In conversation: The wise man

 Somewhere in London (2006)

*...yes but just telling people doesn't mean much. You need a whole philosophy behind what you say. It's important.

**So why do we have so many books on the same subject from different point of views? And what about TV and radio and stuff like that?

*You said you liked philosophy...

**Yeah only because it sounds good.

*Haha! Ok... Basically you use philosophy to convince yourself about the action you take. That's the simplest way I can put it. It doesn't replace your actions but it can seriously motivate you to do the right thing... You understand?

**Mmmm yeah I guess I can see what you mean.

*If you have a decision to make and you had a few courses of actions available to you to choose from, if you're guided by a sound philosophy you won't have a problem deciding which course of action to take. But if your philosophy isn't grounded on truth you will take a while to decide what to do, and you may even have to consult others for their opinions. That's when things get messy.

**...Do you use philosophy for everything you do then?

*Yeah of course. I'd like to think that I don't have to tell anybody what my philosophy of life is... They can just see it in the actions I take and the things I say.

*You're an artist, right?

**Mmmm more like a designer

* Same difference...Which means you conceive and make things, correct?

**Yeah you can say that

*Ok so you must have a philosophy for making beautiful things...

**See, that's where I get lost... I find it hard to make the connection between those two things. They sound like they belong to totally different realms of thought. Philosophy is for the 'wise'. Design is just design I guess.

*Right.... You can't make the connection... Ok let's try this... When you make something, you begin with an idea yeah?

**Yeah... usually more than one.

*Right, so amongst those ideas, isn't there usually one that is better than the others?

**Yeah usually there is.

*And how do you know that's the best idea?

**Well it's a mixture of my gut feeling and the requirements for the project I guess...

*Ok... So that, what you just said, is your philosophy when it come to making things.

**That's it?

*That it. It doesn't give you all the answers, but it's a guide to what decisions you make. Like a compass. And the more accurate your compass is, the better you become at making those decisions. It's not easy.

**Ok, I can understand that... And how do you make your compass more accurate?

*That should be obvious to you but we'll talk about that later. I need to head home young man! I'll see you later...

*Ok cool, see you later....