
Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment? - diodorus
https://medium.com/eidolon/why-is-stoicism-having-a-cultural-moment-5f0e9963d560
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hugh4
Is stoicism having a cultural moment?

I rather think that modern western culture is about as un-Stoic as it has been
at any point since... sometime before Stoicism was invented, and that any
explicit endorsement of Stoicism you may find among the remaining sane people
is purely a reaction to that.

Stoicism teaches that suffering and misfortune are part of life, and that
wisdom comes from learning to deal with this fact. Modern-day Oprah culture
teaches that you are a beautiful and unique person and that any suffering or
misfortune you may encounter is something that you should probably sue
somebody about.

~~~
stinos
_Modern-day Oprah culture teaches that you are a beautiful and unique person
and that any suffering or misfortune you may encounter is something that you
should probably sue somebody about._

close, but I'd generalize this more and adapt it so that it also relates more
to non-US cultures (less Oprah, less suing), and by removing the action
(suing) from it and replacing it with what people tend to think, not how they
react to it - something like

"Modern-day culture teaches that you are a beautiful and unique person and
that any suffering or misfortune you may encounter is somebody else's, or the
system's, fault"

At least that is how I perceive the group I think you are targetting here.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
I think it's the opposite, modern day culture celebrates individuals and their
achievements as though they created their success on their own, that luck had
nothing to do with it. We put people like Zuckerberg on a pedestal when at
least some (much?) of their success comes from the luck of having the right
parents, being born at the right time, having an interest that happens to be
financially valuable and so on.

The downside to this attitude is that we look down on people who weren't
lucky, who had the misfortune to be born into an uneducated family, who
weren't in the right place at the right time and so on through no fault of
their own.

~~~
PierreRochard
The conclusions you've reached are not uncontroversial in the academic
literature:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor%E2%80%93observer_asymmet...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor%E2%80%93observer_asymmetry)

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jjaredsimpson
Because everyone who cares eventually tries to read great literature and you
make it to Meditations which is a great read for a 20+ year old immersed in a
culture that tells you to connect your self worth to the score others give
you. It's a self-help read for people who don't want to consume for profit
self help. It's counterculture.

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Udo
The problem is that stoic people can suffer a serious social penalty to their
interests and the cooperation they get from others. It's expected that, once
you are in a bad situation, you fight in an outwardly visible fashion. If you
don't display the markers of frustration in an easily understandable way,
people will think you just don't care enough. Meanwhile, there is little
downside to histrionics and unreasonable demands, putting the stoic at a
severe disadvantage.

~~~
tomhoward
I know what you mean, having been through this journey and experienced the
kind of thing you're talking about. But in the end, the calmness and
tranquility that comes from removing yourself from the drama and histrionics
of the rest of the world is its own victory, and any "social penalty" turns
out to be quite a gift.

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0xcde4c3db
I'm a little surprised that the article doesn't mention cognitive behavioral
therapy (CBT). It is easily one of the "hottest" forms of psychotherapy in
recent years, and is heavily inspired by Stoic ideas. Mindfulness more
generally is also having a big moment in clinical psychology.

~~~
hammock
Best CBT books you can recommend?

~~~
lfowles
Not sure, but I've seen Feeling Good by David Burns[1] recommended in ADHD
circles. Can anyone back this up?

[1]: [http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-The-Mood-
Therapy/dp/03808...](http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-The-Mood-
Therapy/dp/0380810336)

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DanielBMarkham
One of the things I did when I was in my 20s was to look for some kind of
great person to adopt as a hero, or a philosophy that would cover all of the
tough questions. I guess my feeling was that there was some exact solution to
everything and that putting myself in the right bucket I'd have a lot of
personal questions answered.

Looking back, this is probably a good reason to wait until studying philosophy
until your 30s -- you need some time actually living in order to put things in
their proper place. Epistemology, especially, can really take your head for a
spin.

But I finally realized that various forms of thought are not solutions, rather
they are tools for dealing with the day-to-day issues that life brings.
Different situations? Use different tools. The goal wasn't to find an
universal answer, it was to fill a tool belt with the tools you'd need for an
interesting and rewarding life.

An obvious corollary here: it's okay if the tools don't all work together at
the same time. I'm a human, not a math equation. It all doesn't have to add up
and be consistent in the end. (Very tough to realize and accept this as well!)

Today the three main tools I use the most are agnosticism, existentialism, and
stoicism. Between these three I find that I am safely and soundly able to
navigate various difficult ethical, moral, and professional questions. In
addition, they give me direction for further joy and fulfillment in life. And
extra bonus points: they do not preclude any of the wonderfully human and
irrational beliefs I may want to pick up along the way, such as using
supplements for life extension, playing the lottery, or choosing to believe in
the Great Pumpkin.

Modern life is one of people instantly connecting together in mobs. Nobody can
tolerate being bored, and it's very easy to spend a lot of your life without
really thinking about what you're doing. Stoicism, existentialism, and
agnosticism guides me in mindfulness, self-directed purpose, and the limits of
my knowledge. I'm very happy to have them as part of my tool belt.

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Animats
Probably because it helps justify longer working hours and low pay.

~~~
rodgerd
There's a certain temptation to ascribe it to a cynical desire to convince
people they shouldn't try to change their lot.

~~~
marktangotango
Viewed in the historical context, Seneca the younger lived in the time when
crucifixion, impalement, and gladiator games where in full swing, so the
comparatively speaking, the bad then was quiet a bit worse than the bad now.
In my view that makes the grand parents comment quiet shallow.

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Expez
This was a wonderful read.

Could someone who's gone down this path provide a reading list for someone
interested in learning more?

