How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness)
This week’s book:
Discourses and Selected Writings
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
Epictetus was born a slave around 50 ad. His owner was Epaphroditus, a rich freedman who was once a slave of Nero. Though he was a slave Epictetus was sent to study philosophy under Musonius Rufus.
Epictetus was lame and there are some stories it was caused by his master and others that it was caused by disease.
He was a freedman when all philosophers were banished from Rome in 89 by the Emperor Domitian. He then started his school in Greece, and had many students. He did not leave any writings from his lessons, but one of his students, Flavius Arrian, took notes and wrote the Discourses.
Epictetus did not marry, had no children, and lived to be around 80-85. In retirement, he adopted a child that would have been abandoned and raised him with a woman.
He died sometime around AD 135.
He is my favorite Stoic teacher. I love his bare bones and very straight forward approach.
Following is a paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of one of his lessons. Epictetus’s text appears italicized in bold, my replies are in normal text.
To those who hastily assume the guise of the philosophers Part III
25In what field was he, then, somebody, and wished so to be? In the field where there was hurt and help. “If,” says he, “a man can hurt me, what I am engaged in amounts to nothing; if I wait for somebody else to help me, I am myself nothing. If I want something and it does not happen, it follows that I am miserable.”
If I am following Stoicism properly, none of these apply. If I have some of these happen and bother me then I have forgotten about what is an internal reaction versus an external condition.
This was the mighty ring[7] to which he challenged every man whomsoever, and therein he would not, I believe, have given way before anyone in—what do you suppose?—in proclaiming and asserting “I am such and such a man”? Far from it! but in being such and such a man. For, again, it is the part of a fool and blowhard to say, “I am tranquil and serene; be not ignorant, O men, that while you are tossed about and are in turmoil over worthless things, I alone am free from every perturbation.” So is it not enough for you yourself to feel no pain without proclaiming, “Come together, all you who are suffering from gout, headaches, and fever, the halt, and the blind, and see how sound I am, and free from every disorder”? That is a vain and vulgar thing to say, unless, like Asclepius, you are able at once to show by what treatment those others will also become well again, and for this end are producing your own good health as an example.
It is more important to actually be a good man than for others to believe I am a good man. Trying to impress them with my virtues is a waste of time and effort. If that is my priority, it would be easy to do things that are not correct, but appear correct to outsiders. If I can use the fact I have learned to control my anger better than I would have thought possible before I studied Stoicism to help others do the same, then I am using my knowledge in a proper way.
30Such is the way of the Cynic who is deemed worthy of the scepter and diadem of Zeus, and says, “That you may see yourselves, O men, to be looking for happiness and serenity, not where it is, but where it is not, behold, God has sent me to you as an example; I have neither property, nor house, nor wife, nor children, no, not even so much as a bed, or a shirt, or a piece of furniture, and yet you see how healthy I am. Make trial of me, and if you see that I am free from turmoil, hear my remedies and the treatment which cured me.”
I still do not see what was great about the Cynics. Maybe I need to study them more, but if you do not work or take care of yourself and your family, you are one step above an animal. Without the generosity of others Diogenes would not have been able to survive in his ascetic state. They might have a perfect understanding of philosophy, but they don’t have a good understanding of life.
For this, at length, is an attitude both humane and noble. But see whose work it is; the work of Zeus, or of him whom Zeus deems worthy of this service, to the end that he shall never lay bare to the multitudes anything whereby he shall himself invalidate the testimony which it is his to give in behalf of virtue, and against externals.
“Never there fell o’er his beauteous features a pallor, nor ever
Wiped he the tears from his cheeks.”[8]
And not merely that, but he must neither yearn for anything, nor seek after it—be it human being, or place, or manner of life—like children seeking after the season of vintage, or holidays; he must be adorned on every side with self-respect, as all other men are with walls, and doors, and keepers of doors.
I don’t yearn for anything I currently do not have and actively work to remind myself to be grateful for what I do have. I do enjoy my current standard of living and know if I lost it, I could have a difficult time, but believe it would not bother me over much. Of course I really hope that belief is never seriously tested.
I so want to make a joke about the Cynics being too cynical.
My only problem with being cynical(in the modern sense) is that sometimes I am not cynical enough.
I find most people who are openly cynical (modern) are excessively so, to their own detriment.
I don’t really get the cynics either.
To be a man, you have to have responsibilities. To free yourself from every responsibility and be a couch surfer is not being a man.
Operating on a different definition of “man”, which is pretty common.
