Ben Folds Five - Philosophy

Go ahead you can
Laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
Keeps my feet on the ground
And I trust it like the ground
And thats why my philosophy
It keeps me walking when Im falling down
I see that there is evil
And I know that there is good
And the inbetweens
I never understood
Wont you look at me
Im crazy
But I get the job done
Yeah Im crazy
But I get the job done

I find it hard to function without philosophy. Not that I always think things through on a metaphysical level before I do them. But that I can’t help but reflect upon the things I see and do in that way. It just kind of…happens.

“Just because,” the favorite explanation of everyone between the ages of 5 and 10–and seemingly the majority of adults–simply doesn’t work for me. “Because [authority figure] said so” is scarcely any more satisfying. “It shouldn’t have to be that way,” a favorite justification of the left (and you thought I couldn’t bring politics into this), is similarly without value unless it’s explained why.

I’m often half-jokingly asked if I was a philosophy major. Which is flattering because believe me this ego loves to be stroked. But it’s also disheartening. I’m saddened that in the circles I run in, people find the depth to which I take politics, science, even hobbies to be something unique. I don’t want it to be unique. I don’t want to be singled out for it. I’d much rather it be the initiation or the continuation of an ongoing friendly debate. Something that’s as much take as give.

For me, I’m nothing without philosophy. It’s what helps me stand alone. It’s how I know I’m my own man, not beholden to the indoctrination of culture, peers, ancestors, or society. Because under the layers, under everything those outside see, is a core I know to be my own. Take away the clothing, the degrees, the resume. Forget about the way people describe you, from those who’ve just met you to those who’ve known you for years. Take away the words of others who taught you what to do and how to do it. What’s left?

Sadly, it would seem that the answer is at best that most people simply don’t care what makes them tick.

Perhaps it’s because I romanticize, well, the romantic period, the enlightenment, and the renaissance. Perhaps it’s because for all my cynicism and anger, I’m really an optimist when it comes to the capabilities of humanity. Couldn’t say. I just think that people are capable of understanding themselves and the world to a much greater degree than they ever try to. And when they do put in that effort, not only do they grow larger in the making, but so does the world.

A coherent personal philosophy doesn’t just help you stand alone but also together. Spider Robinson’s Callahan series more or less revolves around this idea. Through the course of that marvelous series, the denizens of Callahan’s Bar learned who they really were, and were able to form a friendship so deep and so strong that though few in number, they were able to save the world. But here in the world much of the time I feel like part of a circuit that’s been cut, a charged battery whose frayed wires are uselessly flapping in the wind.

You may take this all for granted
Take the mortar, block and glass
And you forget the speech
That moved the stone
Its really not the you cant see
The forest for the trees
Youve never been out
In the woods before

Go ahead you can laugh
All you want
But I got my philosophy
Keeps my feet on the ground
And I love you
Youre my friend
But you got no philosophy
Now its time for this song to end

There are a few people I’m able to really connect with. And I treasure those friendships, because it’s the only time Nick ever has a chance to be seen. Everyone else simply sees one layer or another.