Stoicism is making a huge comeback even though the world is saturated with self-improvement ideas. Why is this? What does Stoicism offer that is unique?
My answer: Stoicism deals with real life, not fantasy....
Death, life, status, friendship, fame, goals, frustration, anger, impatience, addiction, virtue, being good, having discipline, etc.
To live a good live might be as simple as being a good person rather than collecting good things. That is a harder sell, but the Stoics had some damn good arguments.
Social responsibility/political obligation, and a different idea of success - self help tries to help you achieve your goals, stoicism forces you to evaluate whether those goals are something you should be striving for in the first place.
Boom! Love the piece about evaluating the goals. What I'm hearing is that Stoicism doesn't just accept people's assumptions about the good life and help them with that assumption, instead it reevaluates the whole thing.
Yeah! It's why I bristle at a lot of modern attempts to distill stoicism down to a set of 'life hacks' or 'business principles', removing it from its ethics and worldview is lobotomising it
How do you find the balance though? Because Stoicism can be useful as a set of life hacks for people, and those same people might not be in the place to go deep into the ethics and worldview. How might you promote the therapeutic uses of Stoicism to people who want fast relief, without lobotomising it?
Hmm, good question! I think that you can be influenced by Stoic thought and not be a Stoic, that's totally fine imo, it's when people make pretentions to be super into Stoicism (or actually profit off of the names, iconography, etc), but are actually just into the aesthetics and the life hacks that I find a bit distasteful
Yeah, great recommendation to look into CBT as more of a systematic self-help version of Stoicism. If you find the ideas any way helpful in CBT, Stoicism will be a natural fit.
For me, it's practical and realistic. It's not pushing positivity all the time. It acknowledges that you will face challenges but gives you accessible tools to manage them. It also doesn't falsely present itself as a panacea, it's a lifestyle and a practise requiring mindful effort. I also find that Stoicism plays well with mindfulness and Buddhism which is also seeing a boost it popularity amongst Westerners.
To me, Stoicism provides a complete value system by clearly stating what's to pursue, namely virtue. As pointed out by others, there are clear instructions so that one can judge their actions very precisely. And it's so god damn persuasive and self-evident, compared to what's pushed by society as life goals (fame, money etc.), it clicks immediately. I think people lack this kind of value system growing up and Stoicism is compatible with modern man and it's very comprehensive. Self-improvement ideas are mostly bits and pieces of wisdom and lack clear instructions most of the time.
Another refreshing aspect of it is being able to unplug from the things that are happening around you that you cannot control- like news that you cannot do anything about, the lives of people around you in social media, and especially the things in your life that you cannot do anything about. In the anxiety-driven information age where we are constantly bombarded with others' values, lives, agendas, etc., it provides a mental space to focus on what matters, to become more authentic. It's like a completely different way of living from what's practiced today.
Thank you for such a wonderful answer, Mert! The piece on the value system really spoke to me. So many people are chasing fame and fortune, and if you were to tell them that it is virtue that is the only thing that is good and will lead to a good life, they would look at you as if you had 5 heads. But when you read the Stoics, this idea becomes less and less crazy, and eventually becomes impossible to deny.
I think stoicism offers clear practical principles. It's been around for millennia and tested by many. To me it's clear why it prevails. Clear instruction and ease of application result in integration.
One plight of the millennial is over complicating the simple, finding problems rather than seeking resolution. I find stoicism, especially through the observant lense of your writing Jon, to offer a reasoned approach to day to day problems. It doesn’t promise a miracle cure, rather a fresh, striped back perspective.
Thank you, Gaz. Good point on the millennial mindset. Stoicism is a mature approach to life and totally against the view that we are victims of life or the world. 💪🏻👍🏻
I would say it's important for people to realise that they are more in control of their emotions than they think or thought, and a degree of ownership is required to solve problems. Modern medical science exhibits this through CBT therapy.
I think it was Alan Watts who mentions that in the end you can't point blame at others saying 'You! You Bastard! You did this to me!' when talking of 'The Joker' in one of his lectures.
Taking ownership is both scary and the only way to make significant differences in your life. Great point. Do you have the Alan Watts video or quote to link?
Also Jordan Peterson comments that it's best to not skirt around someone's issues. There's no point going to a self help therapist for help only for them to tell you there's nothing wrong with you! Of course there's something wrong otherwise the issue wouldn't necessarily exist in the first place
I thoroughly enjoy the way he explains how we can influence our own reality, more often than not emphasising the fact that our reality is just that, our own perspective on the way things are, along with reminding the listener/reader that everyone is on the same path. Just a different aspect of looking at it.
I agree that a big part of it is that Stoicism questions whether a lot of the goals we've collectively assumed are "good" are actually worthwhile in the first place. I also think, perhaps more cynically, that people flock to "isms," something that they can construct between them and chaotic experience. Stoicism is perfectly suited to this, of course, and it also benefits from being associated with classical antiquity. Ancient wisdom is just "in."
My answer: Stoicism deals with real life, not fantasy....
Death, life, status, friendship, fame, goals, frustration, anger, impatience, addiction, virtue, being good, having discipline, etc.
To live a good live might be as simple as being a good person rather than collecting good things. That is a harder sell, but the Stoics had some damn good arguments.