If you routinely expect the worst, you might be pleasantly surprised now and then.
I expected the wurst and didn’t get any sausage. 🙁
Expectations have this way of being self-fulfilling, though.
This.
People don’t like being wrong, so when your outlook on life is overwhelmingly pessimistic, self-fulfilling prophecy becomes a thing.
“It doesn’t matter what I do” tends towards “Why do anything at all to better the situation since it doesn’t matter what I do?” And then you’ve been vindicated.
Dude. Get out of my brain. I was just going on about this in the morning thread…
I thought the same thing when I read your comment.
The more someone signals their virtue, the less they have.
That sort of thing is almost an Iron Law. If you have to tell someone how much you are something, then you are most likely not actually that thing (virtuous, smart, tough, etc.).
I watched/heard Trump while I was having lunch. He was busy telling a group of farmers what a wonderful person he is and how much he is going to help them. Pure Trump BS, I doubt if he convinced farmers.
Farmers only care about money, give them a subsidy and they will vote for you regardless of whatever political ideology they profess.
I think I read that in the Bible somewhere.
*Glances at the millions of social media profiles with ever-changing flags of support.*
I can’t make any money growing canola/soy/corn/garbonzo/lentals subsidize me!!
Be a Skeptic not a Cynic.
On the subject of articles, is there a way to move your pieces from ‘Projects’ to wherever they are supposed to be in WordPress?
Projects? I’m just going to point out some of the original article titles there:
and
I would think you’ll need to select the text in the project, create a new post, and paste it in there. If you’d like, I can make an attempt on one of your posts if you’d like.
I only saw that about a week ago.
A month after I wrote my articles.
Give that a tumble for me if you would Neph.
Thanks.
Also tumbling
Threedoor:
I figured, but just to hammer it home for those other people. You know the ones. 🙂
Did the migration for A Strongly Worded Letter, and put it in posts. Go ahead and give it a once over to make sure things are good, and when you’re ready for it to be scheduled, you can put it into the Pending state. At that point, one of our schedulers (likely Swiss) will slot it into an opening (of which there are many).
Thanks Neph!
I’ll fire up the desktop tonight and beat my head on the keyboard a couple of times.
Boy George was 100% a Tyrell Corporation product.
Learning and Growing…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrd-hjPSyvU
Remember kids, start with New Post or a giant naked mole rat might eat your content.
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/southeastern-pa/secret-service-agent-accidentally-shoots-own-leg-at-philadelphia-international-airport-agency-official-says/article_786f9c47-b7b6-4d65-bd5b-de23fe3ab4b9.html
He shot himself to get away from Dr. Jill.
There was a time when the Secret Service protective detail personnel were the undisputed champion gunslingers among federal law enforcement. Apparently that time has passed.
Also, why the fuck does Jill Biden still have SS protection? That shit should have been canceled on January 20th, 2025.
Especially when you consider that our tax dollars aren’t only paying for protecting someone who was never elected, but paying to protect her while gallivanting around amongst the socialite class.
Also, why the fuck does a First Lady have a chief of staff?
But remember: NOTHING LEFT TO CUT!!
“Gentlemen, congratulations. You’re everything we’ve come to expect from years of government training.”
Why has he handling his firearm, anyway?
To be fair, all the other former presidents have SS protection.
“protecting someone who was never elected”
Well, neither was her husband.
In this case, I’m gonna have to object to your assumption of gender.
Using masculine pronouns when the sex of the object is unknown is perfectly grammatical.
I’m not claiming bad grammar, but obviously bad morals, you cretin.
/sarcasm
My point, poorly expressed, was that by using the masculine, I was not, in fact, assuming the sex of the miscreant.
Service me!
We don’t know it was a “he”. I suspect one of Frau Doktor Jill’s DEI hires.
He/his in the Fox article I just read on the event. Why would you ever think you would have to question the media’s motives?
“Their leg”
Odds that it’s a woman?
I haven’t RTFA but it’s almost an iron law at this point that when the media doesn’t specify the person (or attributes of a person), it means that said person is someone they’re providing cover for.
Horrific misogyny
In posts first reported by The Washington Post, Platner responded to a Reddit commenter who wrote, “There’s always that story about the girl who gets raped because she drank too much and somebody took advantage of that.”
Platner responded, “Holy f—, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to? Men and women, you make a choice to consume enough of a substance to lose your self control. So if you don’t want to be in a compromising situation, act like an adult for f—s sake.”
