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.
Of Attention
When you relax your attention for a little while, do not imagine that whenever you choose you will recover it, but bear this in mind, that because of the mistake which you have made to-day, your condition must necessarily be worse as regards everything else. For, to begin with—and this is the worst of all—a habit of not paying attention is developed; and after that a habit of deferring attention; and always you grow accustomed to putting off from one time to another tranquil and appropriate living, the life in accordance with nature, and persistence in that life.
It is easy to lose focus and sometimes hard to regain it. Sometimes this happens without me noticing and other times it is a conscious decision brought on by laziness. I always think that I can fix my mentality later, but this does not always happen.
Now if the postponement of such matters is profitable, it is still more profitable to abandon them altogether; but if it is not profitable, why do you not maintain your attention continuously? “To-day I want to play.” What is to prevent your playing, then,—but with attention? “I want to sing.” What is to prevent your singing, then,—but with attention? There is no part of the activities of your life excepted, to which attention does not extend, is there? What, will you do it worse by attention, and better by inattention? And yet what other thing, of all that go to make up our life, 5is done better by those who are inattentive?
Looking back on my laziness leading to not noticing that I let my anger go instead of controlling it, there is not a single time that I have been glad of the choice I made.
Does the inattentive carpenter do his work more accurately? The inattentive helmsman steer[† 1] more safely? And is there any other of the lesser functions of life which is done better by inattention? Do you not realize that when once you let your mind go wandering, it is no longer within your power to recall it, to bring it to bear upon either seemliness, or self-respect, or moderation? But you do anything that comes into your head, you follow your inclinations.
I almost cross threaded a bolt because I was frustrated when I was replacing the window regulator in my truck last weekend. That could have been avoided if I had stopped and gotten lunch instead of pushing through because I got it in my head that I should finish before I ate. Luckily I did quit before I broke some of the brittle plastic that Dodge decided was good enough for their trucks.
What are the things, then, to which I ought to pay attention?—First, these general principles, and you ought to have them at your command, and without them neither go to sleep, nor rise up, nor drink, nor eat, nor mingle with men; I mean the following: No man is master of another’s moral purpose; and: In its sphere alone are to be found one’s good and evil. It follows, therefore, that no one has power either to procure me good, or to involve me in evil, but I myself alone have authority over myself in these matters. Accordingly, when these things are secure for me, what excuse have I for being disturbed about things external?
As long as I control my reactions and actions nothing should truly bother me. When I do not control these things, everything can bother me. I try not to give external things any power over me, but I have been known to slip at times.
What kind of tyrant inspires fear, what kind of disease, or poverty, or obstacle?—But I have not pleased So-and-so.10—He is not my function, is he? He is not my judgement, is he?—No.—Why, then, do I care any longer?—But he has the reputation of being somebody.—He and those who think so highly of him will have to see to that, but I have one whom I must please, to whom I must submit, whom I must obey, that is, God, and after Him, myself. God has commended me to myself, and He has subjected to me alone my moral purpose, giving me standards for the correct use of it; and when I follow these standards, I pay heed to none of those who say anything else, I give not a thought to anyone in arguments with equivocal premises.[1]
My judgements are not always correct, but if my mind is clear they help me to keep my mentality straight. Letting others make these decisions for me is a recipe for disaster.
Why, then, in the more important matters am I annoyed by those who censure me? What is the reason for this perturbation of spirit? Nothing but the fact that in this field I lack training. For, look you, every science is entitled to despise ignorance and ignorant people, and not merely the sciences, but also the arts. Take any cobbler you please, and he laughs the multitude to scorn when it comes to his own work; take any carpenter you please.
Just as I am an expert at my job and wouldn’t listen to someone with no experience if they try to tell me what they think I’m doing wrong, in my life I am the expert. That doesn’t mean I should never listen to people if there advice is sincere, but I should not listen to someone that has no concept of how I am trying to live.
The day this is published, I will be driving to Carlisle PA for the Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals for Friday and Saturday, putting my Saab in the Saab portion of the event. Weather is supposed to be nice, so my wife and I should have a good time.
SERENITY NOW!
“I should not listen to someone that has no concept of how I am trying to live”
My oldest friend, since we were about 8 years old has given me advice, “what you should do is….”He means well, he’s a PhD retired. The past few years have not been kind to either of us, physically, probably mentally and we don’t correspond much these days. During covid he was urging us to get the vaccine (his wife is a
RN). Obviously we didn’t heed his advice.
I retired several years before he did, traveled, fished, hunted, gardened. They lived in Mpls, we live in the woods. I don’t know of his physical condition but he had
some problems over the years, as we all do. Needless to say they are Dems to include working the elections. We can’t go back to being kids and playing superstar, the years keep piling on.
