Andrew speaks with Donald Robertson about how personal development advice can misfire, why Donald moved away from Eastern philosophies like Buddhism, the power of using Stoic mindfulness (Prosoché) to stay true to your values, how to find what you really value, the effective advice and exercises Robertson is hesitant to suggest to people, and much more.
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Donald Robertson is a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist heavily involved with the modern revival of Stoic philosophy. He's a founding member of the Modern Stoicism nonprofit, and the founder and president of the Plato’s Academy Centre nonprofit in Athens, Greece. Donald teaches evidence-based psychological skills, and is an expert on the relationship between modern evidence-based psychotherapy and classical Greek and Roman philosophy. He's the best-selling author of How To Think Like A Roman Emperor and numerous other books:
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Question Timestamps:
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0:37 Does advice actually help people who are struggling?
6:08 Teaching wisdom vs learning it
11:58 Results of trial and error learning vs rule following
13:12 Is Donald a Socratic Midwife?
15:52 The problem with the Stoics is that they're all dead
16:52 What Marcus Aurelius would be concerned about if he met modern Stoics
17:26 The advice and spiritual exercises Donald is reluctant to give
20:18 Modern Stoics ignore the parts of the philosophy they find hard and just do the easy bits
22:51: One problem with self help
25:51 The epidemic of anger
29:37 The modern lack of meaning
35:53 A trick to find your values
45:12 Using Stoic Mindfulness to live up to your values
52:00 Why Robertson moved away from Eastern philosophies and meditation
54:30 Why many Western philosophies aren’t helpful
55:06 Being wrong about the nature of emotion
Therapist Donald Robertson on Big Stoic Mistakes And Discovering Your Values