Confused Philosophy: My take on the world of philosophy - An Intro - Confucius said what?

Confused Philosophy

So if you think this is an introduction into the world of philosophy let me stop you right there, and explain a little further. It's not. Since joining Steemit I have loved reading the #philosophy tag more than any other. So much so that it has encouraged me to delve further into the subject both on Steemit and other sources.

Image Source

This series will follow my self introduction into the world of philosophy and associated thoughts. Philosophy as I am finding, is an interesting yet never ending subject that could take a lifetime of energy with no hope of mastering it, but given the Greek meaning of the word philosophy is "love of wisdom". The aim was never to master it but to continue to learn from it. I do hope that my thoughts will provoke thoughts in you that will make there way to my comments and in turn will spark additional thoughts in me.

Did you know, it is said, that Confucius the best known Chinese philosopher never wrote one of his philosophies down? Makes you have to wonder how accurate the translations were given that any verbal transfer of information is open to interpretation by the person recording and then those translating it. 300 years after his death these principles became the basis for state law until the early 1900's and are still worshiped by followers world wide as part of Confucianism.

Image Source

Haven't they ever heard of the game "Chinese whispers"?

Have you sat in a circle and whispered a sentence into someones ear, for them to pass it around the circle until it reaches you again? It's a game known by many names, played by many children worldwide. No matter where its played when the whisper came back to you, you were lucky if it resembled the initial sentence.

Now you may say well that's children and to see just how much of a part that played I tried it as part of a team building exercise when working in the corporate environment. Thirty of the top paid employees across my division were split into two and given a sentence each to pass around. The group at the end of the challenge closest would be the winner. It was a disaster, we couldn't even pick a loser as they were both as bad as each other, so chocolate all round.

Now I am not saying there is anything wrong with following these teachings, only that you have to wonder if the way we interpret the teachings is the way it was initially intended. As if a group of high paid executives can't get a short sentence correct in the same room, how can we guarantee that his disciples who gathered all his philosophies for The Analects didn't add their own twist not to mention the potential translation errors across languages.

How often do you believe what you have heard, without talking to the person it involves? Have you ever acted on that knowledge, only to find out later that it wasn't what you where told?

The aim for this post series to engage with other Steemian's and develop relationships while challenging my thoughts. If you would like to join me on this journey and be part of the adventure don't forget to follow me @insideoutlet. My hubby @shai-hulud is also worth a look in and has a wonderful Alphabet Adventure series going.

If you find value in my work a upvote and/or resteem would be greatly appreciated, although never required to read and comment on my post. I look forward to getting to know you all better while debating the in's and out's of life itself.

Welcome to 2018!!! A year for the love of wisdom!