Draft: Add letter 7

_drafts/letter-to-lucilius-7.md

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+---
+     tabtitle: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 7"
+     title: "Seneca's Letter to Lucilius, Letter 7: On Crowds"
+     topics: [philosophy]
+     pub: "2018-03-10"
+     short_desc: "Humans are like tofu: we very easily take on the flavors in
+     which we are cooked. Choose your flavoring carefully."
+---
+
+# Letter 7: On Crowds
+
+## Original Text
+
+Do you ask me what you should regard as especially to be avoided? I say, crowds;
+for as yet you cannot trust yourself to them with safety. I shall admit my own
+weakness, at any rate; for I never bring back home the same character that I
+took abroad with me. Something of that which I have forced to be calm within me
+is disturbed; some of the foes that I have routed return again. Just as the sick
+man, who has been weak for a long time, is in such a condition that he cannot be
+taken out of the house without suffering a relapse, so we ourselves are affected
+when our souls are recovering from a lingering disease.  To consort with the
+crowd is harmful; there is no person who does not make some vice attractive to
+us, or stamp it upon us, or taint us unconsciously therewith. Certainly, the
+greater the mob with which we mingle, the greater the danger.
+
+But nothing is so damaging to good character as the habit of lounging at the
+games; for then it is that vice steals subtly upon one through the avenue of
+pleasure.  What do you think I mean? I mean that I come home more greedy, more
+ambitious, more voluptuous, and even more cruel and inhuman, because I have been
+among human beings. By chance I attended a mid-day exhibition, expecting some
+fun, wit, and relaxation, – an exhibition at which men's eyes have respite from
+the slaughter of their fellow-men. But it was quite the reverse. The previous
+combats were the essence of compassion; but now all the trifling is put aside
+and it is pure murder. The men have no defensive armour. They are exposed to
+blows at all points, and no one ever strikes in vain.  Many persons prefer this
+programme to the usual pairs and to the bouts "by request." Of course they do;
+there is no helmet or shield to deflect the weapon. What is the need of
+defensive armour, or of skill? All these mean delaying death. In the morning
+they throw men to the lions and the bears; at noon, they throw them to the
+spectators. The spectators demand that the slayer shall face the man who is to
+slay him in his turn; and they always reserve the latest conqueror for another
+butchering. The outcome of every fight is death, and the means are fire and
+sword. This sort of thing goes on while the arena is empty.  You may retort:
+"But he was a highway robber; he killed a man!" And what of it? Granted that, as
+a murderer, he deserved this punishment, what crime have you committed, poor
+fellow, that you should deserve to sit and see this show? In the morning they
+cried "Kill him! Lash him! Burn him! Why does he meet the sword in so cowardly a
+way? Why does he strike so feebly? Why doesn't he die game? Whip him to meet his
+wounds! Let them receive blow for blow, with chests bare and exposed to the
+stroke!" And when the games stop for the intermission, they announce: "A little
+throatcutting in the meantime, so that there may still be something going on!"
+
+Come now; do you not understand even this truth, that a bad example reacts on
+the agent? Thank the immortal gods that you are teaching cruelty to a person who
+cannot learn to be cruel.  The young character, which cannot hold fast to
+righteousness, must be rescued from the mob; it is too easy to side with the
+majority. Even Socrates, Cato, and Laelius might have been shaken in their moral
+strength by a crowd that was unlike them; so true it is that none of us, no
+matter how much he cultivates his abilities, can withstand the shock of faults
+that approach, as it were, with so great a retinue.  Much harm is done by a
+single case of indulgence or greed; the familiar friend, if he be luxurious,
+weakens and softens us imperceptibly; the neighbour, if he be rich, rouses our
+covetousness; the companion, if he be slanderous, rubs off some of his rust upon
+us, even though we be spotless and sincere. What then do you think the effect
+will be on character, when the world at large assaults it! You must either
+imitate or loathe the world.
+
+ But both courses are to be avoided; you should not copy the bad simply because
+ they are many, nor should you hate the many because they are unlike you.
