems like no matter what ground breaking idea you think you ve thought of someone has already thought about.

Perhaps your ideas aren't in fact all that ground-breaking.

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Am i wrong though if i had been born early on in humanity would i have had as enlightened ideas as i do now. I guess not cause society helps you get to those ideas and you are not born with them. Was it as hard for great thinkers of the past to come up with a new idea as it is for me.

Yes and no. The generally uneducated population around them, lacking a system of mass communication were less likely to spot plagiarism and duplication of ideas.

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What are your feelings in this topic?

See above.

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To me i get frustrated because it seems like no matter what ground breaking idea you think you ve thought of someone has already thought about.

Are you searching for a new idea just so that you can be the first? What satisfaction does that hold?

There are ideas and there are things you just understand. An idea is a piece of knowledge that you posess, like a toy or a tool. You can have it without fully understanding it. Other things you just understand, because experience has granted you the wisdom. Just because someone thought up an idea doesn't mean you don't have to. You can read it in a book probably, but that will only be knowledge until you think it out for yourself.

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Yeah but will you will never earn the title of the greatest thinker of the 21st century if all your ideas have been thought up. How can i come up with a philosophy that i think i thought of and then mention it to someone and it seems that everyone has the same philosophy or idea. If i were never educated and never introduced to society what kind of ideas would i be able to come to. Would they all deal with ones self. Or would i be able to think up philosophical ideas about life and the meaning on my own without knowledge. It seems you are born with the notion of finding meaning

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Discreet

I'm not sure what "new thoughts" means.

(1)Most philososophers agree that our similarities outweigh our differences and therefore we are going to arrive at similar questions and potential answers by virtue of common cognitive mechanisms in response to common human experiences.
Have a look at Google references on Perennial Philosophy

(2) A second point is that much if not all our thinking is done "within language" which we acquire socially and historically. To some extent all thought is shared, but some are more articulate than others.

(3) The renegade scientists Rupert Sheldrake has even argued that simultaneous discoveries and even reports of telepathy can be accounted for in terms of "morphogenic fields" which are not located in any particular individual.

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New thought

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