“If joy for you is only possible when things are going amazing, your joy or your happiness is therefore out of your hands … If joy and happiness are dependent on external circumstances, how good is it? … How fragile [is it]?” Ryan Holiday on TKP (11/26) At nearly the same time last year, I was back aboard the Stoic-wagon delving into the writings of some of my favorite ancient philosophers yet again. That wagon might have continued along on the same path, but I have long since fallen off and it has been many, many months since it has been in view. That isn’t to say that I don’t have my virtuous moments any given day. My ability to reason through a problem and parse out what I do (and more importantly don’t) have control of remains a strength. Establishing realistic expectations while bearing in mind that only a […]
When I went in for my annual physical exam with Dr Kaplan this past winter, I was asked to complete a depression questionnaire, a PHQ-10. I already knew the score before I walked in and was already prepared to have the conversation. I had been feeling really low for a few months and things were not getting better. I am familiar with the PHQ, and my baseline misanthropic nihilism keeps me between a 1-3 most of the time. Things were feeling worse than they had in a while, though, and I was planning to ask for help. This was the worst that I had felt since my thyroid condition and something needed to change. I wasn’t scared this time, though. The thyroid-thing was really, really scary. Back then, I was having thoughts that I really didn’t want to have. The darkest of thoughts. This time, I was just feeling painfully […]
Striving. I am always and constantly striving. Even when my body is stil, my mind is busy. Thinking. Contemplating. Debating. Considering. Strategizing. The gears are in constant motion. What do I need to do? Where am I succeeding? Where am I falling short? What can I control? What can I influence? What does that mean for me and my goals? Are my goals realistic? Are they just? Do I need to adapt? What do I need to change? The goal or the plan? In this manner, I am failing all the time. I fail to be the husband that I want to be. I fail to be the parent that my children most fully deserve. I fail to be as effective as I need to be for the agency to achieve a 5-star rating. I fail to maintain friendships. I fail to lose weight. I fail to stay in ideal […]
“… an argument in which a party asserts that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant (usually negative) effect … an attempt to discourage someone from taking a course of action because if they do it will lead to some unacceptable conclusion.” Wikipedia I occasionally listen to talk radio to test my critical thinking. Contrary to what my father thinks, I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I continue to hold moderate to libertarian-leaning views on a range of topics, but what they are is not important because they are fungible. More important than my views are my values, under-girded by a pragmatic philosophical foundation that is secular, naturalistic, and humanist. It is the pragmatist in me that likes to listen to ideas that sometimes diverge from my own to challenge my own thinking. It was on a ride home the […]
I have learned a lesson this summer that I hope I don’t forget, and I should probably begin to apply it more generally as well. For too long, I have missed out on opportunities while I wait for the right- … no, make that the perfect-moment. When I want to go on vacation, I wait until the last minute to see how the weather will be. When I decide to wake up and go out with my camera, I look at the forecast first. I won’t even watch a movie at home until I find 2+ consecutive hours to watch it. I wait until the time is right and hope the stars align and they rarely ever do. This last month, though, the best moments have been imperfect. The trip to PA with Austin was forecast to have oppressive temperatures and we went anyway; we adapted and had a great […]
As you may have realized, I have become an enthusiastic consumer of Stoic philosophy and thinking. I have always been a fan of Epictetus’ views and teachings about worrying about only those things that we have control over and not fretting about the things we don’t, and – in that regard – I have been a good stoic for one (if not two) decades. And although I had an appreciation for Epictetus, I leaned more into the angst and meaninglessness of existentialism as it tends to be a much better fit for my depressive realism. In the end though, I think that someone can view the world through a more-existential lens while finding value in the virtues of stoicism, which is what I have been trying to do for the last year. What are the central virtues of stoicism, you ask? They are quite simple really. They include wisdom, courage, […]
The 20th century philosopher Bertrand Russell famously said: A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. From “A History of Western Philosophy” If you are amongst experts and think you understand and have a valid opinion on their subject of expertise, take pause. Ask yourself the question: Is it rational to think that I have all the knowledge that is required for insight and deliberation on the given topic of complexity? If you think for a moment that it is, pause again, because only the fool fancies themselves capable without the requisite vocabulary, foundational knowledge, or thinking that is required to be less than stupid. ‘ Sure, you might be an expert too, but it is much more likely that you don’t know what you think you know because you aren’t even […]
“To these things which are perceived, and as it were accepted by the senses, [Zeno] adds the assent of the mind, which he considers to be placed in ourselves and voluntary. … After it had been received and approved, then he called it comprehension, resembling those things which are taken up in the hand. … That which was comprehended by sense he called felt, and if it was so comprehended that it could not be eradicated by reason, he called it knowledge; otherwise he called it ignorance: from which also was engendered opinion, which was weak, and compatible with what was false or unknown. But between knowledge and ignorance he placed that comprehension which I have spoken of, and reckoned it neither among what was right or what was wrong,” Cicero I heard this passage and loved it. I also loved the response that followed from the host in the […]
This is another in a series of reflections on the content of my favorite podcast of 2021: episode 110 of The Knowledge Project with Jim Collins. Sometimes you don’t know the whole story. Sometimes it may not be ill-intent. Sometimes it could simply be a misunderstanding or it could be incompetence; somebody may not be untrustworthy, they may just be incompetent or they made a mistake, right? Maybe you don’t see the whole situation. Maybe you are jumping to a conclusion about why someone is doing something, when actually – if you could see everything from all perspectives – you would forgive. As a teen, I refused to put up with other people’s bullshit. If you acted like an idiot, I was out. If you wronged me (or a friend), I saw no reason to talk to you. If you hurt me or someone I loved, you were worse than […]