Thought and Philosophy

Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice →

Published November 16, 2017  ·  All posts on Nov 16  ·  

Put these together, and you have cause for concern. If you learn about something, and it seems trivial and boring, but lots of other people think it’s interesting and important – well, it could be so far beneath you that you’d internalized all its lessons already. Or it could be so far beyond you that you’re not even thinking on the same level as the people who talk about it.

~ Scott Alexander from, Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice

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If there’s one thing that makes my brain lock-up every time, it’s this conundrum.

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The spiritual disciplines: solitude and silence →

Published October 24, 2017  ·  All posts on Oct 24  ·  ,

The need for silence and solitude obviously seems incredibly relevant to the over-convenienced citizens of the modern world who feel saturated with the ceaseless noise that issues from every corner of their lives. But as mentioned at the start, men have in fact craved these states for thousands of years, long before anything digital, or electronic, or urban ever existed.

What accounts for the timeless, seemingly universal appeal of quiet seclusion?

~ Brett McKay from The Spiritual Disciplines: Solitude and Silence | The Art of Manliness The Art of Manliness

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I strive to be a Stoic →

Published October 20, 2017  ·  All posts on Oct 20  ·  

“When cynicism becomes the default language, playfulness and invention become impossible. Cynicism scours through a culture like bleach, wiping out millions of small, seedling ideas. Cynicism means your automatic answer becomes ‘No.’ Cynicism means you presume everything will end in disappointment.”

Caitlin Moran on Fighting the Cowardice of Cynicism – The Marginalian

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I am not a Cynic. (…but 10 years ago, I think I was well on my way to becoming one.)

I strive to be a Stoic.

Everyone, (that I’ve ever asked for a definition,) uses the adjective “stoic” to mean: unfeeling, uncaring, showing no emotion. While it’s true that words mean whatever we all agree they mean, in the case of “stoic” that definition is a drastic change of focus from what the Stoics (a group of Philosophers both ancient and modern) are doing and thinking.

Can we back up a layer to find some common ground?

You’d probably be ok with this definition:

“stoic: adj. Of, or relating to, the school of philosophy, Stoicism, founded by Zeno, …”

…but then everyone seems to rush off to this definition of Stoicism:

“[… Zeno,] who taught that people should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submit without complaint to unavoidable necessity.”

…and that’s where I disagree.

That’s a poor definition, because Stoics (the Philosophers) do feel, do care and do show emotion. In fact, one of the key points of Stoicism is to feel, care and show emotion in appropriate ways and to appropriate degrees. Stoics grieve, express joy, etc. They also understand the difference between things within and without their control. Described that way, doesn’t Stoicism sound pretty sane?

Now, I am a Philosopher, by definition, because I try to apply Philosophy to my daily life. But, I am not a teacher of Philosophy.

My hope?

That I’ve piqued your interest enough that you’ll go read this “Stoicism 101” about how to use the Stoic Philosophy today, to improve your life:

Stoicism 101 | How to Be a Stoic

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Beauty and Strength →

Published June 24, 2017  ·  All posts on Jun 24  ·  ,

No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training … what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which is body is capable.

~ Socrates

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On the shortness of life →

Published June 12, 2017  ·  All posts on Jun 12  ·  , ,

Relax the straitened limits of the time which is allotted me. Show me that the good in life does not depend upon life’s length, but upon the use we make of it; also, that it is possible, or rather usual, for a man who has lived long to have lived too little. Say to me when I lie down to sleep: “You may not wake again!” And when I have waked: “You may not go to sleep again!” Say to me when I go forth from my house: “You may not return!” And when I return: “You may never go forth again!” You are mistaken if you think that only on an ocean voyage there is a very slight space between life and death. No, the distance between is just as narrow everywhere. It is not everywhere that death shows himself so near at hand; yet everywhere he is as near at hand.

~ Seneca

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How Our Certitudes Keep Us Small →

Published May 14, 2017  ·  All posts on May 14  ·  

The Tree of Valid Supposition grows here with branches disentangled since time immemorial. The Tree of Understanding, dazzlingly straight and simple, sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It.

~ Wislawa Szymborska from, Polish Poet and Nobel Laureate Wisława Szymborska on the Creative Power of Uncertainty

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If We Are Not Just Animals, What Are We? →

Published May 9, 2017  ·  All posts on May 9  ·  

To cut the story short: By speaking in the first person we can make statements about ourselves, answer questions, and engage in reasoning and advice in ways that bypass all the normal methods of discovery. As a result, we can participate in dialogues founded on the assurance that, when you and I both speak sincerely, what we say is trustworthy: We are “speaking our minds.” This is the heart of the I-You encounter.

~ Roger Scruton from, If We Are Not Just Animals, What Are We?

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Finding Stillness →

Published April 15, 2017  ·  All posts on Apr 15  ·  

This is pretty common. Thinking isn’t the problem, but the struggle comes when we’re constantly spinning stories in our heads and getting caught up in them.

~ Leo Babauta from, Finding Stillness

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Hear! Hear!

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The majesty of calmness →

Published April 10, 2017  ·  All posts on Apr 10  ·  ,

The man who is calm has his course in life clearly marked on his chart. His hand is ever on the helm. Storm, fog, night, tempest, danger, hidden reefs— he is ever prepared and ready for them. He is made calm and serene by the realization that in these crises of his voyage he needs a clear mind and a cool head; that he has naught to do but to do each day the best he can by the light he has; that he will never flinch nor falter for a moment; that, though he may have to tack and leave his course for a time, he will never drift, he will get back into the true channel, he will keep ever headed toward his harbor.

~ Brett McKay from, Manvotional: The Majesty of Calmness

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Letter 52: On choosing our teachers →

Published April 9, 2017  ·  All posts on Apr 9  ·  ,

You may be sure that this refractory nature, which demands much toil, has been implanted in us. There are obstacles in our path; so let us fight, and call to our assistance some helpers. “Whom,” you say, “shall I call upon? Shall it be this man or that?” There is another choice also open to you; you may go to the ancients; for they have the time to help you. We can get assistance not only from the living, but from those of the past. Let us choose, however, from among the living, not men who pour forth their words with the greatest glibness, turning out commonplaces and holding. as it were, their own little private exhibitions, – not these, I say, but men who teach us by their lives, men who tell us what we ought to do and then prove it by practice, who show us what we should avoid, and then are never caught doing that which they have ordered us to avoid.

~ Seneca from, Letter 52: On Choosing Our Teachers

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