Who: Bill Meacham

Claim To Fame: Bill Meacham received his Ph.D after studying philosophy at Williams College, Columbia University, and the University of Texas at Austin. He left the field to become a Computer Programmer and Software Designer eventually returning to Philosophy as an Independent Scholar and Writer. Meacham applies the precision he honed in writing software to analyze the questions and concepts of Philosophy. He is a prolific essayist and the author of two books including How To Be An Excellent Human Being.

Where To Find Him: Amazon, His Website

What is your typical workday like? What time of day do you start writing? Is it easier for you to write in the morning, afternoon, evening or late at night?

I am at my sharpest in the morning. I like to work on my projects shortly after my morning routine of yoga and meditation.  And I like to be in a quiet place with few distractions. I have a certain chair to sit in, which puts me in a good mental space to concentrate and write.  I write for a few hours until I run out of steam and then quit for the day. If I am on a deadline (which most often is self-imposed), sometimes I take a break and do something completely different for a while, like ride my bike or do housework or yard work. As I do those things, I get more ideas about what to write.  Then I come back and write some more.

You have a Ph.D. by philosophy and describe yourself as an independent scholar. Do you prefer this title over writer? If so, how come?

I prefer the title “Independent Scholar in Philosophy” because philosophy is what I write about.  I am not a general-purpose writer; I mostly write about this one topic.

How many words a day do you produce, or try to produce? How much of that ever sees the light of day?

I have not tracked my words per day.  When I am on a project I guess I do about a thousand words a day, but that is only a rough guess.

Also, I do not write every day.  Sometimes I am “hot” and write a lot for a few weeks. Other times I am uninspired and just don’t. I know some people advise writers to sit down and write something every day, but that’s not how I work.

I get lots of ideas at odd times of the day, and I carry around a little notebook to write them down. Some of them turn into topics for my blog essays.  Some of them are specific words I incorporate into one of my essays. Some of them never see the light of day. When I get an idea, I just write it down without judging it. Then I go back over my notes later and pick out the good stuff. It works best for me if I don’t edit or criticize the initial ideas.

Philosophy tends to be viewed as an abstract discipline best left for ivory tower intellectuals. What can philosophy do for the average person?

The Greek roots of the word “philosophy” mean love of wisdom. Philosophy at its best is the attempt to figure out how the world works, how a person fits into the world and how best to live a fulfilling life. Philosophy at its second best is a bunch of fun intellectual puzzles. Philosophy at its worst is a sterile activity of nit-picking pedantry or very wordy obfuscation. I recommend that the average person avoid those things. But if you are curious about what life is all about, why you are here and what to do with your life, then you are already thinking about philosophy. Go ahead and read, think critically and discuss your ideas with others. Your life will become richer.

You’ve written a couple of books, including How To Be An Excellent Human and How to Exert Free Will, both of which are packed with ideas. How do you get through ruts and the inevitable low points in writing such in-depth work?

I do it in pieces. My first book,  How To Be An Excellent Human, took seven years to write, but that’s because I was working full time and was able to get writing done only sporadically.  Sometimes I would be able to get away for a weekend and really concentrate, but sometimes I would go for weeks without writing a thing. I rarely get discouraged, but sometimes I get bored or uninterested in whatever topic I am working on. When that happens, I either just quit for a while or I make myself sit down and write.

I find that if I am at an impasse and the words are not coming, it’s best just to quit and do something else for a while. I constantly mull things over in my mind, so sometimes a word or phrase or idea will come to me when I am not sitting in my chair trying to make something happen.

Many say that the first step to being a good writer is to read good writers’ writing, and then try flattery by way of imitation. Is there an author (or authors) you’re trying to emulate when you write?

I don’t have a specific author that I emulate, but I try to write as clearly as possible. I spent many years writing requirements for software developers.  I had to be very clear and precise or they would build software that was not what the client wanted or did not meet the client’s needs. I try to avoid ambiguity and big words just for the sake of sounding important. I want my readers to really understand what I say.

Why does progress in philosophy seem so much more difficult compared to other disciplines, like physics or chemistry? Is progress even possible?

In some areas, notably logic, philosophy has made a lot of progress. Modern logic is far more rigorous than Aristotle ever was, and many conundrums have been solved. In other areas, lots of progress has been made, but we don’t call it philosophy anymore. In yet others, notably ethics, we are still pondering the same questions as we pondered two and a half thousand years ago.

Much of what we know as physics, chemistry and the like started out as “natural philosophy.” When we learned enough about the scientific method of investigation, topics such as what the physical world is made of and how it works became science and were no longer considered philosophy. We’ve gone way beyond thinking of the world as earth, air, fire and water.

Some things are not amenable to scientific explanation, and they are still considered philosophy. These are topics such as the relationship between mathematics, logic, and the physical world; the relationship between mind and matter; and whether there is a purpose or meaning to existence, and if so what it is. Since there is no agreed-upon method of inquiry and no criteria for success, these questions are still being debated.

A big reason for the apparent lack of progress in questions about the meaning of life and how best to live is that we each need to find the answers for ourselves. Even if someone has figured out the best way to live, each of us has to live our own life, not somebody else’s.  If you just take someone’s word for how to live your life, you won’t really know whether that is the best way for you. So it seems like no progress has been made, but that’s because we each have to make the progress ourselves.

And finally, philosophy is hard because everything is connected.  To find out how to live, you need to know where you fit in the big picture. To understand the big picture, you need to know yourself. And in all this, you need to know how you know things. It gets complicated.

Do you have one big idea?

I advocate what I call the Goodness Ethic: Work for the good in all things. If we devote our efforts to improving the lives of those around us, we will improve our own life because we are connected to others. If we improve our own life, we will have more energy and attention to helping others. It’s a win-win and an upward spiral all around.