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I've always believed that Democritus(the laughing philosopher) was onto something with his work "On Cheerfulness" that inspired many stoics like Seneca to pass
by thenerdhead 5y ago
I've always believed that Democritus(the laughing philosopher) was onto something with his work "On Cheerfulness" that inspired many stoics like Seneca to pass on the idea of enlightened hedonism.
While loneliness is a factor that is getting worse each year and the stats seem to also prove it, I do believe that the idea Democritus provides for "moderation of everything" is the key. This sense of relatedness and having a strong sense of community/relationships still needs to not fall to either extreme.
Seneca for example outlined a few things on-top of this work in "On the tranquility of the mind / on peace of mind" for living a good life:
1. Attitude is everything.
2. Don't compare yourself to others, only yourself.
3. Love and be loved.
4. Do not harm others.
5. Cherish the present.
That the right treatment is to follow nature, find the right balance between sociability and solitude, labour and leisure, sobriety and intoxication, and to "watch over our vacillating mind with intense and unremitting care".
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/
https://medium.com/@s.sekulins/a-guide-to-happiness-senecas-five-essential-lessons-that-will-help-you-live-a-happier-life-4c3469af3346 https://medium.com/@s.sekulins/a-guide-to-happiness-senecas-...
- tester756 5y ago>2. Don't compare yourself to others, only yourself. Can "stealing"/learning from other people be considered as a "comparing" to them? Because before you apply their approach, then you have to a) find that they're doing it b) realize that you aren't Thus you kinda indirectly compared yourself to them
- rowanG077 5y agoNo? I'm not sure what drove you towards that question. Stealing and comparing are unrelated I'd say.
- tester756 5y agoI reworded it, should be better now
- teaearlgraycold 5y agoI also like to use “stealing” to describe learning. Sometimes it just feels like too good of a deal.
- gffrd 5y agoI read the OP's "compare" as the judgement-filled comparison, where one measures their self-worth based on where others are at relative to themselves / relies on external yardsticks for definition of identity. The compare you're talking about—seeking excellent people (internally defined) and wanting to learn from them (without judgement)—is an extremely important thing.
- bena 5y agoI think it's more along the lines of material goods or things like "success" or what have you. It's an adage that's been repeated over and over in many ways: "Comparison is the thief of joy". For some people, it's not enough that they have something good, they must have something better than someone else. "What good is my iPhone 12 if you have an iPhone 13? Why don't I have an iPhone 13?" And so on. But. Last year, they didn't even have a phone. So they're better off, yeah?
- chrisweekly 5y ago+1 Insightful But your opening sentence would be much more effective with a bit of rewording; "inspired many stoics like Seneca to pass on the idea" is hard to parse, and fatally ambiguous. Did Seneca "pass [the idea] on" (ie, propogate / endorse it), or did he "[take a] pass on it" (ie, reject it). Later context makes it clear you meant the former. Anyway thanks for the links, HTH!
- thenerdhead 5y agoThanks, sadly I didn’t proofread or edit it. I think “pass down” would’ve been best here to rid the confusion.