Solitude is important to original thinking. It is those quiet times alone, with no input from the media or other people, when we come to rest within our own consciousness. While it is always possible to maintain our peace and inner identity in the noisiest of crowds, it is much easier to examine our thoughts and take them to their logical conclusion when we are alone and in silence.
When we are with others, it is our tendency, especially as women, to tend to their needs. This is one of the reasons we see so few noted female philosophers.
Women in the past have seen to the needs of children and the household, regardless of whether they had help or not. Their days were full of responding to others. Very little time was left for contemplation or inner discovery of their own point of view. They were the conveyors of the prevailing culture rather than originators of new ways of thinking.
Men, who were often involved in survival tactics, whether in the office or in the desert, surrounded themselves with helpers who could get the job done as well. But because they were not constantly seeing to the needs of children, they had more time for contemplation and figuring out the mysteries of the Universe. Therefore we have all the great male philosophers, who have originated ways of thinking.
These men did not arrive at their theories of existence by living the party lifestyle, or even the hunting lifestyle. They had large blocks of time in which they could do disciplined study and follow an idea out to its natural conclusion. They could afford the time to contemplate and to churn their knowledge into a new and original form.
When we are with others, it is our tendency, especially as women, to tend to their needs. This is one of the reasons we see so few noted female philosophers.
Women in the past have seen to the needs of children and the household, regardless of whether they had help or not. Their days were full of responding to others. Very little time was left for contemplation or inner discovery of their own point of view. They were the conveyors of the prevailing culture rather than originators of new ways of thinking.
Men, who were often involved in survival tactics, whether in the office or in the desert, surrounded themselves with helpers who could get the job done as well. But because they were not constantly seeing to the needs of children, they had more time for contemplation and figuring out the mysteries of the Universe. Therefore we have all the great male philosophers, who have originated ways of thinking.
These men did not arrive at their theories of existence by living the party lifestyle, or even the hunting lifestyle. They had large blocks of time in which they could do disciplined study and follow an idea out to its natural conclusion. They could afford the time to contemplate and to churn their knowledge into a new and original form.
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