Philosophy —Coming Back from the Dead in Season 3 of Humankind

7 min readFeb 8, 2022

A Setting Sun

We live in a time when the idea of philosophical seeking has fallen by the wayside. The field of philosophy is considered a relic from a bygone era, displaced by the furious march of science and technology. The world is much more refined today, having no place for crude and unfiltered thought-flows that do not comply with our modern-day “precise” layouts. How often have we smirked and used the term “philosopher” as a derogation to describe an intellectually paralyzed person; or “philosophy” to describe unwanted description and fluff?

Cut to the Chase

It’s time to stop and partake in the true meaning of this vast universe of philosophy — one that encompasses the many pursuits of mankind with little fanfare. Much like anything epic, it has aspects with diminutive reductions. These flavor our popular understanding, blindsiding the unlimited possibilities that exist beneath the visible iceberg. Imagine a great feat of architecture. It will have striking facades, grand entry points, vast halls, as much as it will have toilets and garbage chutes. Of late, humanity has only been using the smallest room of the second floor science and technology wing, ignoring the locked chambers of the majestic megascape that is philosophy. The touted metaverse is a naphthalene ball in comparison to this ephemeral space— a place where the mind can gallop beyond its physical limits and achieve cosmic singularity.

Children of One

Considered antiquated, philosophy has been overtaken by its many child forms. Abandoned to compete on humanity’s billboard, it receives the most hate from fast businessmen and their loyal consumer markets — which is about all of humankind today. Since there are no entry barriers, casual practitioners and small-time hustlers bring disrepute, causing a stereotyping bias to pervade in the vacuum.

Combining with shallow materialistic narratives, the tide subdues academicians into a narrow field of view, forcing them to conform to “practical” expectations. But it is common knowledge that the highest level of achievement is abstraction, diffusing unapologetically into the ambiguous cores of philosophy. The self-actualized masters and doctors of the world are always philosophers, in subjects as varied as economics and biology. After acquiring all the available knowledge, the trained mind proceeds to meander purposefully, merging into the highway of philosophy and communing with the gods, in their language.

All roads on Wikipedia lead to philosophy — the links testify to it.

A Transcendent Weapon

Philosophy in its glorious splendor is a democratic enterprise, not limited to the likes of Socrates and Plato. Despite the current disposition of disdain and youthful derision, it is the secret weapon of the top dogs. Ever wonder why the world was enamored by Steve Jobs? While we attach creative attributes to his story, we forget that it were his philosophies that attracted us toward him. He knew it better than anyone else. He was seeking and tapping the heart of philosophy, while the world assumed he was an artist, a marketer, a thinker — anything other than a philosopher. He knew what the highest form of intelligence was — seeing the biggest picture.

Philosophy allows the widest thinking, knows no bounds, and can bridge gaps in an inexplicable world. It is the only thing at the cutting edge, pushing humanity to the boundaries. It’s no wonder that generalist specialists like Elon Musk are changing the world with their multidisciplinary expertise and integrative plans. Clearly, all of humanity can find a meaningful direction, better still, the answers that have always eluded us.

Bliss for Ignorants

Deny as we may, we are suckers for philosophical fodder. Existential search for meaning is the cool phrase of the century. It is but a part of philosophy. Why does the world love Steve Jobs over Bill Gates? Or why do so many people like the movie The Dark Knight? Is it because of the cinematography? No! Common to the people and movies that we revere is the underlying powerhouse of philosophy. It is the juice that subconsciously satiates our cravings, capable of keeping the mind invigorated for eternity with its complexities and conundrums.

Many would consider the idea of linking the subject of philosophy with entertainment preposterous. Think again. The reason we love some works of art more than the others is because of the hushed philosophical whispers that our sixth sense picks up. It is usually concealed under glamorous overtures and genre tropes to cause less embarrassment to the fan. The masters stimulate our innermost tendencies with careful precision. They know us better than we do ourselves, our secret mental turn-on — philosophy. So while the aficionado lives in denial, someone is busy winding the key.

Air for the Soul

The estrangement from philosophy is perhaps to blame for our miserly existence today. The lack of philosophical practice and the oppression of the instinct is stifling for the soul, with a cataclysmic effect for society. Try to hark back to the last time when you were truly amazed. Chances are that it may have been a long time back. The high stimulus environment we live in has numbed our minds to the level of a junkie. Philosophy, the answer, is not just a therapeutic compulsion but a resplendent source of euphoria that is wholesome, productive and rejuvenating. The mind appreciates complexities and is duly rewarded by the engagements in the higher constructs.

A Hammer for the Nails

There is a deep correlation between philosophy and creativity. Fundamentally, it is our creative powers that help us crack the most difficult of questions. At some point away from knowledge, the human mind must wander into the higher realms in search of experiences and discoveries. Art is the most apparent outcome. But is science higher?

Einstein attributed a lot of his work to the power of imagination. It helped him solve the trickiest puzzles. His papers on the General Theory of Relativity abound in philosophical conjecturing, traversing the untrodden fabric of space and time with fearless fluidity. Take away the philosophical freedom, and any human endeavor, including science will degenerate into a dry and obstinate affair. The corrupting appeal of technology is never far away to grab the fruits, drowning the source founts with bedazzlement and noise.

While science has been obsessively refined and caged into a template, the boundless umbrella of philosophy continues to hover over all. It is the mortar that fills the gaps and binds the disciplines of social sciences, formal sciences, natural sciences, humanities, professional and applied sciences into a meaningful picture.

An Inescapable Reality

Photo Author: Carole Raddato; License: CC BY-SA 2.0

How can you crack anything until you go deep? How can you go deep unless you love something? How can you love something if it does not give you happiness? To be kept awake by a subject matter requires love and joy. This embrace cannot be found within the cold folds of the modern child-fields. The human-authored fields are arrogant, showing little respect for the Cosmos-authored mother lode. It is a costly and arrogant denial, when it is known that any act of thinking is an act of philosophy. It is inescapable. The hacking at the frontiers of knowledge is made possible by philosophy alone, mathematical justifications follow. Philosophy cannot even be rejected, for the act of rejection itself would be an outcome of philosophical reasoning. It may be possible to imagine something outside of space and time, but not outside of philosophy.

Philosophy continues to be the forgotten and secret weapon, gifted to high-intelligence lifeforms. There’s no mistake about it. It is the derecognized and demonized mother of all human learning and endeavor. It may have lost the low-ground to its objective offspring, but the highest ground where abstraction and seeming chaos prevails can only be reached by philosophical searching.

As the mind delves deeper, the thoughts climb higher, freed of all judgements, biases, and limitations. All that remains, is the the silhouette of a man lost in a reverie. And that is the most beautiful sight in the world.