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<span class="first">T</span>he
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<span class="first">I</span>nternet
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<span class="first">V</span>agabond
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<article>
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<h1>Revelations: Developing Stoic Understanding</h1>
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<p>Sherman J. Clark wrote a fantastic article on the Stoicism Today blog in
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December which really spoke to me. It approached some of the questions and
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problems I've had with Stoicism in an elegant and enlightening way, which
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has led to my significantly greater understanding of Stoicism. Notably, and
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what I want to highlight here, were the topics of <i>Selfishness</i>,
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<i>Metaphysics</i>, and <i>Balance</i>.</p>
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<h3>Selfishness</h3>
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<p>I have a difficult time with the idea of a universal brotherhood. I
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cannot properly picture it, nor understand how to approach or pursue it.
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When Stoicism speaks of the importance of community or of a universal
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brotherhood, I generally switch off. Appropriately, I have a difficult time
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understanding how Stoic pursuit is anything but selfish. Everything I
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pursue, everything I read and try to apply, seems to benefit solely me.
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There is an argument to be made that by bettering myself I better others
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around me, but that does not provide a fulfilling conclusion. It doesn't
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actually promote social action, rather it proposes a benefit if I take
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action. I'm looking for a reason to take that action, which seems to be
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lacking. Clark specifically cites this issue towards the end of his
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article: "I do not believe it possible to find within stoicism any
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principle that definitively rules out selfishness or guarantees
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other-regarding behavior." My thoughts exactly. Clark thus proposes that
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the impetus for selflessness, or at least community, comes from the simple
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fact that learning is best done communally. This I can certainly agree
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with, if only considering the obvious fact that I do not know every answer
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to every question, and thus I must seek them from external sources.
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Learning with others promotes diverse opinions and solutions, often outside
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the scope of my approach.</p>
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<p><i>"Not only do we need the insights of others to help us understand our
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world better, but our own experience and understanding is best achieved not
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in isolation but in shared conversation—dialectic."</i></p>
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<p>This point is building block 1; the first of three pieces to a puzzle:
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<b>learning promotes selflessness</b>.</p>
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<h3>Metaphysics</h3>
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<p>To paraphrase Carl Sagan, we are the universe's way of understanding
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itself. To Stoics, the universe is often synonymous with Nature. Living in
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accordance with Nature is basically Stoic virtue. That's a very big
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basically, and a very simplified view of Stoic virtue. However (a) I'm not
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very good at explaining this; and (b) it's a <b>very</b> involved topic. I
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want to touch on it briefly, since it is both covered by Clark and also
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relevant to the discussion. Clark makes a very straight-forward argument
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that Physics, or science to a more general degree, is appropriate as a
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Stoic virtue. Again he touches on the importance of learning, and expands
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it to how science is the means by which we can learn and understand the
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beauty and order of our universe. By learning and understanding more about
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the universe (Nature), we can better live in accordance with Nature. I'm
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simplifying again significantly, but I think it boils down to knowledge.
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Temperance and courage, two significant Stoic virtues, are defined by Clark
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as a symptom of awareness. Temperance is the awareness that what others
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crave is not worth craving after; courage is the awareness that what others
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fear is not worth fearing. If virtues are best defined as properly attuned
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awareness, then what better awareness to develop than the awareness of how
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the universe works? As a computer scientist, and a person who finds great joy
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in understanding systems and why they work, this makes perfect sense to me.
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Building block 2: <b>awareness and understanding is the foundation of
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virtue</b>.
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<h3>Balance</h3>
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<p> By balance, I mean the balance of stoic thought managing emotions. It
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is common for Stoic teaching to be applied to negative emotions and
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situations. Many blogs, books, and classes focus on applying a Stoic
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mindset to stress, anxiety, depression, and the unfavorable situations that
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cause those and other similar types of emotions to arise. Clark is
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quick to propose a more important question: what happens when this approach
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is fully applied? What happens when a full pursuit of Stoicism is taken
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seriously? I appreciate Clark's use of the word "serious" when he speaks of
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this pursuit. It implies to me that half-way applying Stoic thought is an
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immature pursuit. That is to say, similar to an immature fruit tree, you
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have only part of the system available to you. This is often how I've felt.
