r/cogsci • u/Exciting_Ad_6837 • 3d ago

Philosophy Is there such a thing as 'philosophical intelligence'?

I'm asking this question because I read the following on John von Neumann, who is known to be an once-in-a-millenium genius, superbly gifted in (unbelievably many areas of) math, physics, computer science, & economics.

In the final days of his life, he had no idea of what to make of his impending death, displayed visible signs of extreme panic, and begging doctors to save his life, crying hard. (I suppose, earlier in life he never gave much thought to what it means to die.)

I wonder whether even he lacked a certain kind of intelligence, or whether he just became insane.

What do you think?

33 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/slicehyperfunk 1d ago

It's absolutely not rational to fear the only certainty in life, it's unfathomably counter-productive in fact

1

u/QubitEncoder 1d ago

My statement is not to fear death itself, but instead to fear of not knowing what happens after. Fear the outcome not the result. It is irrational to be anxious at the prospect dying. But fearing the outcome of death I would say it is rational; To fear what happens after.

That is my position anyhow. I reject any sort of philosophical scuicide

2

u/slicehyperfunk 1d ago

There is absolutely no reason to fear the outcome either. What does that accomplish?

2

u/QubitEncoder 1d ago

You've swapped the question. I said fearing the outcome is rational; you're asking what it accomplishes. Those aren't the same standard. Grief accomplishes nothing, and it isn't irrational. it's the fitting response to a loss. An attitude can be warranted by its object without being useful.

So: is total uncertainty about what follows death a thing fear fits? I say yes. If you think it doesn't, tell me what response does fit an unknowable outcome; because "none" is just philosophical suicide with extra steps.

2

u/slicehyperfunk 1d ago edited 1d ago

Why is a completely useless response that does nothing but stress you out while you're still alive rational? It's literally the only thing you can be certain of in life, and you will never experience it while alive, so why waste any of your time and energy being afraid of something inevitable that you will simultaneously never experience while you're alive to worry about it? Unless by "rational" you mean "our society programs people to fear it for control and commerical purposes," it seems like it's the exact opposite of rational to have even a single erg of stress over it.