Author Topic: Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm  (Read 1118 times)

Offline Ripsnort

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #30 on: February 20, 2002, 03:22:07 PM »
Animal, having children of your own takes you out of your "comfort zone" daily.  Never bored here. :D

Offline Animal

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #31 on: February 20, 2002, 03:24:51 PM »
Hehe, NO WAY.
I rather have a dog for now.

No one will put me in jail if it dies.

Offline Gunthr

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #32 on: February 20, 2002, 03:50:21 PM »
LOL, thats funny Animal.

"Carry on my wayward son,
There'l be peace when you are done." :)
"When I speak I put on a mask. When I act, I am forced to take it off."  - Helvetius 18th Century

Offline -sudz-

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #33 on: February 20, 2002, 04:24:50 PM »
Well, looks like the input is dying off so I'll post my take on the question.

Enthusiasm is a special case of Interest - you can be interested in something without being enthusiastic but you can't be enthusiastic without also being interested.  What's more, enthusiasm is a measure of positive interest (you can be very interested in the grizzly bear charging at you but saying you're enthusiastic about it would probably be pushing it).

OK, then, enough with the definitions.  Wisdom and experience fit into this picture by altering your interest level.  It doesn't always have to be a dampening effect, either - sometimes it can increase your interest. To illustrate, let's take the road trip example:

No Wisdom:
"Let's go on a road trip!"  - "Yes!! I'll go!"

Experienced:
"Let's go on a road trip!"  - "With who?"
"Halley Barry" - "Where to?"
"Las Vegas" - "I've no money . . ."
"She's paying for everything" - "What's the ride?"
"Souped-up HumVee limosine" - "What about my wife and kids?"
"Your wife is taking the kids to visit your mother-in-law" - "Yes!!, I'll go!"

Experience doesn't eliminate enthusiasm or necessarily curtail it.  The appearance that the older you get the less enthusiastic you get is more due to the fact that you've probably already done the easily available activities.  The stuff that would now interest you is unfeasible due to practicalities (like a trip on the space shuttle) or obligations (can't, wife forbids skydiving).  It's up to the indivdual to find new things, rare though they might be, and be able to feel enthusiasm more frequently.

Thank you all for tossing in . . .
-Sudz

Offline Animal

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #34 on: February 20, 2002, 04:28:14 PM »
Yeah I guess you are right.
That explains why old people are not "cool" except for rock stars, and thats because they are stupid.

Offline midnight Target

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #35 on: February 20, 2002, 04:55:11 PM »
Older people not cool?

Maybe you oughta go seek some out.

My Great Uncle was stationed in the Aleutians during WW2 and decided to stay. He still walks down to the coast and picks his own Oysters. He's 85 and could kick my ass. He has the greatest stories and loves to tell em. He is very cool!

My Great Aunt just celebrated her 90th birthday. 2 years ago she went on a cruise up the Amazon, 1 year ago to Fiji. She just graduated from a junior college art program last August. She bought her own home by herself (without a man's help) in 1937. Definitely ahead of her time, and very cool. I hope I have half of her energy at the age of 90.

Maybe we should be asking how these few active older folks kept up the fight for life, instead of assuming that it always goes away.

Offline gavor

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #36 on: February 20, 2002, 05:15:29 PM »
You sound a little directionless Animal and I really dont have any advise. I'm sure you dont want me telling you what to do but I can say at your age I was doing something very similar. I spent a lot of years not knowing what I wanted to do and getting bored with everything I did. I still dont know what I want to do. Well actually theres so many things I want to do and be that I just cant decide on one so i end up doing none.

Over analysing things like enthusiasm and experience is fun but ultimately futile. The solution is just to go do things, out of 10 things you try, maybe you'll enjoy 2 or 3.

Go travelling. My gf and I were getting bored here in our home town and our jobs so she quit to study, I took up a correspondance course and we've set a date to fly out of this hole and live somewhere up north. Then we'll go travelling overseas, maybe ill be able to make it to some AH get togethers :).

Where's this essay going? Hrm. Not sure. I guess I'm just trying to demonstrate that the world is full of interesting things as long as you're prepared to leave your jaded self at home and make your own fun.

And on a quick note to your post Target, I've always said that at 80 or 90 I want to live a better life than I am now. Maybe a bit slower, but im determined not to waste my old age hanging around for the relatives to visit once a month.