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I know and understand the power of applying Stoic thought to difficult
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situations. I want to know, as Clark puts it, if there is any room left for
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joy after we've fully applied the Stoic philosophy.</p>
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<p><i>"It is neither appealing nor intellectually honest to take comfort
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from a philosophy that works only if you do not think about it too
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carefully."</i></p>
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<p>Clark investigates 5 possible answers to this dilemma, none of which
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fully answer our question. However, he does propose a solution, and it is a
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solution which resonates with me deeply: <b>"true stoic joy comes through
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comprehension, understanding, and insight</b>." And that's the final
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building block.</p>
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<h2>Completing the Puzzle</h2>
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<p>Putting it all together, what I took from Clark, and what has helped me
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to better understand Stoicism as it applies to me:</p>
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<p><b>True stoic joy comes from learning about our universe,
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together.</b></p>
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<p>This has always been what has brought me the most happiness, but to hear
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it from someone else now makes it much more potent. Almost ironically so,
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considering one of the first topics I wrote about above was my general
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disregard of community in Stoicism. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense
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why I find computers so fascinating, or puzzles, or even video games: they
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force me to learn about a system. And what more complex and unexplored
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system exists than the literal infinity of the universe? When we pursue the
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Stoic ideal too completely, there is a perceived risk that we will grow
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completely apathetic, forced to acknowledge that while negative emotions
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are not worth concern, so too are positive emotions, including joy! With
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the revelation that true joy comes from understanding, the flawed
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perception is then clarified to show flawed pursuit: we grow apathetic not
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because we incorrectly realise nothing in the world is worthwhile, but
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because we fail to understand the system. We grow apathetic by not
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understanding the universe, or at the very least by ignoring the call to
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curiosity. Everything boils down to understanding: we develop temperance
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by understanding what is worth pursuit; we develop courage by understanding
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fear; we develop wisdom by understanding how to learn; we develop justice
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by understanding righteousness and wellness.</p>
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<h3>Challenge</h3>
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<p>My challenge now is to embrace this lifestyle completely. In the confines
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and privacy of my own mind, it's very easy to follow. The only emotions and
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opinions I need to concern myself with are my own, and I work hard to
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properly concern myself with them. When it comes to others, I will
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face emotions and opinions which I may disagree with, which may be
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downright harmful, or which will hinder my pursuits. I will face failure
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and frustration, especially so when opinions are concerned. This is where I
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must double my efforts, and lead by example: show that the point is not to
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win, or be the best, but to learn and understand. But what if this hinders
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another, or makes them uncomfortable, or causes them harm? When I'm in
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social interactions, I go out of my way to avoid uncomfortable or harmful
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scenarios. I try not to call out others on their faults or failures,
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because I don't believe them to be capable of handling it. That may be
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worse than an accusation: to assume weakness or inability!</p>
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<p>I must learn to act in accordance with Nature. I must seek to understand
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all that I experience. I will seek the experience of others to verify or
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improve my understanding as often as possible. Likewise, I will provide
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others with my experience, so that they may learn and improve their
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understanding. I will never do so in an attempt to prove myself superior,
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because I know that pursuit is fruitless; pride does not bestow
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understanding. And if others try to prove themselves superior to me, then I
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will most likely let them, because pride does not bestow understanding.
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Plus, if they are superior to me, then I have a source of knowledge!</p>
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<p>In summary, I'm left with a question, and a revelation. The revelation
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is that the greatest joy in life is understanding the universe. The
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question is, how do I share this joy with others without being offensive or
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insensitive? So long as my intentions are pure, I'm doing what I can to
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avoid those problems, and the remainder rests on the audience.</p>
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<h2>Source</h2>
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<p>Sherman J. Clark's article can be found on the Stoicism Today blog,
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linked here: [<a
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href="https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/stoicismtoday/2015/12/19/how-now-horatio-the-stoic-joy-of-physics-and-friendship-by-sherman-j-clark/">Link</a>]</p>
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<!-- ================================= -->
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<!-- ================================= -->
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<!-- Notes
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Source:
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https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/stoicismtoday/2015/12/19/how-now-horatio-the-stoic-joy-of-physics-and-friendship-by-sherman-j-clark/
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- Selfish vs community
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- Nature
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- nature is the universe
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- we should live in accordance with nature. what does that mean?
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- best way is to constantly seek to understand nature
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- Positive and negative emotions
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- Easy to apply stoic practices to negative emotions
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- What happens when applied to positive emotions?
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- "it is neither appealing nor intellectually honest to take comfort from a
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philosophy that works only if you do not think about it too carefully"
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- I like how a full pursuit of Stoicism is often classified by Clark as
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"serious" pursuit. Several implications; importance of the word.
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-->
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<!-- ================================= -->
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<!-- ================================= -->
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Bill Niblock
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2016-01-30
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<br />
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My name is <span class="p-name">Bill Niblock</span>. <span
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class="p-note">I'm a computer scientist by education, a technologist
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New York</span>, <span class="p-country-name">USA</span>.
|
||
|
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</p>
|
||
|
|
</section>
|
||
|
|
<section style="display: none;">
|
||
|
|
<span class="p-category">Gaming</span>
|
||
|
|
<span class="p-category">Technology</span>
|
||
|
|
<span class="p-category">Philosophy</span>
|
||
|
|
<span class="p-category">Open Source Software</span>
|
||
|
|
<span class="p-category">Self-Hosting</span>
|
||
|
|
<span class="p-category">Coffee</span>
|
||
|
|
</section>
|
||
|
|
</section>
|
||
|
|
</footer>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
</body>
|
||
|
|
</html>
|