Secrets of the Discourses

[Bounder]



I gave papers on Nick in both 2015 and 2016. At the most recent one, I gave my remarks, listened to the discussants and then in the Q&A someone said something and I thought "Aha! Now I know what that means!"

See, I love that kind of thing. You may even think you really understand it and then one little thing nudges all the pieces and they suddenly fall into place . . . the flash of illumination.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



All you really need to study this stuff is in interest in thinking. If you want to think, just dive in. Of course, you aren't going to understand it at first. You're going to have to back track and read up on new concepts you don't understand, etc. But that's the fun part. Studying these things is really a game. Taking a deep dive into something like Machiavelli is of no earthly use at all. But putting the pieces together can be an incredible rush. Of course, it can also make you extremely boring at dinner parties, so you have to be careful.

That's the thing though, without a "teacher" as if I were to take a course it is hard to make sense of things on your own. You may not even know the questions to ask to research on your own. Also, you may find something irrelevant when it isn't.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

A lot of emphasis is put on experiences that you have as a child, but I disagree with a lot of them. I am not formally educated on such things, but the generality that everybody holds on to thee childhood traumas and such is overblown. I mean we all have horrible **** that happened to us when we were growing up, some of us just know how to get over it and move on, while some play the victim their adult lives and blame bad decisions on their dad wanting them to play football or something.