I’m with you. I have just started a deep dive into stoicism. I’m currently working through Epictetus. Next comes Seneca and then Aurelius, and I’m supplementing the reading of original texts with the modern stuff.
I’m not yet willing to call myself a stoic, but practicing stoicism is getting me through the very real local catastrophe of Helene. Homes, towns, and people destroyed. My childhood landscapes washed off the map. Seeing it is devastating. Stoicism has given me a path through the rubble.
So I’m 100% sold on the utility of this philosophy.
I wouldn’t be in a rush to label yourself a Stoic, particularly until you’ve given the philosophy a long test run.
My personal take is that — as useful as Stoicism is — it’s best to treat it with the same reserve as any other label which we might let into our identity and then which we can’t objectively assess without cognitive bias — a bit dangerous. More on this: https://andrewperlot.substack.com/i/144078290/your-labels-made-you-stupid
Most people would consider me a Stoic, and I’ll use the term for the convenience of communication, but I try my best to not identify with the label overly much.
Stoicism, to me, feels like Buddhism in oil-stained coveralls wielding a giant wrench worthy of an offshore rig or deep pit mining excavator. Is that fair and at least mildly accurate?
Regardless, since it’s infiltrated my algorithm, I’m intrigued enough to follow the threads the universe is unfurling before me. As a result, this post is now “saved” for further exploration.
That sounds like a poetic way of saying that Stoicism has elements of mindfulness/attention baked in and is focused on being a utilitarian and practical philosophy for people engaged in the world. (Not just renunciants and ascetics). If that's what you meant, then I'd say that's correct.
I’m with you. I have just started a deep dive into stoicism. I’m currently working through Epictetus. Next comes Seneca and then Aurelius, and I’m supplementing the reading of original texts with the modern stuff.
I’m not yet willing to call myself a stoic, but practicing stoicism is getting me through the very real local catastrophe of Helene. Homes, towns, and people destroyed. My childhood landscapes washed off the map. Seeing it is devastating. Stoicism has given me a path through the rubble.
So I’m 100% sold on the utility of this philosophy.
I wouldn’t be in a rush to label yourself a Stoic, particularly until you’ve given the philosophy a long test run.
My personal take is that — as useful as Stoicism is — it’s best to treat it with the same reserve as any other label which we might let into our identity and then which we can’t objectively assess without cognitive bias — a bit dangerous. More on this: https://andrewperlot.substack.com/i/144078290/your-labels-made-you-stupid
Most people would consider me a Stoic, and I’ll use the term for the convenience of communication, but I try my best to not identify with the label overly much.
I think that’s wise. Plus, I’ve learned that I am
not my ideas. It’s healthy, I think, to keep some distance between my sense of self and the thoughts I have.
Stoicism, to me, feels like Buddhism in oil-stained coveralls wielding a giant wrench worthy of an offshore rig or deep pit mining excavator. Is that fair and at least mildly accurate?
Regardless, since it’s infiltrated my algorithm, I’m intrigued enough to follow the threads the universe is unfurling before me. As a result, this post is now “saved” for further exploration.
That sounds like a poetic way of saying that Stoicism has elements of mindfulness/attention baked in and is focused on being a utilitarian and practical philosophy for people engaged in the world. (Not just renunciants and ascetics). If that's what you meant, then I'd say that's correct.