Intellectual interests..

[MehGuy]

I thought it would be interesting to create a thread asking people what their intellectual interests are. More specifically the evolutionary journey of your interests throughout your lives. Did one interest lead you to another?

For me I was quite interested in spirituality as a kid and teenager. Given that, I was more emotional and did not analyze things in any great depth. It was not until I became an atheist that I started to develop what I'd call intellectual interests.

For my first one, it came from my lost of faith. Around the age of 18 I lost my faith. This was a very traumatic loss for me and as a consequence I spent about a year in a daze. By the time I became 20 I was ready to analyze my faith. Specifically why it was so strong and traumatic to lose. I came to the realization that the psychology of my faith was almost entirely dominated by emotional sadomasochism (non-sexual). That my mind is incredibly sadomasochistic. This led me to develop a great interested in psychology. For years I looked at things through a heavily sadomasochistic based lens.

By the time I was 21 or 22 I became introduced to feminists and pre-social justice warriors. I in turn became very interested with feminists due to what I perceived as their obsession and defense of female victimhood and incredible anger towards the idea of men being victims. I saw a reflection of my old Christian faith where Christian victimhood was idolized and victims of non-Christians were diminished or ignored. The anger I had with my old faith transferred to an intense hatred for modern feminism. A subject I viewed as more socially relevant to modern times.

For years I looked at an argued against feminism through a very psychological sadomasochistic lens. The problem being others found my conclusions to be very disturbing, and while I still see value in them I came to the realization that with current science and studies my views are not able to be backable and that others are not wrong for embracing them and that pushing the subject at the moment is not really worth it.

Still, I was very much interested in gender dynamics and the politics within and I eventually became intellectually curious about evolutionary psychology and more specifically neoteny. Neoteny being a concept I found easier to use in my discussions regarding feminism and gender politics. Something I think other people have an easier time understanding what I am talking about and at least less disturbing to others.

Now in current times this interest in evolutionary psychology has led me to an interest in potential genetic differences between groups of humans. Now in my 30s I have gradually developed a pretty strong biological deterministic worldview. In sharp contrast to my very socially constructed worldview during my theistic days during my teenage years.

I find it interesting and fun to look back at the evolution of my intellectual interests, and wonder how different they would be now if I did not initially become obsessed with psychological sadomasochism due to losing my faith. While obviously biased, I do feel fortunate that my intellectual pursuits folded the way they did. I've made from very interesting discoveries and observations and met very interesting people along the way.

Now.. I am aware other people have very different paths. I do not intend this thread to turn into a debate, instead I am just interested in your personal intellectual journey and the twists and turns it has taken.

 

[Tone]

Interesting,

My experience is pretty much opposite. The intellectual pursuit didn't kick in until after I came to the faith. Before this, I was pretty much all about the passions.

The intellectual interests usually derive from my experience, e.g., I became interested in a bit of Depth Psychology and other general philosophical/theological concepts after being influenced by others who had entered my life when I was a young Christian. The thing with these influences is that they happened to be antithetical to each other, which hurled me into many years of vertiginousness.

Currently, I am highly interested in Music Theory. I think I'll sign up for some classes!

 

[NerdGirl]

I have a feeling this is the sort of discussion where I could ramble all over the place and talk entirely too much

I will strive to be coherent and not babble! I consider myself something of an intellectual, and a passionate lover of learning. I am endlessly curious and always have questions, and I never want to stop expanding my mind and my knowledge about this great, big world we live in.

I have a great interest in human behavior. The earliest memory I have of noticing it concretely was when I was in college. I had to choose from a selection of "required" introductory courses, and randomly selected Anthropology, not knowing fully what the subject even was. By the end of the class, I was enamored. I was blessed with a passionate, engaging professor, and I couldn't get enough of the lessons. I listened eagerly and participated in the class discussions whenever the chance arose. I went on to take subjects like Abnormal Psychology, Criminology, Sociology, Philosophy, World Religions. Anything to do with "why people are the way they are", I wanted to learn about it. For Abnormal Psych, when it was time to do our term paper, I wrote about John Nash, and loved every minute of the research.

