📑 · 9 answers · 5mo
apr. 23 '26 — 1 week! (see note)
hello all. I have news!
It is time for some Philosophy 101 Nonsense!
Do you see yourself as ever-changing? Whether you do or not, do you like the way you view yourself in this regard?
Heraclitus famously says "you cannot step twice into the same river". Meaning, as one could assume, the River is ever-changing, and life is about flow, and change.
Although, in reality, this is Plato's quoting. What Heraclitus actually said—"On those stepping into rivers staying the same other and other waters flow."—carries a bit of a different meaning.
Plato had said Heraclitus claims "all things change, and nothing stays". This adds up, reading Plato's misquote of his, but not so much with Heraclitus' actual word.
The point is clearer. It is not that all changes and nothing stays, but that the change of the "waters flow" is what keeps the river "staying the same". The river you step into is changing, yes, but it is in its nature, for it would not be a river without the changing water.
At least this is what I believe. Now, if you cared to read all of that, in addition to the original question, I ask: which way do you prefer thinking about it? (the world, or identity?) Would you prefer to think of the universal flux, all changing, or in the familiarity of change?
Note: It's been one week since i started asking stuff again. I'm not too big on milestones, but i figured a bit of self indulging is FINE. after all, um...who cares!
I'm not That into errr...Philosophy, by the way. I mean, I AM—into it, that is—but I'm not very well educated on it. I just happen to think you don't need to be, because it doesn't matter within this context, and even the littlest knowledge on it can make a big difference to a lot of people. It isn't...very hard, to get people thinking about Philosophical stuff, without inciting fucking. Dialogues. In any case, I'm more interested in the Philosophy of Logic and Free Will than um...the Ethics and Metaphysics stuff I tend to ask about.
Not to dig on Ethics and Metaphysics. I just feel pretentious talking about them. Everyone has heard that stuff before.
In any case. I do view myself as ever-changing, moreso as it's represented in Heraclitus' word. I don't dislike it. Bipolar makes it feel corny, but, at least it's clear when I change, and stuff! I'm not sure how I feel about it relating to the world. Um...I think Earth is definitely...changing but staying the same. Earth will always be special, and will always be Our Earth, despite its—and our, forced upon—changes.
