I like how you put this: "It’s not hard emotions; it’s honed emotions."
This is the core and key for me: emotions shouldn't be buried or suppressed, but instead appreciated for the complex intuitive signals they are. This ain't easy, but it gets easier for me every year.
I love to see the thought torch going down the road a bit further! This is an excellent summary of how to pause/paraphrase/persist.
Thanks for the article! I've kinda backed my way into Taoism and Stoicism as two of my guiding philosophies, so seeing them packaged together as one concept was super enlightening. Keep writing!
I’m struggling here. I love the concept of infobesity but
I think it’s not just information, it’s ideas, good, great, bad and garbage. It can be, with no difficulty, be an overwhelming flood. I think the difficulty is constraining the flood. We’ve all heard slow is smooth and smooth is fast. And it’s true. If you’re in combat you have trained to be smooth. Your movements are unthinking… And simple, you’re focused on just a few movements and that focus and training make those movements instinctive and your focus is absolute. Any other thoughts, and you’re dead. My simplistic idea of Stoicism is that it’s very much like meditation. You have to ascertain what’s important and what isn’t—there’s a lot that’s unimportant to you in this day and age. It may be important, and it may be useful, but not necessarily to you. And here’s the dilemma, just like in combat when you’re focused, you’re efficient and God willing, alive.
So apologies, in my long rambling way here, I’m suggesting there has to be a way to narrow our focus, sort our data stream so that we can practice what is essential to us and be… slow, smooth, fast… And alive.
I feel like we need a new Stoic system for the modern age. If you think back to the time of the Stoics, there were only a few books available to them much of the information was delivered in lectures. The population was reasonably small, subsisting required a lot more effort. So few distractions relatively speaking. I don’t think our brains have evolved to deal with the cacophony.
I’ve had Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Berkeman for quite a while. I picked it up again after @Gwendolyn Bounds recommended it. He presents a path, but it doesn’t resonate with me. It feels like giving up.
I’ve never liked giving up. In all likelihood I’m misreading him.
Haha. I don't hear any whining. What I hear is the common theme of still learning who we are and what the world is. That you continue to explore IS Stoicism. That you struggle with philosophies IS stoicism. What you're doing is also mixing mental arts. You're, quite literally, grappling with complex problems in the octagon of life, and I love it. Merry Christmas!
100% agree. If you click through to infobesity, there are some tips there but you nailed it. We have to manage the flow to separate signal from noise.
It's so hard because there is so much noise. You and I learned how to do this in the Army to a point. The problem in civilian life is you can't return fire. 👊🏼
I like how you put this: "It’s not hard emotions; it’s honed emotions."
This is the core and key for me: emotions shouldn't be buried or suppressed, but instead appreciated for the complex intuitive signals they are. This ain't easy, but it gets easier for me every year.
I love to see the thought torch going down the road a bit further! This is an excellent summary of how to pause/paraphrase/persist.
Awesome. It just took me a bit to get it out there after yours!
What even is time for people like us?
Thanks for the article! I've kinda backed my way into Taoism and Stoicism as two of my guiding philosophies, so seeing them packaged together as one concept was super enlightening. Keep writing!
Awesome! And the more I play with both philosophies the more I find the natural synergies.
Next article: Taoicism
Now I have a new philosophy for my book.
Thanks for sharing, Andrew. I like how the future of pragmatic philosophy lies in the intersection between East and West.
So good! I love your description of Stoicism and especially how you weaved in Taoism. What a great way to think about approaching life.
Perfect. I framed that one on another post where someone was getting stoicism wrong.
Meditation is also a great practice of non-reaction/non-engagement to be taken into the world and drawn upon, one breath at a time.
Absolutely true.
I’m struggling here. I love the concept of infobesity but
I think it’s not just information, it’s ideas, good, great, bad and garbage. It can be, with no difficulty, be an overwhelming flood. I think the difficulty is constraining the flood. We’ve all heard slow is smooth and smooth is fast. And it’s true. If you’re in combat you have trained to be smooth. Your movements are unthinking… And simple, you’re focused on just a few movements and that focus and training make those movements instinctive and your focus is absolute. Any other thoughts, and you’re dead. My simplistic idea of Stoicism is that it’s very much like meditation. You have to ascertain what’s important and what isn’t—there’s a lot that’s unimportant to you in this day and age. It may be important, and it may be useful, but not necessarily to you. And here’s the dilemma, just like in combat when you’re focused, you’re efficient and God willing, alive.
So apologies, in my long rambling way here, I’m suggesting there has to be a way to narrow our focus, sort our data stream so that we can practice what is essential to us and be… slow, smooth, fast… And alive.
I feel like we need a new Stoic system for the modern age. If you think back to the time of the Stoics, there were only a few books available to them much of the information was delivered in lectures. The population was reasonably small, subsisting required a lot more effort. So few distractions relatively speaking. I don’t think our brains have evolved to deal with the cacophony.
I’ve had Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Berkeman for quite a while. I picked it up again after @Gwendolyn Bounds recommended it. He presents a path, but it doesn’t resonate with me. It feels like giving up.
I’ve never liked giving up. In all likelihood I’m misreading him.
Yes, I’d like some cheese with that whine.
Haha. I don't hear any whining. What I hear is the common theme of still learning who we are and what the world is. That you continue to explore IS Stoicism. That you struggle with philosophies IS stoicism. What you're doing is also mixing mental arts. You're, quite literally, grappling with complex problems in the octagon of life, and I love it. Merry Christmas!
100% agree. If you click through to infobesity, there are some tips there but you nailed it. We have to manage the flow to separate signal from noise.
It's so hard because there is so much noise. You and I learned how to do this in the Army to a point. The problem in civilian life is you can't return fire. 👊🏼