I have no interest in obtaining anyone’s “true philosophy” certification. I find it strange, to put it mildly, that people who profess to love philosophy are enthusiastic about such certifications.

A viewpoint is just a viewpoint. If you disagree with it, you can ignore it. If you want to argue against it, you can rebut it. No one cares how you value the viewpoint, let alone the character of the person who said it.

Your “true philosophy standards” are not as universally applicable as you think. To be honest, they are of no particular significance to others. Why do you assume that others must care a lot about your personal evaluation? Why do you take it for granted that you have the right to occupy others’ time announcing results measured by your personal standards?

If you cannot even think through this basic point and have not developed the instinctive intuition to understand it, your academic future in philosophy is zero.

This is because it is a very basic, ABC-level practical issue in philosophical practice. If you lack sensitivity here, it can only be because your “philosophy” has always been used to explain your authority and make people shut up and submit, rather than truly guide your own life.

If you applied even the most basic part of your philosophy to your own life, you would develop this most basic instinct. This is what is called “cultivation.”

Without cultivation, you are actually “completely untrained” in the eyes of the discerning.

Those mouthfuls of terminology and eloquent “scriptures” cannot prove that you understand philosophy. In fact, they may be evidence that you do not understand philosophy at all!

A group of people are walking in a straight line, each holding the hand of the person in front of them. The first person in the line is blind, and the others follow suit, unaware that they are all headed for a cliff. This illustration represents the danger of following dogmatic philosophical systems without critical thinking.

Just like someone who cannot even stand steadily or throw a straight punch, yet recites boxing manuals eloquently, the more fluent the recital, the more pathetic it is.

If studying philosophy cannot even help you build the most basic cultivation, to the extent that viewpoints with even slight “offensive” implications can make you declare “must be nonsense,” this astonishingly low level of open-mindedness does not bode well for studying anything, let alone philosophy.

Think more for yourself.

In fact, you little amateur philosophers already had the chance to notice the contradiction in your own thinking, but you directly ignored it based on habit. You set a very high bar for persuading you. Not only must the other side provide a different opinion, but they must also bear the burden of providing evidence. If either is missing, you “do not accept.”

This is not a promising habit. What gives you the right to demand that someone provide a conclusion and an argument? From my perspective, the beneficiaries of being persuaded are you, not me.

I’m just trying to help the kids, out of kindness. If you dislike this and that and refuse to come out of the pit, then just stay in the pit yourself.

How qualified I am to say these things, whether I am “amateur philosophy” or not, you will naturally find out in the future. Kids who don’t even have the basic habit of investigation and research, and who still define people based on your own emotions, what reference value do your conclusions have?

A scholar sits in a tall tower, surrounded by books. He is so absorbed in his studies that he is unaware of the world around him. This illustration represents the danger of becoming too isolated and arrogant in one's philosophical pursuits.

To be honest, these groups of kids who oppose and despise others are simply fearless because of their ignorance. They think they know everything after getting a PhD. But in the context of a real discussion, a PhD only means that you’re not illiterate. There is still a long way to go before you truly deserve respect, and before you can make some original insights that stand.

With just this level of capability and yet acting so arrogantly, forget about your prospects for now. You’re likely to suffer from depression in the future.

Look at the tone of some people’s comments in the comments section. It perfectly verifies that “undergrads are better off not studying philosophy.”

Is it a good thing to “study philosophy” only to become like this?

This state of making many enemies can directly destroy a life. No matter how much “wisdom” you have, it will be useless.

Why do I advise against “studying philosophy”?

It is to save your life.

In recent decades, I have seen too many young kids who confidently “studied philosophy” fall into depression that could not be saved.

The curse contained in the words “studying philosophy,” the danger implied, you cannot imagine how likely it is that you will “study” yourself into an arrogant and ignorant jerk without seniors to tell you and support you.

Interest and exploration are fine, even encouraged.

A person stands at a crossroads, with two paths diverging before them. One path is wide and well-lit, while the other is narrow and dark. This illustration represents the choice between following a conventional philosophical path or one's own unique path.

But no matter how fluent your recital, as long as you are young and have not experienced the ups and downs of life, death, and rebirth, please do not think that you have already obtained the “superhuman wisdom” to look down on others.

I am not trying to intimidate you with some “senior philosopher” status. As someone who has seen piles of white bones, I am telling you to know life and death.

You don’t know what kind of devil this “confidence” of yours is, since you haven’t gone to hell.

If even this cannot wake you up, then go face the consequences yourself.

Let me repeat:

Thinking of yourself as “studying philosophy,” yet unable to attain cultivation, awe of possibilities, and instinctive caution about things you disagree with, through studying philosophy, directly signals that you are going down an evil path.

There will surely be demons bearing your name ahead.

Don’t say you weren’t warned then.