i'm trying to make my own philosophy or theory
i would have ate during the enlightenment period
Hello Quintessential readers!
One of my all-time bucket list items is to create my own philosophy or theory. I have no preference to what this theory or philosophy is related to. It could be leadership theory, my own moral or ethical philosophy on life, or maybe just a new way to categorize people’s behavior. My only requirement is that my theory/philosophy be new, something born of my own brain. It is harder than it seems.
What is a Philosophy/Theory?
Several weeks ago, I was in the car with one of my close friends. We were commiserating about life and the stupid situations that are always coming up at work or in our relationships. Then she made a very astute observation:
If I can’t change this, I guess I can only either accept it or leave
I was like, girl that is so deep, but I think my therapist told me that that mindset is DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) theory.
Then I realized that if no one else had ever said that before, she actually had the mind to just sit there in the car and invent DBT on her own. If she was born just a hundred or so years earlier, she could have single-handedly saved so many people.
This car ride made me realize that every theory or philosophy originated from just some person identifying a pattern or happening and saying it out loud. They just said it before anyone else did and really went through that creative and collaborative process to make it stick.
Like economics or political science, philosophy isn’t a discipline where we are creating new processes and content for the world, we are just explaining what is already there. To engage with the world around you is to engage with philosophy. To notice is to theorize.
Why Do I Want My Own?
Maybe I am just so vain that I want to leave a mark on the world. Maybe it’s more. When my friend accidentally invented DBT all by herself, it demystified the act of theorizing and philosophizing. Understanding that the skill wasn’t competence in whatever subject you’re theorizing about, the skill is going through the process of thinking and fleshing your thought out.
Unlike many other pursuits, thinking is free. I can sit and think for as long as I want without running into many barriers. I can also think about anything I want, I just need to pick a flavor of the day. Maybe it is women in leadership, maybe it is the pop industry, maybe it is finding new ways to measure success, maybe its further defining different horror subgenres. It is really just whatever interests me when I sit down to think.
In my pursuit of thought leading, I’ve noticed what a product of my generation I am. Classic philosophies and theories are so monumental and respected by the old dudes who decide what’s real or not, that new age thinking and concepts are not always welcome. Even modern platforms for communicating identified patterns and accessing collaborative spaces (TikTok, Reddit, Tumblr, etc.) are looked down upon by the elite, academic powers that decide what distinguishes a thought or idea from a theory or philosophy.
The widespread use of these platforms not only help the newer generations engage in social theorizing but also may serve as a roadblock for developing future modern theories.
How can our generation cultivate thorough thinkers, theorizers, and philosophers when we are inundated with content, advertisements, and bad news. When they did the enlightenment in the 1600s, there were no mass communications or global industrial commerce requiring people to work in a factory or office all day. These thinkers were free to infuse thinking into their everyday activities. Thinking might have literally been their jobs (idk their stories).
If you want to replicate the thinking of the greats, start by replicating their environment. When I sit down to philosophize, I like to put my phone on silent, no music or nothing. The only thing filling the silence should be your mind, like these guys.
Some of my Working Theories
I think a key way to turn your thoughts into a theory is to take your time in developing them. As of now, I have not officially released any theories or philosophies, but I’ve been cooking my thoughts for some time now. For my amazing readers, I am going to share a sampling of some of my working theories. They’re only partly fleshed out, so I invite comments or collaboration (peer reviews) of these thoughts. Plz don’t steal them.
Four Buckets Theory
Four buckets theory is my most developed theory currently. It uses four buckets to categorize the types of people who choose public service as career path. Each of the four buckets can generally explain the behaviors of the types of workers they represent, from their initial motivations for entering the public sector, to their individual follies with public service motivation.
Morals vs Ethics vs Law (MEL)
MEL is a decision-making philosophy model for when your personal or professional obligations don’t align with each other, or when they don’t align with what society is telling you to do. The model revolves around self-reflection and values-based decision making.
TOP STARS
TOP Stars is a recruitment and retention methodology for professional government administration. Still cooking. Based on K-pop training methods.
The Sheldon Cooper/Jackson Avery Continuum
The Sheldon/Jackson continuum plots people on a graph in which both the x and y axes are a range from sheldon cooper from The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon to jackson avery from Grey’s Anatomy. One is based on their looks (pretty-derpy) and their swag (weird boy swag vs cool boy swag). I use this to predict how hot someone’s next bf/gf will be.
More to Come
This fall, I plan to dedicate myself to practicing the creative process. Fleshing out my theories, writing out all of my ideas, and taking ideas from concept to completion. Hopefully this dedication will be visible through my blog, my music, and my personal relationships.
If I succeed, I’ll share the philosophical outlook that made it possible.
Do you have any theories of your own? Do you like to ponder? Do my theories make you feel any type of way? Let me know in the comments!
Something New…
I will never ask for a paid subscription on Substack, but in an attempt to pursue my passion for writing so I could potentially one day leave the job that makes me want to enlist, I’m introducing my Buy Me A Coffee page!
From this page, you can securely hand over one-time support if you enjoy my content and/or want to engage with me as a writer! I’ll be uploading all of my posts to that page as well. There is no obligation at all to participate in this, I just want to be very vocal and intentional about the seriousness of my creative pursuits at this juncture.
About Quintessential
Thank you so much for reading! Quintessential is a collection of personal writings about how I am managing to live my life authentically as myself. You may be interested in this publication if you:
Are a young woman trying to make it in this world;
Enjoy niche topics;
Care about your communities around you;
Don’t take life too seriously; and
Want to know what makes me, me!