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Is it just me or is stoicism been heavily commercialised over the last few years, along with vipassana meditation. There's absolutely nothing wrong with gettin

Is it just me or is stoicism been heavily commercialised over the last few years, along with vipassana meditation. There's absolutely nothing wrong with getting employees to live healthier and more resilient lives, but the skeptic in me thinks that there may be other motives.

wsinks 5y ago
Not just you, there's definitely been some sort of hook to stoicism that I've seen at a few different levels. "what's in your control and what's not?"
Renaud 5y ago
It has. People have rediscovered its importance and some have decided there was an opportunity to cash on it. Like anything else that has some success, it attracts some opportunists. It shouldn't detract anyone from looking at stoicism though. You can get everything you need from it for free, although a few books and helping the Patreon of a few philosophers who work on making it accessible is still a worthy cause to spend some money on.
bserge 5y ago
It's on the fad carousel of the self-help market, kind of like all the diets out there.
LatteLazy 5y ago
It's one of the few religious/philosophical systems that offers actual practical answers to real world problems. You can't blame people for rehashing it, branding it and selling it. Well, you can, and I sort of do, but it's better to just accept that that is what happens (like bottled water)...
dakial1 5y ago
Yes, and i think the one to change for this is politics. The divisive state of politics in the last year's (thank you Facebook!) Had taken a toll in a lot of people, and stoicism is a way of dealing with that. I was always kind of a stoic (even before knowing what it was) and while i still discuss politics sometimes I don't bother getting angry or upset at everything I see I'm that field. I don't ignore it, I take note, but don't worry about it. My wife is the other way around, she suffers a lot for things out of her control and I'm trying to teach her to be more rational and less emotional about everything. "What you're worrying about? If there something you can do then do it, if not, stop worrying as it won't help anyone."
ByteJockey 5y ago
Yeah, it really has. I've been calling this "new-age" stoicism. The best way to recognize it seems to be a complete avoidance of the topic of suicide. The traditional stoic view of suicide (including the classic defense) is quite offensive to modern humanist sensibilities. This gets in the way of monetization.
fidesomnes 5y ago
all ideas are sold in the marketplace.

wsinks 5y ago

Not just you, there's definitely been some sort of hook to stoicism that I've seen at a few different levels. "what's in your control and what's not?"

Renaud 5y ago

It has. People have rediscovered its importance and some have decided there was an opportunity to cash on it. Like anything else that has some success, it attracts some opportunists. It shouldn't detract anyone from looking at stoicism though. You can get everything you need from it for free, although a few books and helping the Patreon of a few philosophers who work on making it accessible is still a worthy cause to spend some money on.

bserge 5y ago

It's on the fad carousel of the self-help market, kind of like all the diets out there.

LatteLazy 5y ago

It's one of the few religious/philosophical systems that offers actual practical answers to real world problems. You can't blame people for rehashing it, branding it and selling it. Well, you can, and I sort of do, but it's better to just accept that that is what happens (like bottled water)...

dakial1 5y ago

Yes, and i think the one to change for this is politics. The divisive state of politics in the last year's (thank you Facebook!) Had taken a toll in a lot of people, and stoicism is a way of dealing with that. I was always kind of a stoic (even before knowing what it was) and while i still discuss politics sometimes I don't bother getting angry or upset at everything I see I'm that field. I don't ignore it, I take note, but don't worry about it. My wife is the other way around, she suffers a lot for things out of her control and I'm trying to teach her to be more rational and less emotional about everything. "What you're worrying about? If there something you can do then do it, if not, stop worrying as it won't help anyone."

ByteJockey 5y ago

Yeah, it really has. I've been calling this "new-age" stoicism. The best way to recognize it seems to be a complete avoidance of the topic of suicide. The traditional stoic view of suicide (including the classic defense) is quite offensive to modern humanist sensibilities. This gets in the way of monetization.

fidesomnes 5y ago

all ideas are sold in the marketplace.