Skip to bottom for relevant questions if you like [or tldr]
Back in the early 1990s, on a much younger Internet, after some
"religious questing", became fascinated by monasticism via the
new group I became a part of - the Eastern Orthodox (Christian).
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Mid-20s, totally absorbed. One publication I started getting in
the mail was a 'zine called "Death To The World". It was black
and white, lots of images of death, skulls, talk about how the
world sucks, consumerism and an alternative that seemed older
than time, or certainly older than me and anywhere from my
American history lessons.
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Sure, I knew about ancient Egypt and Greece and Rome, but my
history lessons seemed to skip through the middle ages on the
backs of diseased rats and knights that were not-so-bright 'til
we get to the marvelous humanist eras, the rise of Science and
the inevitable progression towards The Future.
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So, I had huge gaps in my knowledge. The world-as-I-understood
it more or less began a few centuries ago and anything before
was barbaric.... til you get back to the Ancient Greeks of
course, who seemed magically perfect in their philosophies and
wisdoms and such.
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Such was the narrative.
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But then I started getting these things. Ancient culture, a call
to action to turn away from The World towards more noble things.
I had a strong case of convertitis.
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Every church I'd go to, they were doing it wrong. I had the
secret knowledge you see, I knew how to do it right and I'd tell
them, priests and their wives and parishioners too: I was the
new guy that knew just what they needed to do.
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Well, they tolerated me. I guess they've seen it before.
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Never did make it to Alaska to join these guys. They were out of
communion at the time anyway, which is what stopped me. That was
important at the time to me.
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I did do a short stay at a monastery - a few weeks or so - which
I enjoyed and knew I could do for longer without much issue.
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Life moved on, didn't join. Got some Osho books that grabbed me
for a couple of years and then I was Mr. Science for about 10
years and the last few years tying stuff together, even picking
up Philosophy in the process a little.
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Now, I tell people "I'm agnostic" without hesitation. Not
atheist - I never had much reason for that. Not a 'believer' - I
just "don't know" and I'm fine with that.
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I checked out of curiousity - I was sure the 'zine was no longer
being published - I mean, who does 'zines anymore? and I was
right. [I still have my copies from the mid '90s in a box, like
treasures from a younger me]
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But they did relaunch as a blog and it retains the same feel,
the same call to action to renounce the world.
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And here is my question as related to Philosophy:
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What draws us (humans - and not all mind you) to seek "solid
ground"?
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Here in Philosophy, many find standing on the rocks of the great
Philosophers of ancient times (and new) as foundational. For me,
in my mid-20s, it was the Desert Monks, the cave ascetics who
renounced the world in pursuit of Truth and self-knowledge and
greater and greater things.
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Wasn't really much belief there for me then, or didn't seem to
be. I really haven't changed a whole lot.
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But what had attracted me was this historical solidity combined
with a sense of rebellion against all the things intelligent
people tend to complain about.
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So:
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Why do we do that? I'm not talking about the "search for
answers" or "search for truth" but why this need for "Doing It
Right"? Why this need to have a continuum of participants (in
whatever it is that seems to speak to us) throughout the course
of time that we can look to and say, "See, they did it! I can do
it".
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Why do we refer to the works and efforts of those in the past to
build our philosophies with, even if we use them to justify
breaking from the very past we're using to justify breaking from
the past with?
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Why do we need a sense of continuum?
