I have greatly reduced the ML algorithms I expose myself to over the last few years, though I have to say that I am grateful for the Substack algorithm helping me find out about you and your essays.
Ya! It's not all or nothing. I enjoy a little algorithmic magic as much as the next person. Though I do find it really interesting that most of the best substack writers I've found have come not from algorithmic suggestions, but from the recommendations feature. IE, how real people have found out about good things for millennia.
I guess I’m not totally sure if it was the algorithm or someone else I follow or interact with interacting with you, now that I reflect on it a bit more. In any case, I’m glad I have encountered your writing! I’ve been digging into Stoic philosophy for a few years now, and I think you do a very good job writing about these ideas in a clear and compelling way.
A good one! By now, I would think everyone knows, or at least should know, that we cause our own suffering by choosing what to devote our attention to and how to treat and relate to our external circumstances. And yet.... we persist in making the wrong choices despite all the science, wisdom, and our own good intentions! Impressive human vulnerability! But if just one person shifts by reading this, it was worth writing it. It's what I tell myself every time I publish something. LOL.
Is one who is in a position to make the wrong choice not free?
Is the case of one who freely chooses to lose himself in a dreamworld of substance abuse because the alternative is less pleasurable the same as the case of one who must toil all day for no pay, endlessly reminded of his condition by the overseer’s whiplashes?
For the ancient Stoics, slavery wasn't solely about external subjugation but also about inner enslavement to passions, desires, and false impressions. Epictetus would likely have seen the diminishment of his ruling faculty via drugs while physically enslaved as unacceptable, since it precluded virtue. The Stoics would have emphasized what are today called, "spiritual exercises," as the first coping mechanism.
However, the Stoics were realists. They were fine with suicide as a means of escape from unbearable suffering. They were fine with people who went down fighting. They were fine with people who chose to endure and "sell themselves," suggesting only that we don't do it lightly.
Epictetus's Discourses are a fascinating read, as he talks about physical external and internal enslavement and how to deal with both quite a bit.
I’m in full agreement with the above. It’s just that there seems to me to be a categorical difference between “internal “ and “external” slavery. The Stoics I suspect devoted more attention to the former and with good reason; it’s a far more complex problem when both the slave and the slave master are the same individual. The “external “ slave becomes more of a metaphor than just another example of what is ultimately a problem of free will, the nature of knowledge and wisdom.
Wow, so much to unpack here. Just sent to my spouse for dinnertime discussion.
Nice! The fact that I got two people in the real world talking about this makes my day. Hope it's fruitful!
This is great! thank you!
“And who is your master? Whoever has authority over anything that you’re anxious to gain or avoid.” — Epictetus, Discourses, 2.2 This is so accurate.
This is wonderful - I want to save it to come back to. Thanks
Thanks! I'm glad it's helpful.
thank you!
I have greatly reduced the ML algorithms I expose myself to over the last few years, though I have to say that I am grateful for the Substack algorithm helping me find out about you and your essays.
Ya! It's not all or nothing. I enjoy a little algorithmic magic as much as the next person. Though I do find it really interesting that most of the best substack writers I've found have come not from algorithmic suggestions, but from the recommendations feature. IE, how real people have found out about good things for millennia.
I guess I’m not totally sure if it was the algorithm or someone else I follow or interact with interacting with you, now that I reflect on it a bit more. In any case, I’m glad I have encountered your writing! I’ve been digging into Stoic philosophy for a few years now, and I think you do a very good job writing about these ideas in a clear and compelling way.
Thank you for this !
Welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.
Great insights as always.
Thanks!
A good one! By now, I would think everyone knows, or at least should know, that we cause our own suffering by choosing what to devote our attention to and how to treat and relate to our external circumstances. And yet.... we persist in making the wrong choices despite all the science, wisdom, and our own good intentions! Impressive human vulnerability! But if just one person shifts by reading this, it was worth writing it. It's what I tell myself every time I publish something. LOL.
What is freedom? What is slavery?
Is one who is in a position to make the wrong choice not free?
Is the case of one who freely chooses to lose himself in a dreamworld of substance abuse because the alternative is less pleasurable the same as the case of one who must toil all day for no pay, endlessly reminded of his condition by the overseer’s whiplashes?
For the ancient Stoics, slavery wasn't solely about external subjugation but also about inner enslavement to passions, desires, and false impressions. Epictetus would likely have seen the diminishment of his ruling faculty via drugs while physically enslaved as unacceptable, since it precluded virtue. The Stoics would have emphasized what are today called, "spiritual exercises," as the first coping mechanism.
However, the Stoics were realists. They were fine with suicide as a means of escape from unbearable suffering. They were fine with people who went down fighting. They were fine with people who chose to endure and "sell themselves," suggesting only that we don't do it lightly.
Epictetus's Discourses are a fascinating read, as he talks about physical external and internal enslavement and how to deal with both quite a bit.
I’m in full agreement with the above. It’s just that there seems to me to be a categorical difference between “internal “ and “external” slavery. The Stoics I suspect devoted more attention to the former and with good reason; it’s a far more complex problem when both the slave and the slave master are the same individual. The “external “ slave becomes more of a metaphor than just another example of what is ultimately a problem of free will, the nature of knowledge and wisdom.
a very long read. i couldnt finish.
Epic titties