Comment by beefinethan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by beefinethan | Hacker News Reader

I've been an avid reader of Stoicism, and was introduced to it by, you guessed it, Tim Ferriss. I have been conciously trying to adopt the philosophies and mantras into my day to day life.

Have compiled the following tangible techniques/approaches to thought feel free to add your own:

* Premeditatio Malorum (premeditation of evils or Negative Visualization) * Stoic Fork - Make the best use of things in your control and let nature handle the rest * Temporary Ownership - Never think of things you own as yours, merely borrowing from the universe (recycle) * Superficial Experimentation - Put yourself through situations that warrant ridicule in order to become resistant to it * Worse Case Scenario Simulation - Set aside a certain number of days to eat the cheapest food and cheapest clothing asking yourself: is this the condition I so feared? Make yourself uncomfortable * Only be ashamed of things worth being ashamed of; inoculate against superficial attachment in what others think * Planned Fasting * Planned Cold * Planned Poverty * Planned Ugly Clothing * Context Shifting - Cosmic relativism; remember you’re going to die and the world will keep turning * Growth mindset - praise yourself for the work not the result; challenge creates growth * Remove Distractions - am I afraid of death because I won’t be able to do THIS anymore ? If it’s no, then Remove the conveniences. * Opinions to actions - opinions are fine to have and express if they are followed by action but you shouldn’t have an opinion to have an opinion * Default to action - action before talking; so what needs to be done instead of “I should” * Daily quote meditation - take a stoic quote and reflect on how to apply it to your life everyday * Stoic Mindfulness - be in the moment; be attentive to what’s happening * Daily reflection journal - what did I do right ? What did I do wrong? What could I have done better? * Art of Aquiescence

I'm genuinely curious - what is this mindset supposed to accomplish?

Freedom from anguish

Tranquility

All life is suffering, but mercifully it ends with death.

However, we don't want to die (because we are so attached to life, it's hard to overrule billions of years of evolution).

So we have to endure the suffering until we die on our own, or until the suffering becomes great enough to overcome the mental barrier of suicide.

Just as we can train our bodies through exercise to deal with exertion, so too can we train our minds through philosophy to deal with suffering. It makes life easier to live.

I'm of two minds on this approach. On the one hand, it seems like it would do a good job of toughening a person to the degree that they can cope with more suffering. On the other hand, the belief that life is suffering to be coped with seems somewhat self-fulfilling, and I find it hard to believe that happy moments are as effective if they're perceived in the omnipresent shadow of death.

(I say this having adopted some of these views and found myself at a lower baseline happiness, but also with less variance.)

Old aphorism: "there's a certain freedom in being completely screwed - it just can't get any worse."

Likewise death: when you've faced the prospect of death, of coming to grips with it, and survived it & now knowing you're on borrowed time, all things become a gift. I am literally hearing my heart beat right now from the sound of a machine, and every beat is directed by a computer; I've been (technically) dead, not for want of my body trying to get & stay there 4 different ways. Every moment is now a gift, something I'd not have experienced if not for modern medical tech (even healthier than most my age). Every dreary day, every hurtful word, every irritation, ... each is better than not having it at all, each being a painful step to the joys of sunsets, cardinals, smiling children, snuggling wife, and every other precious moment I have because "they're stopping his heart now" was followed (hours later) by the unreal experience of waking up.

For those who have not been to the edge and back, one's sense of proportion would do well to contemplate the meaning of going there, giving proper scale to the minutiae so many find impossibly grievous.

> or until the suffering becomes great enough to overcome the mental barrier of suicide.

Does Stoicism rationalize suicide?

Epictetus words it thusly (Discourses, book I, chapter 24):

>But remember the principal thing, -that the door is open. Do not be more fearful than children; but as they, when the play dues not please them, say, " I will play no longer," so do you, in the same case, say, "I will play no longer," and go; but, if you stay, do not complain. [p. 1081]

A detailed analysis can be found here: https://people.creighton.edu/~wos87278/Stephens/Ancient-Phil...

Aurelius as such (Meditations, book V):

>As thou intendest to live when thou art gone out,...so it is in thy power to live here. But if men do not permit thee, then get away out of life, yet so as if thou wert suffering no harm. The house is smoky, and I quit it. Why dost thou think that this is any trouble? But so long as nothing of the kind drives me out, I remain, am free, and no man shall hinder me from doing what I choose; and I choose to do what is according to the nature of the rational and social animal.

(and in book X):

>For to continue to be such as thou hast hitherto been, and to be tom in pieces and defiled in such a life, is the character of a very stupid man and one overfond of his life, and like those half-devoured fighters with wild beasts, who though covered with wounds and gore, still intreat to be kept to the following day, though they will be exposed in the same state to the same claws and bites. Therefore fix thyself in the possession of [virtues]: and if thou art able to abide in them, abide as if thou wast removed to certain islands of the Happy. But if thou shalt perceive that thou fallest out of them and dost not maintain thy hold, go courageously into some nook where thou shalt maintain them, or even depart at once from life, not in passion, but with simplicity and freedom and modesty, after doing this one laudable thing at least in thy life, to have gone out of it thus.

In short: leaving life on one's own terms is fine, provided they are rationally considered (so not on the spur of a moment).

Yes. Seneca writes in one of his letters when you are incapacitated to take care of yourself and are a burden to someone else or your self dignity is under question then you should be prepared to lose your body although you must take care of your body well when you can.

Process emotions faster and free brain cycles for more computation. Very much hypothetical example. If a friend or loved ones is dead, one approach is take a lot of time to morn the passing or train your mind in advance to such a degree to process the emotions(not detach because its not possible) faster and move on.

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