Epic rap battles of history

Even though the Westerners had some sick raps and sick philosophies I've always appreciated ancient Chinese philosophies more, particularly Confucius, if there was a religion/philosophy that I wanted to follow in life it would probably be Confucianism.

Pretty good stuff. It would be hard to beat the Eastern side for flow and wordplay but for straight-up spitting blood on the mic I give it to the West.

This is a comedy skit but I will still note that if you really dig into philosophy you'll find a surprising amount of cultural interplay between the East/West even as early as Socrates. [I think that Confucius and Socrates were actually co-temporaries - around 500 BC]

I really got into Eastern philosophies-religions for awhile and spent nearly a year researching Daoism. So I'm at least at the level of knowledge where I know how ignorant I about it. Next time you stop by, Seth, I can lend you the short book on Chinese Philosophies (Daoism, Confucianism and Legalism) that really opened-up that subject to me, if you want it.

I'll have to take you up on that offer! I've tried to get my Confucianism fix Online but From what I can tell it seems like the Internet is very confused on what Confucianism actually is

I'd be curious to know what parts of Confucianism appeal to you?

As you note it is easy to look at various aspects of Confucianism (a 2500 years old philosophy!) and get overwhelmed. Same with Daoism - I could list 5 or 6 types of Daoism off the top of my head and some of them would be very different. Confucianism gives the impression of being about proper leadership/obedience, proper rituals and striving for good morals.

I know this National Geographic article is a guy selling his book on modern Confucianism but it did open my eyes to how it remains a major living philosophy in China. The article is critical but ends on a note of true appreciation for Confucius' Analects.

Now I'm probably gonna get a few things wrong here As Half of the research I did seems to contradict The other so bear with me. From what I've seen of the ancient Confucius texts, the guidelines and moral compass that Confucius created seems to me to be the perfect state philosophy To create a harmonious, peaceful And long-lasting country, a major emphasis on meritocracy at the government level Mixed with a moral code and obligation to serve not only yourself but the people around you to the best of your ability  is very appealing to me.

Deep down all philosophies and religions have core problems that prevent them from attaining perfection and even when there Are no flaws people can easily warp and take their teachings out of context. So besides the emphasis on honoring one's ancestors in a very spiritual way I find The mindset that Confucianism Creates to be a Almost wholly positive one unlike Many other religions and philosophies.

I was actually reading about meritocracy a little while ago and I was surprised to realize that the Chinese were first to fully implement its ideas into one's government, the Greek city states followed suit shortly after but it was only in the 1800s that British colonial India picked up meritocracy from the Chinese.

Seems like a good summary. I think the emphasis on government service and ancestor-worship (i.e respect your parents) is what makes it hard for Westerners to get into - but that's what I enjoy about the Eastern philosophies - they challenge our assumptions. China truly is one of the greatest and oldest world centers and it has a unique world-view.

'Meritocracy' is a whole other can of worms to open.........

I personally think meritocracy is a fine idea but I haven't delved too deep into that subject either, Though I do know enough to know that no country in this world is a true meritocracy

Though I'm interested to hear what philosophy and/or religion you would choose for the world if it was up to you. Heck you can make your own if you feel like it

Great question. I've spent a few hours contemplating this one but I'm having trouble finalizing any thoughts because every time I start writing new questions pop into my head. By the time I have harvested the best ideas from science/enlightenment, Christianity, Buddhism, socialism, liberty, utilitarianism, pragmatism, existentialism, shamanism and discordianism, I've created a crazy gumbo of beliefs that would take a few days to write down. Maybe we should stick to contemplating Confucianism....

I've experienced some Tesla/anti-Tesla arguments among students that were pretty violent.

I think the middle ground is too accept that Tesla was an quirky outsider and wanted to be an outsider as he was half-scientist and half-artist/mystic. This does not discount his science but he was not a Galileo suppressed by the Church.

On the other hand, the choice of AC current to run the North American grid was a monopolistic industry move that has profoundly shaped our cultural slavery to that industry and the 'free energy' ideals that Tesla represents are, at heart, the ideals of every engineer and physicists with a social conscience.

So Tesla is no modern martyr-saint but to completely dismiss him and what he represents is a sign of a mind and closed to the real possibilities of science.