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I can't put my finger on it but I always find this modern(Americanized?) peddling of stoicism too pretentious and vapid as to be not only useless but actively o
by _ttg 5y ago
I can't put my finger on it but I always find this modern(Americanized?) peddling of stoicism too pretentious and vapid as to be not only useless but actively off-putting to me. The fact that life is short is already central to most adults and I don't see what purpose any of these reminders serve except to seem high-minded (and annoying). The faux precision of this "clock" also bothers me but that's a different story.
- ngngngng 5y agoI’ve found some use for it. For example, I’m a significantly better parent when I take time in the morning to remind myself that I might die today. Similarly useful is reminding yourself that your family members might die today.
- mherdeg 5y agoI don't know if the calculator at seeyourfolks.com has guided any of my decisions differently but it guides some thinking.
- AutumnCurtain 5y agoTo me, it rings false because the people who propagate it so rarely face "real" adversity. I would be more interested in the stoicism of a broke guy scrapping just to exist than the stoicism of rich white tech bros. Yes, everyone faces adversity of some kind, but these lectures ring so false when the lecturer sits firmly in the top 1% of global and historic wealth.
- watwut 5y agoStoicism of broke guy will be framed as passivity, laziness and cause of his brokenness in the first place. That guy is supposed to hustle.
- trgn 5y agoLet me take a try why you feel that way. (I might be wrong). Stoicism is very easily repurposed, because it is divorced from a religious praxis, and therefore easily assimilated. It is pithy and vague enough too, its maxims can fit on a bumper sticker. "Life is short!", honk if you agree. The appeal for stoicism today is because it is aspirational; we no longer recognize the stoic hero in ourselves and our neighbors. Yet, we would wish we could marshal the inner strength we imagine the stoics of the past possessed. When people broadcast stoic wisdom over twitter, or memes, or ted-talks, or through any other channels that exemplify the trite and vain nature of contemporary consumer media, it seems to scream despair, rather than confidence. A toddler trying to convince themselves they are not scared in the basement, if only they say it a loud enough. Mu hunch is that is why you find a website like this annoying. Packaged for the internet, bland, vague, fast food for the brain. I would agree. Up to a point. Life is short indeed, gam gam has it on a plaque above her fireplace, she bought it in a trinket shop in Gatlinburg. What is equally important, but unsaid, is what comes after. Both the stoic and hedonist will accept the premise, but will activate it very differently. Will you dedicate yourself to the future, or will you dedicate the present to yourself. I don't think that website makes any recommendation on the matter.
- _ttg 5y agoExactly right. Essentially the consumerist, "fast food for the brain" idea is what I was struggling to point out. Having read a little of this thread though, I'm more open to the idea that even what seems to me as fluff is pretty useful as a regular centering mechanism so I'm just moderately indifferent instead of annoyed now.
- recuter 5y agoAll the old ideas, everything good, is always rediscovered and repackaged over and over again. Don't let others yuck your yum.