~~~
kornish
The three best-known literary products of Stoic culture and philosophy are
probably:

\- Marcus Aurelius' _Meditations_ (make sure to get the Hays translation! By
far the best). Aurelius was an emperor of Rome; _Meditations_ are his musings
to himself in later life. It's interesting to reading the internal grapplings
of a man who was, to his countrymen, basically a walking god.

\- Lucius Annaeus Seneca's _Letters from a Stoic_

\- Epictetus' _Enchiridion_ , which translates roughly as "handbook" and was
assembled from the teachings of Epictetus, an exiled former slave, to those
who traveled to live and study with him.

I strongly recommend all three. If you're interested in more modern
interpretations of the above, a couple good jumping off points would be _A
Guide to the Good Life_ by William Irvine (which was mostly pretty good) or
_The Inner Citadel_ by Pierre Hadot (which studies Meditations). Ryan Holiday
also has a book called _The Obstacle Is The Way_ , though I didn't enjoy it as
much as any listed above, to be honest.

A personal favorite gem which, found several years ago:
[http://stoicletters.blogspot.com/](http://stoicletters.blogspot.com/). This
blog bundles Seneca's letters into a modern style of prose and is much more
accessible while conveying much of the same meaning as the original letters.

~~~
hugh4
Interesting that nobody seems to have had anything particularly worth writing
on the subject of stoicism for the past nearly-2000 years.

~~~
fluidcruft
Stoicism is a secular buddhism for people that don't like the buddhist brand.

~~~
mhartl
Or, as Nassim Nicholas Taleb put it in _Antifragile_ : "A Stoic is a Buddhist
with attitude."

~~~
viewer5
Why "with attitude"?

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mhartl
I can't be 100% sure what Taleb had in mind, but I think the idea is that
Stoics are a little more defiant than Buddhists, whose reputation is more for
passivity. In fact I truncated the quote, both for brevity and because I don't
like Taleb's self-censorship, but the original reads as follows:

    
    
        A Stoic is a Buddhist with attitude, one who says "f*** you" to fate.
    

(asterisks in original).

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Synaesthesia
Stoicism really helped me through some psychological difficulties. It contains
truths which haven't altered in thousands of years.

~~~
brightball
Stoicism is basically Christianity minus God / Jesus when you really boil it
down. With us watching a cultural trend of people rejecting faith regularly,
yet at the same time watching a lot of the bad decisions that come from the
"focussed on me" aspects that often come from it, Stoicism is a fairly
expected non-theistic reaction.

In a lot of ways, the concept of the tiny house movement is sort of a
reflection of Stoicism if you think about it.

The general idea is that if you lessen your needs, then what you have becomes
abundant. It could also be considered a bit of a reaction to the debt crisis
that individuals face on many levels.

As your expenses approach zero, your income approaches infinity.

~~~
taurath
Stoicism is much more self focused than Christianity. Christianity has the
added dissociative effect of the source of your morals not being you, and lets
one achieve a form of "humility" through being able to move thoughts judgement
and morals that can't be reconciled over to the abstraction of an all-knowing
other. Stoicism is much more fatalistic in that sense - whatever happens
happens, rather than whatever happens is known and "matters" in the scheme of
things because of God.

"Focused on me" culture is not inherently wrong for communities or cultures at
at all, but when you compare straight hedonism to "selfless" christianity then
its understandable to have some backlash on "me" culture. "Me focus" can also
mean basically trying to achieve what is in the Serenity Prayer (written in
the 1800s by a Christian theologian) -

"[God] grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage
to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference"

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MichaelMoser123
here they compare stoic virtues with Hindu notions of dharma. The author
speculates that Stoics were somehow influenced by Hindu thought. Maybe a new
interest in Stoicism is partly inspired by exposure to Hinduist beliefs.

[http://www.studiesincomparativereligion.com/public/articles/...](http://www.studiesincomparativereligion.com/public/articles/Parallels_in_Hindu_and_Stoic_Ethical_Thought.aspx)

~~~
visakanv
> Hinduist thought

Nitpicking, but "Hindu thought" will do! Thanks for the link.

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minority-one
Who started it?

Who is the group X that started the routine of saying "we are group X and we
are _special and isolated_ from the rest of human kind because of our _unique
suffering_ and/or significance"?

I'll give you a chance to answer.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Who is the group X that started the routine of saying "we are group X and we
> are special and isolated from the rest of human kind because of our unique
> suffering and/or significance"?

No one knows -- that pattern is evidenced as far back as recorded history goes
pretty much everywhere in the world; its definitely older than writing, and
quite possibly as old as the ability to communicate sophisticated enough
concepts to express it.

~~~
norea-armozel
I'm not sure the commenter is engaging the question in good faith. I'm going
to suggest disengaging with them until they demonstrate their thesis. It sucks
to do that, but this has that troll feel to me.

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stoikerty
wait what

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tljr
Prisoner mentality.

Sorry, I like to answer titles that end in question marks. Because they're
questions. Not Titles.

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keyle
That was quite an article. Then I went to read the local newspaper and it was
about how a man got charged for taking a naked stroll.

The news gave people what they want, shock and kittens. Blogging rules.