It's continued all through my adult life. A fascination with the law, with criminal justice, with psychology, with behavioral sciences of all kinds. I love reading memoirs. The first-person view into someone else's mind and experience is endlessly intriguing to me. I've entertained fanciful dreams of working for the FBI or the CIA, particularly in profiling. Will it ever happen? I doubt it! But it's fun to imagine.

Another profession I wish I could try out is psychiatric neurology. Why does the brain do what it does, in terms of our personalities, actions, sensory impressions? I had seen the movie "Awakenings" back when it first came out, and while I thought it was a compelling and fascinating tale, I didn't delve more into it. But later, as an adult, I came across a book by Oliver Sacks (the extraordinary doctor whom the main character in the film is based on), and read it. I could not put it down. I got another of his books and read that, too. I found myself wishing fervently that I could have accompanied him on his work! He blended science and medicine with great humanity and empathy for his patients, and it resounded with my heart on a deep level.

I still ravenously devour stories, books, documentaries, etc, about these topics. I don't think I'll ever stop being interested in them.

And that's enough of my rambling for now

 

[Pavel Mosko]

Now.. I am aware other people have very different paths. I do not intend this thread to turn into a debate, instead I am just interested in your personal intellectual journey and the twists and turns it has taken.

In all honesty my interests have kind of expanded but more in the theology but its not the normal everyday stuff that would bore many people but how various biblical concepts etc. can reflect things from many different subject of philosophy, especially areas that have attracted the attention of pop culture etc. Joseph Campbells work, self help stuff, eastern thought, Existentialism, Stoicism, even the mystical stuff.


In my younger years I was actually more practical... Like very focused on getting a career going in psychology and counseling. I still have my momentary flashbacks to that and some of that really has really affected how I look at theology etc. because as much as people want to make epistemology about logic etc. an awful lot of it is about the various things going on in people's heads that come by way of their early life, beliefs, paradigms, expectations etc.


I would say that I'm more open to art and artistic expression etc. than when I was younger. I've always had a little bit of an amateur artist in me. But when I started to study the theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church etc. I ran across some essays etc. where that sort of seems like a kind of way at looking at life. That your life, or your worship should have an artistic sense about it. And in some ways, I think that sort of thinking probably should fit people who are Myer's Briggs Intuitives who tend to live their life based on some of their gut hunches and other kinds of unconscious impressions etc.

 

[MehGuy]

Interesting,

My experience is pretty much opposite. The intellectual pursuit didn't kick in until after I came to the faith. Before this, I was pretty much all about the passions.

What age was this?

Perhaps it is not fair to say my pre-atheist life was intellectually dead.. I just cannot really remember coming up with any real worthwhile thoughts.

The intellectual interests usually derive from my experience, e.g., I became interested in a bit of Depth Psychology and other general philosophical/theological concepts after being influenced by others who had entered my life when I was a young Christian. The thing with these influences is that they happened to be antithetical to each other, which hurled me into many years of vertiginousness.

Currently, I am highly interested in Music Theory. I think I'll sign up for some classes!

Hmm interesting. Emotionally I developed an interesting personal version of Christianity when I was a theist, but it wasn't until an atheist that I understood it with any great depth. As a theist my mind was simply developing a faith to it's logical conclusion as far as my brain wiring and chemistry is concerned. Conscious thought wasn't really needed.

 

[MehGuy]

I have a feeling this is the sort of discussion where I could ramble all over the place and talk entirely too much

Lol, I understand. While my post is long I left a lot out, and it is very bare boned.

 

[NerdGirl]

Lol, I understand. While my post is long I left a lot out, and it is very bare boned.

