Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
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Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#2Probably because it helps justify longer working hours and low pay.
Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#3Because everyone who cares eventually tries to read great literature and you make it to Meditations which is a great read for a 20+ year old immersed in a culture that tells you to connect your self worth to the score others give you. It's a self-help read for people who don't want to consume for profit self help. It's counterculture.
Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#4Is stoicism having a cultural moment?
I rather think that modern western culture is about as un-Stoic as it has been at any point since... sometime before Stoicism was invented, and that any explicit endorsement of Stoicism you may find among the remaining sane people is purely a reaction to that.
Stoicism teaches that suffering and misfortune are part of life, and that wisdom comes from learning to deal with this fact. Modern-day Oprah culture teaches that you are a beautiful and unique person and that any suffering or misfortune you may encounter is something that you should probably sue somebody about.
Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#5That was quite an article. Then I went to read the local newspaper and it was about how a man got charged for taking a naked stroll.
The news gave people what they want, shock and kittens. Blogging rules.
Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#6Stoicism really helped me through some psychological difficulties. It contains truths which haven't altered in thousands of years.
Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#7Is stoicism having a cultural moment? I rather think that modern western culture is about as un-Stoic as it has been at any point since... sometime before Stoicism was invented, and that any explicit endorsement of Stoicism you may find among the remaining sane people is purely a reaction to that. Stoicism teaches that suffering and misfortune are part of life, and that wisdom comes from learning to deal with this fa…
The snowflake syndrome is the modern means of building a minority political bloc - for any underrepresented group or condition, a representative comes along and declares themselves champion of the people(the people that they represent, that is), and encourages shaming of the rest as a form of unification.
It's the shaming that eventually got to me. It's such a prolific and harmful tactic. The people who do it the most tend to lack virtue themselves, when held up to the light. And it doesn't matter how well your internal sense of guilt works - you can always be judged poorly for reasons that become obviously unfair when pushed to far-reaching conclusions. It encourages you to polarize into a completely fanatical or disengaged state, without a healthy middle. If we've improved any, it's in that outright dehumanization is less common now, replaced with convenient euphemisms that diffuse blame.
Stoicism has the appeal of "It doesn't matter how bad the outside world gets - I am going to do my own thing and fix up my own principles and actions." It encourages you to work on small everyday behaviors instead of constantly diverting your attention to the Big Important Problem that the news is currently pushing at you(and that you can't do much about, without derailing your entire life).
Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#8This was a wonderful read.
Could someone who's gone down this path provide a reading list for someone interested in learning more?
Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#9This was a wonderful read. Could someone who's gone down this path provide a reading list for someone interested in learning more?
Meditations is the usual go-to read by Marcus Aurelius. Then if you are still interested check out the writings of Seneca, Epictetus, etc.
Re: Why Is Stoicism Having a Cultural Moment?
#10This was a wonderful read. Could someone who's gone down this path provide a reading list for someone interested in learning more?
I'd start with "Letters from a Stoic" by Seneca, then read "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. If you're looking for a modern interpretation of these thoughts check out "The Obstacle is the Way" by Ryan Holiday