Social responsibility/political obligation, and a different idea of success - self help tries to help you achieve your goals, stoicism forces you to evaluate whether those goals are something you should be striving for in the first place.
Boom! Love the piece about evaluating the goals. What I'm hearing is that Stoicism doesn't just accept people's assumptions about the good life and help them with that assumption, instead it reevaluates the whole thing.
Yeah! It's why I bristle at a lot of modern attempts to distill stoicism down to a set of 'life hacks' or 'business principles', removing it from its ethics and worldview is lobotomising it
How do you find the balance though? Because Stoicism can be useful as a set of life hacks for people, and those same people might not be in the place to go deep into the ethics and worldview. How might you promote the therapeutic uses of Stoicism to people who want fast relief, without lobotomising it?
Hmm, good question! I think that you can be influenced by Stoic thought and not be a Stoic, that's totally fine imo, it's when people make pretentions to be super into Stoicism (or actually profit off of the names, iconography, etc), but are actually just into the aesthetics and the life hacks that I find a bit distasteful
Also, cognitive behavioural therapy is a great way to get more into similar principles
Yeah, great recommendation to look into CBT as more of a systematic self-help version of Stoicism. If you find the ideas any way helpful in CBT, Stoicism will be a natural fit.
For me, it's practical and realistic. It's not pushing positivity all the time. It acknowledges that you will face challenges but gives you accessible tools to manage them. It also doesn't falsely present itself as a panacea, it's a lifestyle and a practise requiring mindful effort. I also find that Stoicism plays well with mindfulness and Buddhism which is also seeing a boost it popularity amongst Westerners.
100% resonate with this. I am a longtime Buddhist meditator and find that Stoicism compliments this practice very well. 👏🏻
To me, Stoicism provides a complete value system by clearly stating what's to pursue, namely virtue. As pointed out by others, there are clear instructions so that one can judge their actions very precisely. And it's so god damn persuasive and self-evident, compared to what's pushed by society as life goals (fame, money etc.), it clicks immediately. I think people lack this kind of value system growing up and Stoicism is compatible with modern man and it's very comprehensive. Self-improvement ideas are mostly bits and pieces of wisdom and lack clear instructions most of the time.
Another refreshing aspect of it is being able to unplug from the things that are happening around you that you cannot control- like news that you cannot do anything about, the lives of people around you in social media, and especially the things in your life that you cannot do anything about. In the anxiety-driven information age where we are constantly bombarded with others' values, lives, agendas, etc., it provides a mental space to focus on what matters, to become more authentic. It's like a completely different way of living from what's practiced today.
Lastly, it's like DIY CBT, and CBT is awesome :).
Thank you for such a wonderful answer, Mert! The piece on the value system really spoke to me. So many people are chasing fame and fortune, and if you were to tell them that it is virtue that is the only thing that is good and will lead to a good life, they would look at you as if you had 5 heads. But when you read the Stoics, this idea becomes less and less crazy, and eventually becomes impossible to deny.
Also, Marcus, Seneca, and Epictetus are like the coolest frontmen in the game. Who wouldn't want to be like them?
Haha, good point. ;)
I think stoicism offers clear practical principles. It's been around for millennia and tested by many. To me it's clear why it prevails. Clear instruction and ease of application result in integration.
Clear, practical, easy to apply, and very well tested and refined. 👏🏻🔥
One plight of the millennial is over complicating the simple, finding problems rather than seeking resolution. I find stoicism, especially through the observant lense of your writing Jon, to offer a reasoned approach to day to day problems. It doesn’t promise a miracle cure, rather a fresh, striped back perspective.
Thank you, Gaz. Good point on the millennial mindset. Stoicism is a mature approach to life and totally against the view that we are victims of life or the world. 💪🏻👍🏻
It’s clear and simple. Just what it is. Thank you Jon!!!
Yes! So no confusing and vague language. Just very direct and wise.
I would say it's important for people to realise that they are more in control of their emotions than they think or thought, and a degree of ownership is required to solve problems. Modern medical science exhibits this through CBT therapy.
I think it was Alan Watts who mentions that in the end you can't point blame at others saying 'You! You Bastard! You did this to me!' when talking of 'The Joker' in one of his lectures.
Taking ownership is both scary and the only way to make significant differences in your life. Great point. Do you have the Alan Watts video or quote to link?
https://youtu.be/LlAQaakSEzE
This is the video I've referred too.
Also Jordan Peterson comments that it's best to not skirt around someone's issues. There's no point going to a self help therapist for help only for them to tell you there's nothing wrong with you! Of course there's something wrong otherwise the issue wouldn't necessarily exist in the first place
Hmm, yeah. I love his work on honesty, so simple, useful, seemingly obvious and yet rarely applied.
I thoroughly enjoy the way he explains how we can influence our own reality, more often than not emphasising the fact that our reality is just that, our own perspective on the way things are, along with reminding the listener/reader that everyone is on the same path. Just a different aspect of looking at it.
I agree that a big part of it is that Stoicism questions whether a lot of the goals we've collectively assumed are "good" are actually worthwhile in the first place. I also think, perhaps more cynically, that people flock to "isms," something that they can construct between them and chaotic experience. Stoicism is perfectly suited to this, of course, and it also benefits from being associated with classical antiquity. Ancient wisdom is just "in."