1. Thinking. We do it all the time, but what does it really mean?

As said by Martin Heidegger, Most thought-provoking in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking The reason for this, Heidegger explains, is that the thing that must be thought about, has turned from man. Does this mean that we have thought of it before? As we think deeper into what must be thought about, we realise that thinking leads to questioning, and questioning leads to the understanding that we do not know how to communicate properly. This leads to the study of hermeneutics. My knowledge comes from my own interaction between other people but I am only scratching the surface. There is no area or issue which I can know completely because I am still not thinking. Perhaps, if I understand this I may learn how to think responsibly. In order to understand myself, I must ask questions. Not shallow questions, but really thoughtprovoking questions. Like what it means to be me or why am I not curious about my creation. There are two kinds of stories, theoria and historia. Stories are the greatest way to convey ideas and concept as well as recording down events in history. After all, history is just stories invariably about human disposition. Theoria on the other hand, concerns, the deeper meaning of life such as is it possible to know who we are without knowing who we have been? The most profitable thing about thinking is that it involves our own selfish actions. For example, why are we indifferent to our surroundings or is there a reason for not helping others? My personal thoughts on this matter vary as I often find myself thinking about things not related to myself. For example, I often think about the structure of society and whether conforming to it necessary. I also ponder the pros and cons of religion. However, I feel like I am not thinking about the importance of life or more serious thoughts like that. Philosophy is more than thinking about the impact of my actions on myself. I must think for the good of the cosmos or at least for the good of universal knowledge. As a designer, I must use my skills to instil a thirst for knowledge in humanity. The problem is that I must incur this thirst on my own. 2. Our culture has been heavily influenced by the western civilisation. This is not necessarily a bad thing as we look to the west primarily for ideas on philosophy and economic structure. This has helped us so far in our daily lives as it has led to a comprehensive overhaul of the human condition that is derived from western tradition. We have treated the west like the ideal civilisation and aspire to be like them. The idea of religion slowly starts to fade along with our culture as science can explain so much more.

Science has a more stable ground compared to faith and people want their instant gratification of knowledge. They do not want to wait for death rather to conquer it and therefore put their trust in science. From science, man developed technology and used it to further him. Inventions also help us to understand the world which we crave.

The faster we move, the better we feel, bringing us back to the topic of instant gratification. We do not want to wait in a queue or get stuck in a loading screen. These are all hindrances that stop us from achieving our goals. Speed is everything in this new age.

Personally, I feel that technological advances are important to mankind and help us to improve on the state of our lives. However, the future looks bleak for humanity. We may be looking to further ourselves but we are disregarding nature. Every action has a consequence. But are we prepared to face them when the time comes? 3. Existence. Our existence must have a great meaning. We all strive for this meaning as there we do not know the purpose of life if death is all that awaits us. In hope of finding this meaning, we turn to religion, our families and science. In primordial times, people looked to the sky for answers. The sky fascinated them. It was so vast and beautiful that it had to be the missing link between life and death. Therefore, cosmology came into existence. Cosmology is the fundamental and integral aspect of all traditional religions and philosophies. It is also a traditional science on how and why that which is above affected that which is below. It was believed that without cosmological knowledge the beginning can never be explained and with it the meaning of our existence. The word cosmology is derived from the greek words kosmoi and logos, meaning the beauty of order. Cosmogony is the study of how the cosmos came to be. In order to be a beginning, a God/Gods must exist. In almost all religions, the presence of light lead to beginning and wisdom as there is an order to the way the universe was ordered. Chaos is bad, while light is good. There is always a balance in the kosmoi. As the search for the meaning of existence is a unique human disposition and one that has been questioned for several centuries, we have the right to try to find out how we came to be and what is our purpose in the long run. Some people will point out that God has a purpose for everyone, while others will say we are merely pawns in the ecosystem. We do not have the proper research to completely rule out God from the equation, but we should not stop here instead of finding other theories. Every person has his own belief just as we have the desire to understand the kosmoi.

4. Ontology. It is deeper than cosmology and twice as confusing. In greek, it means the study of the meaning of existence and is sometimes defined as the science that seeks to frame and make sense of existential conditions, that affect us particularly as human beings. The meaning of life is defined by who we are. For example, starting with your traits, what makes you unique or special? Honestly, I feel like individuals are more whats rather than whos. Who generalises everyone while what lets you play with your own profile/identity. What makes us human must truly be our actions. If this is all an experiment, we can see ourselves rising from low moral standards to decency. This is a sort of civil evolution. Maybe this is the meaning of life, we leave behind a trace of ourselves when we die and people become less violent and more peaceful. Of course this is an optimistic approach to the meaning of life. When it comes to religion, the afterlife is the most important part in the ontology. The soul must be the ethereal remains that carry on after your body is gone. The soul is always there with you. Does this soul influence your actions? Is it connected to your conscience or does it think for itself? Thinking is the best way to know if you are dead. You stop thinking altogether when you are dead; therefore your consciousness is gone forever. However, how do we know that we do not think after we die? What if this life is a figment of imagination, just by thinking when you are already dead? In Radioheads No Surprises, the song is about a life with no meaning and there are hints of suicide. As a Radiohead fan, I know that most of their songs are depressive yet emotional. The point that they are trying to make is that, life is passing away, and if you waste it doing something you hate, not living life to the fullest, there is no reason to live. A dark approach on ontology yet it is the most thought provoking. 5. Myths will always be around no matter the situation. In olden times, people used to believe in
phusis as the kosmoi itself. The fact that nature moves on its own led people to find it a divine wonder. In The Origin of The Universe, the world is formed out of a void, light out of chaos. The earth is said to be the foundation of the kosmoi which nourishes phusis. Of course, this is a myth but there is much to learn from it. For example, why would they think that the kosmoi is ruled over by a God-King? A more astounding belief is that phusis has emotions and feelings like us. These myths are dramatic, and allow us to see further from our normal world. Myths are designed in a way that links stories to each other and can be referred to as an alternate reality. They may answer real world questions in an abstract way. We can use design in this way through myths. Myths open the abstract part of the mind, giving us creativity and imagination. In this way, we can use myths as a way towards the truth, ironically. Seeing as myths are like an abstract way of seeing truth, I find there to be many opportunities to use myths to create concepts. Myths can tell a story that everyone already knows in a different way such

as in The Chronicles of Narnia. Why are myths so powerful? The thought of a lion ruling the world as a God is so incredulous, but an afterthought suggests that it is normal. After all, the actions and situations are similar to real life. So do myths really bring us to reality?

ORDER / MATHESIS ( of math and geometrical expression; time + rhythm ) - the fundamentals of math came from our ancestor's interpretation of the sky above - affected our day to day activities; dictated human activity for the day ( each day was demarcated by the sun's rise and fall ) WHEN DID TIME BECOME DIVIDED INTO 24 HOUR PERIODS? - we have since lost our sensitivity to subtle changes in sunlight // disconnection from the universe - the logos of the kosmoi was mathematics; provided order math was always a divine science until the 18th century

there are elements above guiding us and scheduling our time everyday - "THAT WHICH IS ABOVE EXERTS STRENGTH BELOW" which leads us to PHUSIS - anything that moves on its own - alive; understanding of it is above and beyond human knowledge; no fixed definition - the natural world was seen with a sense of wonder and astonishment; empowered our ancestors in the past in times of war and need - known as physics by scientists; original meaning of the word has since been lost

"ALL THAT WAS PHUSIS WAS GOD" - HERMES genesis was followed by order, time, space, orientation, and finally phusis order + time + space were correlated