I just met an old friend of mine, a former schoolmate. When I took him home, he saw the graduation photo that I hung on the wall of my house. Then, he asked, "What major are you majoring in?" I said that I majored in philosophy. Then he asked again, "why did you choose philosophy in your study program?" I also told all the reasons I chose philosophy. But he was confused, because I told stories with many themes, from Zen, politics, religion, etc.
I assumed that this friend of mine was thinking specialists. What is specialism? it is an ideology that believes that nowadays, people should have only one skill if more or less, that person is considered to have no expertise. Ideology like this is not by reality, because reality is a complex and interrelated life. I see life is very broad, it makes me wonder and ask questions in my mind. From the admiration and questioning that I chose the path of philosophy since 8 years ago. I also chose a variety of themes for me to study. I learned many things in a rational, logical, and critical way. this is the method I follow in philosophy.
In the method of life that I live in the world of philosophy, I study everything by using rational common sense. I do not want to immediately believe in the words of wisdom, traditions, religious dress, to pressure from the authorities. That way I can use the logic that I have because logic is the art of thinking that must be done for everyone. In the world of philosophy, I critically study everything, all theoretical views I try with reality and my common sense. There is no dogma and adherence to everything I learn, If it proves to be good and true to reality, I will use it.
Returning to the topic of specialism that my friend holds, the ideology of specialism arises due to the increasingly bureaucratic state of the world. Administrative demands force people to have certain skills as if this is an identity attached to a person. For example, I studied philosophy in Germany, so people would think that I was studying German philosophy, but that's not necessarily the case. Although German philosophy is very interesting to me, German philosophy is getting more and more absurd, so that my interest in studying it has decreased. Administrative demands are understandable, but don't let them end your curiosity to learn.
My main interest in studying philosophy is life, from the life I learn about everything. By learning everything, I became more and more ignorant, so I felt I had to learn new and reflect on things. The more I don't know, the more I want to keep learning, that way I can meet great and interesting people, lots of people I have met from various backgrounds. I often get enlightened and interesting ideas when I study philosophy. By the end, I had gone beyond the concept. I live as it is, a life that has not been defined in language, words, and theory. This life makes the heart peaceful and serene.
