Truisms and Thinking

In this blog, I have decided to ruminate about truisms.  Recently, I downloaded a list of Truisms from a source on the Internet.  The nature of truisms is that they are bits of wisdom which we gleaned from living, or which have been passed on to us; frequently from our relatives as we grow up.  They are usually tucked away in our memory banks unexamined thereafter.  From there they shape the way we experience the minute-to-minute continuum of our lives.

Reading over such a list, it is evident that, someone, at some time, thought about the nature of living in this world and distilled those experiences into a brief sentence as a way of remembering what was learned.  Thereafter, that person probably shared their bit of world wisdom with others, who then shared it with others.  If you have taken up the habit of writing in a Journal, it would be a good idea to jot down as many of them as you can dredge up.

The benefit of such an exercise will be to examine them for any validity they have.  You will likely find that some of them are instances of folk wisdom, which are as useful as when first coined; an example I remember, more of an adage than a truism, is: "A stitch in time saves nine."  Others will need to be examined carefully with the aim of sorting out how they may be influencing your attitudes about other people and life.

Another possibility is to do an Internet search and print out a list of them.  The list I printed out contains about twelve pages; you can find it here, although the site has been redesigned, so that you will have to copy the list in order to reformat it.  Reading through such a list, and thinking about, at least, some of them, would help you to sort out which of the truisms you may harbor, which shape your attitudes, and/or believe, and ideas which you reject, and why. 

In my view, very few individuals take any time to think about anything.  A primary reason for this is that during acquiring one's education seldom, if ever, are pupils asked to think about what they are required to read and memorize.  This was your preparation for life; it is little wonder then that it is rare to meet a person who has actually thought about what comes out of their mouths. 

One definition of, "philosophy," according to Dictionary.com, is: "a system of principles for guidance in practical affairs."    A reading of any list of truisms/proverbs/adages/aphorisms reveals that it is actually a compilation of philosophy which has passed into the commons.

Technically, the field of Philosophy, includes, again according to Dictionary.com.: "the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct."  For me, Philosophy, ideally, would be the activity of thinking about anything and everything, without using pre-held, "facts" or beliefs.  Unfortunately that is not what older and modern Philosophy is generally about.  As I have written previously all branches of knowledge are compilations of set Beliefs about Reality.  In the same way, very little Philosophy is not tainted with pre-held Beliefs about Reality.

The three main accepted branches of Philosophy are: natural philosophy, moral philosophy, and metaphysical philosophy.  As I have written previously, Philosophy has been restricted as to what it is acceptable to discuss/write about.  As an example, being a philosopher of consciousness is unacceptable to most Philosophers, due to the fact that they do not believe in the existence of human consciousness.  As another example, Metaphysical Philosophy does not tolerate parapsychology as being a legitimate aspect of Metaphysical Philosophy. 

While Philosophy is generally not considered a glamorous way to spend one's time, and tends to be taken up later in life, to ignore philosophy or thinking about existence is akin to, "An unexamined life is not worth living,".(Socrates)   

With that I end these ruminations today.

Shirley Gallup