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Four Philosophical Questions to Make Your Brain Hurt

Shiraz Janjua, Associate Producer

Over at the Beeb: “It’s World Philosophy Day - an opportunity to contemplate one’s very existence and whether computer monitors really exist.” Check out their four philosophical questions for some mind-bending fun.

Among the philosophical questions I asked myself at a young age, say around age 6, I can recall these:

  1. Wondering if everything outside my sensory limits actually existed when I wasn’t there or whether it was all purely a creation of my own mind, or if there really is a world right behind me (which I can never see myself since I don’t have eyes on the back of my head);
  2. Wondering about the semiotic significance of the middle finger, and if giving a middle finger to the sky really meant anything, or if God would care (I clearly remember the playground discussion that was had in first grade about this).

I’ve also wondered if having these questions made me some kind of child savant. I’d like to think yes, but I’m sure you’ve had philosophical questions about The Real since childhood, too, such as…

    • #philosophy
  • 4 years ago [Thu, Nov 20th, 2008 at 10:31am]
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On Being with Krista Tippett is a public radio project delving into the human side of news stories + issues. Curated + edited by senior editor Trent Gilliss.

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