The first negative ad from Mills’ campaign that launched last week featured women, including some prominent Democratic leaders, reading those words and saying they were disqualifying.
Mills defended the ad in a virtual news conference last week with female supporters, saying, “It’s important that Mainers hear Platner’s own words and the absolutely abhorrent things that he has said.”
I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. I don’t exactly hate that argument.
No love for Platner, but I don’t really see where he’s completely wrong there.
He’s not wrong, but he is trying way too hard to come across as a tough guy.
Is he the nazi tatt guy?
Ja!
Because the argument makes sense.
Feminism’s goal has been to absolve women of accountability. Stating that maybe women should be accountable to themselves is sacrilege. You might as well have said that promiscuous sex often leads to pregnancy.
Nothing wrong with getting pregnant by some rando. If you don’t get pregnant, how can you have an abortion?
Lol
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who endorsed Platner last week, said in response to the latest ad from the Mills campaign: “Graham Platner has apologized, and has gone out every day to meet the people of Maine where they are. He’s building a grassroots campaign. People have plenty of opportunities to ask him questions and to talk with him. I support Graham Platner because he is a fighter for working people, and we need more fighters here in the United States Senate.”
But anybody who had lunch with Epstein thirty years ago should be hounded to the ends of the earth.
I don’t know anything about Platner, but the comments everyone is riled up about aren’t wrong.
On the other hand if Warren is on Platner’s side then he must be pretty awful.
After reading the article, it’s back to my standard answer, “It’s OK to hate everybody involved”.
I’m right there with you ron.
You know who else was considered a fighter for the working people?
It is more important to actually be a good man than for others to believe I am a good man.
I agree. “Others to believe” seems to me to be about “All show, no go”.
All hat, no cattle
if Warren is on Platner’s side then he must be pretty awful.
I’m pretty sure he’s one of those Democratic Socialist pukes just aching to stick it to the plutocrats and the extreme right wing rabble.
I thought he was more of a National Socialist puke.
There are three philosophies for looking at life: Optimism; Pessimism; and Cynicism. Only one of those approaches reality.
That being said, realists often get labeled as pessimists.
That said, pessimists often erroniously label themselves ‘realists’
I read recently that people who are “overly optimistic” tend to be more successful. I suspect part of that has to do with being able to handle failures. They don’t fail less often, they just have a better attitude about it.
I think people tend to actuate what they imagine. I know visualization is a real thing in sports psychology.
If you envision yourself being successful despite some set of barricades, you’re more likely to do things that will make you successful, or be willing to overcome setbacks.
I agree. I’m currently working on that myself.
I need to work on that very badly. I’m in a bad funk that I’m unsure how to get out of, and my pessimism about the overarching situation isn’t helping.
I’m right there with you. I’m still dealing with the fallout from my injury, and now I have issues at work. Right now I’m using visualization, and reminding myself over and over that things eventually work out. That does seem to be helping, though I’m only a few weeks into it.
+1 placebo effect
My pessimism has never failed me, but I’m sure someday it will.
From the ded thred:
This is the most retarded shit I’ve ever read, I’m pretty sure. All they need to do is ask an electronic musician, particularly those who work with samples. They will tell you, and they are right, that quite literally any physical thing can be an instrument.
More retarded than Amanda Marcotte?
I might need to revise….
Amanduh takes the cake most of the time. My apologies for the obvious oversight.
* Inserts joke about Steve Smith playing people like musical instruments
*goes back to work
+1 skin flute
It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find a sample pack of some dude (or many dudes) slapping their dicks in various states of flacidity and erection to be used as musical instruments.
Sick as it is, and he’s a guy I immediately boycotted once I found out, a musician used the audio of the gunshot that killed Charlie Kirk as a snare drum sample. That he used it in a paid promotional video for a product also led me to boycotting that company, even if they had no say in that decision.
STEVE SMITH NOT CAREFUL, HIM BREAK YOUR ORGAN.
Muzzled Woodchipper:
It’s been done. I blame Penn and Teller for me knowing this exists.
It is more important to actually be a good man than for others to believe I am a good man.
As I mentioned, I watched The Aviator last night. At one point he and [*spits*] Katherine Hepburn and Hughes arrive at a Hepburn family champagne socialists’ bohemian gathering. After some inane obnoxious hoity toity blather, he leaves the table.
When she says something afterward about them respecting him, I was very disappointed that he didn’t ask, “Why the fuck should I care if those useless cretins respect me?”
pointless edit:
he and