+ Withdraw into yourself, as far as you can. Associate with those who will make a
+ better man of you. Welcome those whom you yourself can improve. The process is
+ mutual; for men learn while they teach.  There is no reason why pride in
+ advertising your abilities should lure you into publicity, so that you should
+ desire to recite or harangue before the general public. Of course I should be
+ willing for you to do so if you had a stock-in-trade that suited such a mob; as
+ it is, there is not a man of them who can understand you. One or two
+ individuals will perhaps come in your way, but even these will have to be
+ moulded and trained by you so that they will understand you. You may say: "For
+ what purpose did I learn all these things?" But you need not fear that you have
+ wasted your efforts; it was for yourself that you learned them.
+
+ In order, however, that I may not to-day have learned exclusively for myself, I
+ shall share with you three excellent sayings, of the same general purport,
+ which have come to my attention. This letter will give you one of them as
+ payment of my debt; the other two you may accept as a contribution in advance.
+ Democritus says: "One man means as much to me as a multitude, and a multitude
+ only as much as one man."  The following also was nobly spoken by someone or
+ other, for it is doubtful who the author was; they asked him what was the
+ object of all this study applied to an art that would reach but very few. He
+ replied: "I am content with few, content with one, content with none at all."
+ The third saying – and a noteworthy one, too – is by Epicurus, written to one
+ of the partners of his studies: "I write this not for the many, but for you;
+ each of us is enough of an audience for the other."  Lay these words to heart,
+ Lucilius, that you may scorn the pleasure which comes from the applause of the
+ majority. Many men praise you; but have you any reason for being pleased with
+ yourself, if you are a person whom the many can understand? Your good qualities
+ should face inwards. Farewell.
+
+## Response
+
+In the first paragraph, Seneca makes a very interesting observation: when you
+leave for the day, you return a different character than you set out. He seems
+to imply this is due to "consorting with the crowd", but I think this is a
+reality of life: we are constantly changed by our environment. Seneca, I think,
+would have us realize that consorting with the crowd explicitly is harmful, and
+to be avoided if at all possible. Again, I don't think this means avoid groups,
+but rather avoid provocative or aggressive groups. To Seneca, this would be
+groups such as spectators at "the games" (the Coliseum). To us, this could be
+either meatspace or digital groups, and the later especially I find very
+interesting. Often we don't consider the impact of our Twitter followers, or our
+Facebook feed, upon our character. How often, though, do we feel compelled to
+agree simply due to the sheer number of others who already do? "It is too easy
+to side with the majority." This effect applies equally to all of us, from the
+most impressionable youth to the most stalwart Stoic.
+
+The discussion of needless violence "at the games" is very interesting. Dan
+Carlin did a podcast recently discussing the history of violence, and he
+mentioned this exact letter due to Seneca's account. "In the morning they throw
+men to the lions and the bears; at noon, they throw them to the spectators."
+Humanity's interest in violence, at times apparently insatiable, is nothing new
+to modern day violent media. In fact, by comparison, today's violence is tame:
+we witness the emulation of violence; in Rome, they witnessed the reality of
+slaughter. Seneca's advice: avoid it.  Building upon what he discussed earlier,
+you only harm yourself by watching such events. Now, replace violence with a
+vice of your choice, and the lesson still applies. Humans are like tofu: we very
+easily take on the flavors in which we are cooked. Choose your flavoring
+carefully.
+
+Seneca concludes, "you should not copy the bad simply because they are many, nor
+should you hate the many because they are unlike you." Here, we see the strategy
+emerge: improve yourself, surround yourself by those who will help you do so,
+and seek out those whom you can help improve. He discusses also the folly of
+pride, and of publicity, with respect to these pursuits. In the end, he reminds
+us: we improve for our own benefits. He really emphasizes this, and captures so
+well the significance of improving yourself for your own benefit, at the very
+end of the letter: "Many men praise you; but have you any reason for being
+pleased with yourself, if you are a person whom the many can understand?" To me,
+this is the _coup de grace_. If you withhold your improvement, simply for the
+appeasement of the crowd, or the desire for praise, then you only improve to the
+least of their members.
+
+### Source
+
+[Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 7 on Wikisource](
+https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_7)
+
+###### [Letter Index]({{ site.baseurl }}{% post_url 2018-01-15-Letters-To-Lucilius %})
+
+- Set short_desc