Philosophy in Non-Philosophical Concepts

For a while the world has seemed incredibly stupid and shallow as a whole to me. I couldn’t understand what made us such intelligent beings when all that we do is motivated, or seems to be motivated by our simple natural desires. Then, when I looked deeper into some of the trivial seemingly stupid phrases and songs that have been popular I’ve found some what profound undertones.

Take the song “What is Love” made popular by the SNL Night At The Roxbury skit and eventual movie. The chorus goes, “what is love, baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more…” This tune is catchy and seemingly devoid of profoundness, but looking deeper it could be an investigation of what love is; being willing to try not to hurt your companion. Ok that’s a stretch, but there are plenty more things to investigate.

Think about this quote from a person most see as the epitome of modern society’s stupidity, "All I can tell you is when the governor calls, I answer his phone." --George W. Bush, San Diego, Calif., Oct. 25, 2007 Yes it seems incredibly stupid at first, the grammatical agreement is off, and even if it was intended to agree in that way it would appear to make no sense at all. However, in actuality this phrase may demonstrate an over bearing belief in government, the idea that a third party may be listening when you pick up the phone. Bush may indeed answer the governor’s phone; because of the Patriot Act the government does have that ability. This takes us to Plato’s idea of an ideal republic. Bush perhaps believes an ideal government is one who has control over everything, like the governor’s phone. Plato would almost agree, but in Plato’s theory complete control was held by an ideal, just, and moral leader. Maybe Bush just didn’t read that far into Plato’s Republic. All right, maybe this one is just a good use of bull shit too, but come on people, I’ve got to find something intelligent in this world, or else what is the point of living?

Philosophy often explores the depth and extent of life. The well known philosopher Brooke Shields once said, "Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life." Perhaps Ms. Shields believes that the physical life is not all there is to true life, but is an important part of total life, and throwing that away could be a mistake. She is after all a student of Aristotle, who would also argue against smoking since it goes against his theory of, “only doing things that enhance a person’s being.” Strangely though, Aristotle was known to light up after the occasional orgy. Ms. Shields perhaps overlooked that fact. Then again maybe that is just a stupid quote.

Maybe the late great genius Albert Einstein can enlighten us about stupidity and save me some time. "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." –Einstein. Damn! Well, that doesn’t help. Although, it does make me feel a little better that Einstein and I may be on the same wavelength. Who knows, maybe I can disprove Einstein here. Maybe I can find a truly profound yet stupid quote.

Perhaps Keanu Reeves can save my premise like he saves the world in all of his movies. His stupid quote: “I cried over beauty, I cried over pain, and the other time I cried because I felt nothing. I can’t help it. I’m just a cliché of myself.” does approach an interesting concept, although the wrong usage of cliché is apparent. Perhaps though, it is intended, the idea of crying from feeling nothing could stem from repeating your own actions so much that one make oneself a living cliché and therefore no longer know one’s actual self. Life is after all repetitious and after a while it can feel like our senses have been numbed by the tedium. Then again it is Keanu Reeves saying it. I think I am getting closer to Philosophy in stupidity though.

Once more I allow the supposed Sultan of Stupid to speak again, “I have opinions of my own --strong opinions-- but I don't always agree with them.” –George W. Bush. This does seem hilariously funny, however digging deeper it may express an inner conflict within our fearless leader, as well as within all of us. Are our opinions, no matter how strong they are actually our own? Also, even though we may have an opinion, we may explore it within ourselves and find that we may actually not agree with them. We all have experienced an inner conflict, such as temptation, whether to give in or not. Perhaps we may come to realize that our opinions are not actually our own, but imposed on us by the constraints of society. In that case it may be natural to not agree with one’s believed opinion. Sadly though, I doubt Bush thought this deeply about the phrase before he said it.

Shakespeare once said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” In that spirit the next quote is not stupid at all, but full of wit. “Facts are stupid things.” –Ronald Reagan. Perhaps facts are stupid things. They do stop us from thinking, and stupidity could be considered to be a condition devoid of thought. Facts, though they may be true are often accepted as concrete. When we hear a fact presented in an argument, if it is believed to be an irrefutable fact, often times the argument will end or turn in a different direction because who dares challenge a fact? When we take things as fact however we prevent ourselves from exploring those things deeper and giving up on further understanding could in fact be said to be stupid.

Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place for the redemption of humanity’s stupidity. After all Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the few hundred people in all of human existence to be free from stupidity once said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” There may not be anything to gain within quotes, and even geniuses may say a stupid thing every now and again. Stupidity is after all infectious. None of us are really above being called stupid. Maybe stupidity is merely one of our simple flaws that make us who we are. The world would be quite boring without humorous instances of stupidity.