I find your opinions and thoughts quite interesting. So I hope you'll share more in time

 

[Fervent]

I've always been attracted to intellectual topics, and they center largely around moral questions. Before I came to faith I was obsessed with moral systems and examining the various ethical basis of a variety of different systems and fell in love with the Christian ethical frame. I didn't believe but I became obsessed with the ethics of Christ and the question of how His unique ethical framing connects with Old Testament issues. The more I learned the more I yearned to believe, which lead to trying to come up with logical arguments for belief. The more I would try, the harder it became to believe.

Eventually life experiences lead me to belief in a way that intellectual argumentation never could, and my moral pursuits took another shift. I started thinking about the moral questions surrounding atonement and started really researching and piecing together atonement theologies until I came to one that I am comfortable with even if I can't explain the whole of it.

Since then I've become interested in a variety of theological questions, but still prefer to focus on the moral questions.

 

[Tone]

What age was this?

19...20ish.

 

[MehGuy]

19...20ish.

That seems to be an pretty inspiring age.

 

[NerdGirl]

That seems to be an pretty inspiring age.

Just coming into adulthood. The world is your oyster, wide-open with possibilities and revelations and potential!

 

[Carl Emerson]

My favourite Psalm is 131...

1 O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.

2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.

3 O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.

Once one encounters the Almighty, questions quickly dissolve into the Awe of His Being...

I have formally studied anthropology, psychology, history and philosophy of science, phenomenology of religion, sociology. I have been a self taught semi-classical guitarist and trained soloist.

Using the other half of my brain, I have had a career in engineering, electronics, renewable energy.

It has been an important lesson to learn that not all of our many potentials are to be developed in this life.

The intellectual tools we have been given were never meant to explore the depths of spiritual issues.

The journey toward God is a journey of the heart not the mind.

 

[Sketcher]

I thought it would be interesting to create a thread asking people what their intellectual interests are. More specifically the evolutionary journey of your interests throughout your lives. Did one interest lead you to another?

For me I was quite interested in spirituality as a kid and teenager. Given that, I was more emotional and did not analyze things in any great depth. It was not until I became an atheist that I started to develop what I'd call intellectual interests.

For my first one, it came from my lost of faith. Around the age of 18 I lost my faith. This was a very traumatic loss for me and as a consequence I spent about a year in a daze. By the time I became 20 I was ready to analyze my faith. Specifically why it was so strong and traumatic to lose. I came to the realization that the psychology of my faith was almost entirely dominated by emotional sadomasochism (non-sexual). That my mind is incredibly sadomasochistic. This led me to develop a great interested in psychology. For years I looked at things through a heavily sadomasochistic based lens.

By the time I was 21 or 22 I became introduced to feminists and pre-social justice warriors. I in turn became very interested with feminists due to what I perceived as their obsession and defense of female victimhood and incredible anger towards the idea of men being victims. I saw a reflection of my old Christian faith where Christian victimhood was idolized and victims of non-Christians were diminished or ignored. The anger I had with my old faith transferred to an intense hatred for modern feminism. A subject I viewed as more socially relevant to modern times.

For years I looked at an argued against feminism through a very psychological sadomasochistic lens. The problem being others found my conclusions to be very disturbing, and while I still see value in them I came to the realization that with current science and studies my views are not able to be backable and that others are not wrong for embracing them and that pushing the subject at the moment is not really worth it.

Still, I was very much interested in gender dynamics and the politics within and I eventually became intellectually curious about evolutionary psychology and more specifically neoteny. Neoteny being a concept I found easier to use in my discussions regarding feminism and gender politics. Something I think other people have an easier time understanding what I am talking about and at least less disturbing to others.

Now in current times this interest in evolutionary psychology has led me to an interest in potential genetic differences between groups of humans. Now in my 30s I have gradually developed a pretty strong biological deterministic worldview. In sharp contrast to my very socially constructed worldview during my theistic days during my teenage years.

I find it interesting and fun to look back at the evolution of my intellectual interests, and wonder how different they would be now if I did not initially become obsessed with psychological sadomasochism due to losing my faith. While obviously biased, I do feel fortunate that my intellectual pursuits folded the way they did. I've made from very interesting discoveries and observations and met very interesting people along the way.

