Armchair Philosopher.

Between jobs I spend a lot of time in Cafe's. Pondering life and people watching

There are several that I frequent. Not even in the same town and I've got to know some of the owners and workers quite well.

One is a charity Cafe for adults with special needs and although my visits are now less frequent, I still bump into them 'about town'.

But it was a chance conversation this morning at a particular Cafe that spark some thoughts for this article. One of the staff I've engaged with previously on the subject of religion. He's a Muslim and I'm an Atheist or probably more accurately an?Agnostic Atheist.

He ribs me as I stare across the high street "still pondering?" he would say. We laugh and share some thoughts.

I made light and referred to Islam as "one of the Abrahamic Religions".

He looked puzzled

I explained Now, my friend is a regular at the prayer mat. He's kind and generous and takes his religion to heart.

He studies, he prays and he pays a proportion of his income to the poor. No doubt that this is a good man.

As we talked, I realised that his knowledge of other religions was minimal. Almost non existent.

The ironic comparison between the similarities of Judaism and Islam were totally lost on his.

My suggestion that they were like brothers who fight?drew a blank look and he went on to serve others, I continued to stare and ponder.?

How to understand one subject, it can be equally important to understand others adjacent to that subject.

How to understand all the subjects with context, it's important to have knowledge of the framework in which they all exist.

You can then justify and even defend your position much more clearly rather than just recite the doctrine of your chosen belief.

A better perspective I guess.

Then my engineering brain turned to Products ( you just knew I'd get there at some point)

Maybe a new religion is like a new product.. It has to make sense within it's surroundings and possibly have arguments that allow it to rub up with or against adjacent products. But you don't want to create a product that turns out to be the?Branch Davidians. It's here that perhaps my argument falls apart.

Cults?? It might occur that cult religions are bad but that Cult products are good. But perhaps cult products are only good for a narrow cohort and only for an amount of time?

But maybe a product or indeed a Brand are like religions in that you truly believe.

Brands like Shark/Ninja (who I had the pleasure to do some work for) are one such company.

Before you go to buy your Vacuum/Food processor. You already believe in the product. The product already produces that feeling of delight before you've even used it.

It's the power of Brand reinforced by the product.

More established Brands have a similar effect. I personally think that some products no longer quite stand up to the hype.

Bosch perhaps - I'm on my 3rd dishwasher in a decade.

When you are creating a new product, you want, ideally, to be creating something in that product that engenders belief. Particularly if that product is truly innovative and new. Not an incremental addition to something already existing as most are. Something that excites you with just the thought, way before you part with money or start opening the box.?

Look to create that product religion and belief system around it by understanding the existing landscape and who else exists within it.?

And just for some brevity. An excerpt from Monty Pythons Philosophers song:

Aristotle, Aristotle, was a bugger for the bottle, Hobbes was fond of his dram. And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart, "I drink, therefore I am!"

Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed... A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed.