General: What is the role or relevance of philosophy?

When I was 18yo I was fortunate to have been introduced to philosophy. When first introduced to it, I responded with the same apprehension that grips most people. `Ideological nonsense detached from the real world`. I thought my suspicions would be validated by reading the first chapter. Boy was I wrong. In the last 18 years my interest in philosophy has expanded into philosophy, as well as enhanced my understanding of economics, science, politics, ethics, law, and other subjects.
That is not to suggest that the suspicions that people have about philosophy are not wrong. I came to realise that not all philosophies are the same, in fact a great many of them are destructive. Of course my support of a particular philosophy has to be questioned as much as any other. So I encourage people to learn philosophy so they can determine what system of ideas offers them value. I see the role of philosophy as giving people:
(1) A method of thinking
(2) A system of values
The benefits of philosophy are thus:
(1) Greater mental efficacy
(2) Greater understanding of the human sciences
(3) Greater confidence
(4) Greater personal effectiveness
(5) Greater curiosity
Results are by no means guaranteed. We are all introduced to philosophy at different stages of our life, and we bring to it a specific set of values cultivated by our own thinking and the environment in which we are raised. One of the greatest benefits of philosophy in this context is the belief that we can ultimately know, though we might struggle to understand ourselves and others.
Perhaps the greatest failing of philosophy is that it has remained a `pure` abstract science. To some extent it has been overshadowed by more applied thinking, by subjects such as `life coaching`. This is an unfortunate development because such self-improvement books lack the depth of understanding to be helpful to many people. That`s not to say they offer no value, just that their effectiveness or applicability will be undermined because they are concrete-bound. Perhaps there biggest failing is that they lack any code of ethics, or reference to a theory of values. A life coach might assert that we should pursue our values, whatever they might be, whether they are based on sound thinking, a reasonable understanding, or not. Pursuit of such values might be to impress others. Many of them in different chapters might highlight the dangers of such thinking, but its because some psychologist has asserted this premise, rather than reflecting any theoretical understanding of human nature. For this reason, a great many human scientists are left concrete-bound, unable to anticipate human behaviour. Its my pride that I can anticipate such events with greater predictability. Thats not to say I have mystical powers of prediction, just that the science of humanity offers some scope of predictability like the physical sciences based on cause & effect.

It is this understanding that prompted me to predict that the US coalition`s efforts to rid opposite in Iraq would fail, and that democracy was not possible for all of Iraq. There necessarily had to be a separation of fates between those that believed in freedom and those that believed in coersion, recognising that they are philosophically poles apart.

The road to philosophical understanding is not all gold. I have struggled over the years to deal with the fact that the great majority of people don`t think. I have spent alot of time bashing my head against the wall proving it. I spent alot of time being self-righteous, in the process demonstrating the impracticality of being right, and the practicality of being goal-orientated. But thats not to suggested I abandoned principles, but rather that I had to broaden their applicability to embrace my goals. For example, having shunned the education system that assigns an intrinsic value to `accredited` qualifications, I sought to become self-employed and prove my own effectiveness in the market. In the process, I have avoided working with people that dogmatically accept the status quo, an instead sought to produce my own results, even though they fall short of my effectiveness had I been working within a team. Its a far better solution than having others undermine your values.

I was never going to work well in a team with such values. I would have been vulnerable to their entrenched `social` values, and they would have been vulnerable to my reproach. I know in abstract terms that we are incompatible, and they have a `sense` that I don`t fit in their organisations even if I brought untold productivity to them. Assuming I would feel comfortable there....and of course I couldn`t because I`d have to downgrade my expectations.

Perhaps the most important premise I have grasped....somewhat belatedly... was the need for empathy and to be goal-orientated. These are related and critical to personal effectiveness.

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Pleased to hear comments or criticism if reason is the standard.