Now.. I am aware other people have very different paths. I do not intend this thread to turn into a debate, instead I am just interested in your personal intellectual journey and the twists and turns it has taken.

My intellectual interests developed significantly in my 20's and 30's. I credit maturity with that development. In my mid-20's I took college courses that I did not consider back when I was 18-19, and I found them interesting. With the job I have had the last several years, the way we do things stimulated further intellectual interests, I'm more interested in fact-checking and analysis than I was beforehand.

 

[muichimotsu]

I've gained an interest in psychology, though part of that is because of my own struggles with things I need to address through clinical psychologists (BetterHelp seems like a good thought so far, reasonable in pricing and applies for a month at a time). But trying to understand the behavior of fundamentally irrational people is a fascination

Legal topics have been a thing of curiosity as well, mostly by my interest in a sort of political activism that I participate in, particularly church/state separation, but even more general stuff that's of import these days (non discrimination, etc)

 

[Kettriken]

My intention as a young adult was to simply be competent. That didn't work as I hoped, but it wasn't the worst technique. I had a false belief that if I did things right, people couldn't question me.

As an adult, I believed that my attempts were more fleeting, but I currently do what I can, with the life I've been given. My studies have been wide ranging, hopefully to the glory of God and the benefit of his children.

Unfortunately, this is not a genuous thread. I must point out that the original post is chauvinist and Neo-eugenisist. There is no shame in engaging with their initial question, that is a noble thought that we can all join with. However, lets not actually allow their putrescent ideas to spread.
He wishes no debate, and that I can agree with. Let us put this beast to rest.

For years I looked at an argued against feminism through a very psychological sadomasochistic lens. The problem being others found my conclusions to be very disturbing, and while I still see value in them I came to the realization that with current science and studies my views are not able to be backable and that others are not wrong for embracing them and that pushing the subject at the moment is not really worth it.

Still, I was very much interested in gender dynamics and the politics within and I eventually became intellectually curious about evolutionary psychology and more specifically neoteny. Neoteny being a concept I found easier to use in my discussions regarding feminism and gender politics. Something I think other people have an easier time understanding what I am talking about and at least less disturbing to others.

Now in current times this interest in evolutionary psychology has led me to an interest in potential genetic differences between groups of humans. Now in my 30s I have gradually developed a pretty strong biological deterministic worldview. In sharp contrast to my very socially constructed worldview during my theistic days during my teenage years.

 

[NerdGirl]

I may not subscribe to his ideas, but he has a right to express them here, and be treated with kindness and respect.

 

[MehGuy]

Unfortunately, this is not a genuous thread. I must point out that the original post is chauvinist and Neo-eugenisist. There is no shame in engaging with their initial question, that is a noble thought that we can all join with. However, lets not actually allow their putrescent ideas to spread.
He wishes no debate, and that I can agree with. Let us put this beast to rest.

I do not promote eugenics. Such a thing seems pointless, dangerous and needlessly cruel, especially with genetic engineering on the way.

Also not sure what you mean by chauvinist. If you are talking about some kind of sexist, I disagree with you there. While I do now hold the view that there are important evolved internal differences between men and women I view this knowledge as a tool to overcome gender roles and achieve real gender equality. Not my fault that the numerous feminists I've come into contact with acted like pathetic stereotypes and that I picked up on their patterns and chose to deal with reality than simply put my head in the sand.

 

[J_B_]

I was fascinated with Greek myth as a kid. That combined with my dad being a math teacher led to an interest in the Pythagoreans and on to other connections between philosophy and mathematics. It also sparked an interest in history.

I could go on and on. My intellectual tree is more like an overgrown bush that needs to be trimmed back.

 

[Percivale]

My intellectual interests generally tend to include a connection to human motivation and behavior and a systematic, technical aspect. I like personality theories, science where it is related to theological questions like our origins or to future possibilities like space travel, and politics, especially different voting systems and tax policies.