Socrates, Confucius, Immanuel Kant. When most hear the word “philosophy,” fancy names, lengthy texts and convoluted ideas are the first things that come to mind. Senior Jaden Fu does enjoy his fair share of Fyodor Dostoevsky, but he prefers to view philosophy as a person’s way of thinking that they use all the time in daily life.

“Everyone probably practices philosophy even if they don’t realize it,” Jaden said. “It’s a broad term. Most of the time it’s just being able to think about problems that might not have a solid answer like political issues. Even if you’re playing a game, that’s also partly using philosophy. Philosophy is so universal in how you use it in real life that it’s everywhere in my life now.”

Growing up in Silicon Valley, Jaden developed an affinity for STEM, exploring physics and advanced math courses going into high school. In the broad field, the subjects that attracted him most were “first principles” such as math and physics, which act as foundational truths to broader applications. This interest eventually led Jaden to philosophy, which he believes serves as the base for all concepts in life.

“You can use math as a core for other things, and physics is what underlies the rest of sciences,” Jaden said. “So just trying to understand things is something that I’ve always been interested in and that’s what led me to looking into philosophy more. Everything stems from philosophy. Philosophy starts and then you have these sciences that are created based on patterns they find through philosophical thinking.”

Dostoevsky is a Russian novelist and one of Jaden’s favorite philosophers. While thoughts and complex thinking have become an integral part of Jaden’s life, reading Dostoevsky has taught him that taking action and actually applying his principles is equally as important.

“Thinking abstractly is interesting and hopeful, but in the end, you can’t always live in the abstract,” Jaden said. “You have to bring it into the concrete. If you think abstractly about everything, it can only get you so far.”

As Jaden explored his own beliefs, accepting fault in his way of thinking became a challenge that he had to overcome through accepting his own shortcomings. Senior Cyrus Ghane met Jaden in his sophomore year and bonded with him through mutual classes and their enjoyment of physics. He emphasizes Jaden’s impressive approach to handling his own thoughts during Physical Science Club meetings.

“I was impressed by how much he questions assumptions,” Cyrus said. “He thinks really critically about problems. He takes notes of where he makes mistakes, and then next time, he always tries to do better and correct those mistakes.”

Close friend senior Eric Dong met Jaden in his frosh year as a new student at Harker and grew close due to a variety of similar interests. He highlights Jaden’s growth in his depth of thought over their four years together in high school.

“He’s expanded his level of thought, at least in terms of philosophy, and grown as a person a lot throughout the years,” Eric said. “He is really thoughtful about the way he talks, so it’s really easy to have an interesting conversation with him. It can be about math or physics — he’s knowledgeable about those things — but he’s also willing to talk about a lot of things he doesn’t know about.”

Former Harker physics and science research teacher Chris Spenner taught Jaden in AP Physics C and noticed his enjoyment in talking to peers about his ideas.

“I hope he finds ways to share his love for science and problem solving with other students, professors and people even outside of the college community,” Spenner said. “My impression is that is what will feed his soul more than doing lots of cool science on his own.”

Jaden views philosophy as a foundation and tool to understand people and concepts. To him, a major component of high school is gathering as many of these tools such that pursuing what is truly important to him in college and beyond is possible. At the center of Jaden’s motivations is a desire for advancement, whether it be in himself or others.

“The idea of the possibility of tomorrow, the possibility of continued, incremental growth — that is how I find value in what I do,” Jaden said. “I’d be down on myself if I didn’t do anything for a day. I would look inward if in a day I didn’t improve myself at least a little bit, if I didn’t learn something new or if I didn’t help a friend or help someone else.”