[adjkant]

I picked it all up from college philosophy courses and practical application of philosophy (yes, it does exist, just not often taught). I plan to eventually earn a Ph.D. in philosophy and currently have enough credit to be between a major and a minor, though it isn't my major (CS). I skew towards practical philosophical subjects (social, political, contemporary ethics) for probably many of the reasons behind your frustrations, which I both understand and even share to some extent. Again, as I have said in another comment chain here, your frustrations do not make the field simple, only useless to you, which is a valid stance.

> "It's when you realise that despite asking all these questions and coming up with all these wonderful thought experiments that it gets you no closer at all to improving your understanding of the world, of ethics or politics or history or science, even the basics, understanding the meaning of life."

This has not been my experience nor would it be agreeable to many others. I think there are many people that find it useless, and many who find it useful. Just because you find it useless does not make the field generally useless to all.

You criticize my argument but fail to refute or address any of my response to the content of the field. In fact, you ignore it and keep using the assumption that philosophy is only thought experiments. When every replier has a similar opinion, you probably are better to at least examine it rather than pretending that everyone believes they have a "special" understanding of the subject. No one has pretended to have any big or even small insights on the field, or some huge understanding of even a single philosophy on its own.