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The author views life through the lens of a hedonist, and finds that stoicism is better to deal with the tough times. They don't use any of these terms, which m

The author views life through the lens of a hedonist, and finds that stoicism is better to deal with the tough times. They don't use any of these terms, which makes me think they are independently coming to the same conclusion as the Stoics. Seems pretty basic. Did I miss the point?

npinsker 3y ago
No; that’s exactly how I read it
haswell 3y ago
Life’s lessons can be learned in a myriad of ways. Stoicism resonates with many people because they find it applicable to what they’re experiencing in life, but that brings the implication with it that many people are bound to discover the same insights. This has happened since time immemorial, and ideas are reborn, repackaged, re-contextualized for a new era. Stoicism also comes loaded with shoulds and shouldn’ts as they pertain to living a “virtuous life”, and for many people, this is too close to religious dogma for comfort. Put another way, there are many people who might benefit from the ideas but would bristle at the thought of turning to something that resembles religion. But the underlying philosophical insights that can be found in stoicism can be also found across many other contemplative traditions. When reading a piece like this, I don’t find it particularly interesting to try to reduce the author’s personal discoveries to “oh that’s just <philosophy>”. Many people find the stories of others helpful because they’re less abstract and heady than a series of intellectually sound ideas that might not feel very helpful when someone is going through the shit. I’d argue that you missed the point of the piece. Knowing that stoicism (or Buddhism, etc…) exist doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the recollection of one’s personal journey. Some people are looking for a philosophy of life. Some people are just looking for comfort in knowing that others have experienced something that validates their own pain. And some people share their own journeys to make/find meaning in the pain, and it is this sharing that is more interesting than its resemblance to famous ideas.
mahathu 3y ago
[flagged]
- ramoz 3y ago
  someone not victimizing themself means they have a personality disorder?
nazgulnarsil 3y ago
Maybe so if you missed the author and his experience in the hurry to summarize his concepts?

npinsker 3y ago

No; that’s exactly how I read it

haswell 3y ago

Life’s lessons can be learned in a myriad of ways. Stoicism resonates with many people because they find it applicable to what they’re experiencing in life, but that brings the implication with it that many people are bound to discover the same insights. This has happened since time immemorial, and ideas are reborn, repackaged, re-contextualized for a new era. Stoicism also comes loaded with shoulds and shouldn’ts as they pertain to living a “virtuous life”, and for many people, this is too close to religious dogma for comfort. Put another way, there are many people who might benefit from the ideas but would bristle at the thought of turning to something that resembles religion. But the underlying philosophical insights that can be found in stoicism can be also found across many other contemplative traditions. When reading a piece like this, I don’t find it particularly interesting to try to reduce the author’s personal discoveries to “oh that’s just <philosophy>”. Many people find the stories of others helpful because they’re less abstract and heady than a series of intellectually sound ideas that might not feel very helpful when someone is going through the shit. I’d argue that you missed the point of the piece. Knowing that stoicism (or Buddhism, etc…) exist doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the recollection of one’s personal journey. Some people are looking for a philosophy of life. Some people are just looking for comfort in knowing that others have experienced something that validates their own pain. And some people share their own journeys to make/find meaning in the pain, and it is this sharing that is more interesting than its resemblance to famous ideas.

mahathu 3y ago

[flagged]

ramoz 3y ago
someone not victimizing themself means they have a personality disorder?

nazgulnarsil 3y ago

Maybe so if you missed the author and his experience in the hurry to summarize his concepts?