I am inspired by Jonathan Moregård's "Honest Living" on substack.com. Following his "Life Philosophy: A Flash Philosophy Assignment" of Oct 03, 2023, I will limit my philosophy to 500 words:
I am an individual, but I am connected to much more, over time and over space.
I am the result of some 2 billion years of process, with my DNA (me) and my environment (not me), including my learning (other "me's"), coming to this point in time (now).
I am aware of myself and my environment in a way that most of the universe is not. I live in three dimensions of time: past (memory), present, and future (imagination). It is these added dimensions that make me different from most of the universe, and which allows me a sense of self-awareness, and purpose/intention.
Over time, the only purpose that is necessary (though not sufficient) is survival. And the timeline for survival is over 100's of millions of years (or, in my particular case, at least 2 billion years, though even a 100,000 years is beyond my comprehension).
I am committed to the survival of human beings.
I am committed to the greatest variety of life forms on Earth. This is a recognition that there are more threats to extinction out there, and we probably need all the variety in life forms to survive unexpected threats to our extinction.
I am not able to comprehend all that is "the universe." In particular, though I might be able to understand some (through learning and experience), there is a limit to my understanding. Therefor, I am humble, because I know I am probably wrong, and look forward to greater understanding.
In the time and space of the universe, my contribution is infinitely small, and infinitely important. I am infinitely small as can be appreciated by the number of humans I know from as little as 10,000 years ago. I am infinitely important as can be appreciated by my impact if I choose to die without supporting the next generation. I am part of an nearly infinite process that will result in life either disappearing, continuing, or blowing up. My hope is that I contribute to a delicately balanced continuation.
I believe in God. God is everything that I do not understand. My life quest is to grow closer to God, as an individual, as a species, and as a life form. I grow closer to God through careful attention to my own experience, and careful attention to the experience of all those around and before me. The best way, at this point, to do this is through something we call the scientific method, which is a standardized form of communication that supports the approximation towards our shared truth.
I am guided by my "knowledge-centric morality"(1):
Seek Truth
Share Knowledge
Preserve Knowledge
Promote Critical Thinking
Foster Collaboration
Respect the Past
Embrace Uncertainty
Cultivate Curiosity
Support Education
Prioritize Long-Term Thinking
(1) See my blog entry "Conversation about morals with NVIDIA's palmyra-creative-122b".
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