Offline Gunthr

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #37 on: February 20, 2002, 06:37:52 PM »
Regarding enthusiasm, I'm reminded of a fellow that I spoke to after he had left a local "swinging club", which was the source of endless speculation among my associates and me.

I asked this 30ish, obese dude what he had been doing in the swingers club.

He said, "Oh you know, just drink, watch dirty movies, relax and have sex and stuff."

I asked him what the women were like in there.

He answered, "Oh, theres all different kinds, they're friendly. You can ask them if they want to have sex, but if they say no, you have to leave them alone."

"Oh. Did you have sex with a woman in there?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Was she there alone?"

"No. Her husband brought her."

"Where was he when you were having sex with his wife?"

"Well, he was right there."

"That didn't make him mad?"

 "Oh no, he encouraged us."

"Do you mean that some other guys were having sex with her too, while her husband watched?"

"Yeah."

"Did she like it?" (read, was she enthusiastic?)

"I think so, her husband said she liked it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she was crippled."

"Huh?" "She was crippled?"

"Yeah. She was in a wheelchair."

"But she couldn't talk?"

"Well, she was like retarted, too."

"And you guys all had sex with her in front of her husband?"

"Well, yeah."

"How do you know that she wanted to have sex with you guys?"

"Well, her husband said she liked it. He could tell. Plus, she was making noises too, kind of grunting, so ..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Because I wondered how "enthusiastic" the female was, the matter was investigated. It was determined that no crime was committed. :) End of story. This place is still in business today.
"When I speak I put on a mask. When I act, I am forced to take it off."  - Helvetius 18th Century

Offline gavor

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #38 on: February 20, 2002, 06:51:23 PM »
wierd.

Offline Animal

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #39 on: February 20, 2002, 07:25:10 PM »
i was being sarcastic.










Quote
Originally posted by midnight Target
Older people not cool?

Maybe you oughta go seek some out.

My Great Uncle was stationed in the Aleutians during WW2 and decided to stay. He still walks down to the coast and picks his own Oysters. He's 85 and could kick my ass. He has the greatest stories and loves to tell em. He is very cool!

My Great Aunt just celebrated her 90th birthday. 2 years ago she went on a cruise up the Amazon, 1 year ago to Fiji. She just graduated from a junior college art program last August. She bought her own home by herself (without a man's help) in 1937. Definitely ahead of her time, and very cool. I hope I have half of her energy at the age of 90.

Maybe we should be asking how these few active older folks kept up the fight for life, instead of assuming that it always goes away.

Offline Gadfly

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #40 on: February 20, 2002, 07:46:15 PM »
Philosophy is triple-ply Charmin instead of a handful of leaves.

Offline Pongo

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #41 on: February 20, 2002, 08:20:34 PM »
There is certainly a corelation between the two.

Wisdom has granted me enthusiasm for things that in the absence of wisdom..I took for granted.

 Like wise wisdom has cured my enthusiasm for things that in the absence of wisdom I over valued.

Enthusiasm is not gone. It is more wisely directed I think.

Anyone that is a parent will understand what I mean.

Offline easymo

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #42 on: February 20, 2002, 09:19:32 PM »
My dad taught me a trick when I was young.  Fake it.  Even if you feel little enthusiasm, act as if you do .  This will cause the people around you to become enthusiastic. You will eventually get caught up in there enthusiasm and become genuinely enthusiastic.  I know it sounds weird. But it works.

Offline Animal

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #43 on: February 20, 2002, 09:29:06 PM »
Its hard for me, I'm not the faking type, I could do it for a few minutes, but not convincingly for long.

Offline gavor

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Philosophy 101: Wisdom death of Enthusiasm
« Reply #44 on: February 20, 2002, 10:12:11 PM »
Its called the end of teen years crisis. You dont know if you've done enough with your younger years and you dont know what you want to do with your older years. Believe me, you've got plenty of time. Don't waste it &$*# arsing around. Just go and do some new stuff. If you dont like it, *(#& it off and try something else.

Dont listen to old people, if you make one wrong decision you wont suddenly find yourself 50 and working the same job as you did at 20. The future also holds some cool stuff, specially in medicine and technology. Read up on it, get excited about the future.