Stay alert, stay alive.
The distractions of the day when this was written were so much different to today’s unnatural saturation that I dont know if we could really comprehend without a serious tech/media detox.
On dodge plastic. The dash in my 93 W350 was one of the best parts of the pickup. It was in excellent shape when I parted it, better than the GM plastic of the day by far. That second gen though… https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=122254080224213208&id=61556396256365
I wonder if you can get 3d printed replacements by now? Probably. I know other brands of cars have those various window cranks and gears available via various 3D printing services.
There are some aftermarket covers.
The second gen Dodge diesel pickup like Ron has is super popular.
My Freightliner shares window cranks and a couple small pieces with them. When I was looking for those pieces I couldn’t find them in the aftermarket and was quite surprised.
Safe travels Ron!
I will not be stoic. I will be petulant.
You’re supposed to stoically sabotage the open office plan while maintaining plausible deniability.
Yes, loudly assert “sorry, I can’t socialize, I need to maintain my productivity” every time Rhonda from HR shows up to gab.
If I must suffer, then everyone must suffer.
That’s the spirit!
Misery loves company
Speakerphone, poor personal hygiene… what else?
Non-stop polka on a pair of shitty speakers.
“Non-stop polka on a pair of shitty speakers.”
You work with Del Griffith? And you complain? No candy for you.
GL – yesterday somebody decided fish in the office microwave was the perfect lunch.
So my suggestion is bring that bad boy back to the desk.
The day this is published, I will be driving to Carlisle PA for the Carlisle Import & Performance Nationals for Friday and Saturday, putting my Saab in the Saab portion of the event. Weather is supposed to be nice, so my wife and I should have a good time.
Sounds like fun.
That does sound fun.
Another NPR “Thrifters in the Mist’ story
Still, Vazquez was able to build up a whopping $72,000 in savings in just over two years. Milwaukee is also among a number of smaller, affordable cities where Gen Z is more likely to buy. At $220,000, his home was nearly half the national median price.
By putting down a large down payment, Vazquez – not yet 30 – has a 15-year fixed rate mortgage, and an ambitious plan for the future.
But did he take time off from work to participate in the anti-ICE riots?
Being thrifty is still possible. You have to sacrifice, as it has always been. However, I think the issue is in the payoff. There’s no “if I save up now, I can be rewarded with something good in the future.” It’s all just “scrimp and save and be weird just to maintain anything other than the modern debt consumer lifestyle”
But I need that $7.50 latte and the $4.00 treat everyday on the way to work in my $500 a month lease and my Uber Eats lunch!
lol, yeah there’s a ton of that.
OTOH, there’s also a ton of people who don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Housing, cars, groceries, and energy are expensive enough that scrimping and saving doesn’t have an end goal.
They could pinch pennies for years and save up half a year of income, and then what? They have enough for a meager down payment on a below average house, a decent down payment on a new vehicle, or cash for a 2018 low mileage Nissan Altima. Yay. 😳
Focus and attention is a challenge in my job. If I focussed on every email I received, that’s all I would do all day. I’d get no work done. Separating the wheat from the chaff can be tough.
Maybe a general challenge in this age – what’s worth my attention at work and in my leisure time.
In work, I’ve been dealing with that issue in spades. What’s worth my attention to me isn’t always my clients’ idea of what’s worth my attention. Most of the time I can juggle the priorities, but the reality is that true “attention” is time plus effort. If the time isn’t there or it isn’t worth the effort, it’s not getting my full attention.
Regarding play, there’s a reason I’m on here in fits and spurts. I can only participate online so much before my attention shifts from real life to my online communities. I really don’t want my kids’ memories of me to be of dad burying his face in his phone.
“…why do you not maintain your attention continuously? “To-day I want to play.” What is to prevent your playing, then,—but with attention? “I want to sing.” What is to prevent your singing, then,—but with attention?”
I often think it’s cuz I have many things I ‘want’ to do and many things I ‘need’ to do.
Things + Things = More Things
With (seemingly) many things to juggle, it can be difficult to suss out which is the most important at the time. ‘Need’ things are certainly more important, but as has been discussed here recently, ‘Looking for (meaningful) Work’ is a drawn out, extended process that leads to many mental stalemates, frustrating and aggravation.
It’s easy to sink into the ‘I have so many things to do!’ trap, where you broil over each thing that needs or wants doin’, without actually accomplishing any of them, with the Thought Box seemingly full and locked up. Sometimes cuz it’s mighty intimidating, that box, but also spiraling into the disappointment of it being so damn full to begin with, leads to ignoring the aggravation, which predictably leads to those lists getting longer in that too-full box.
I almost cross threaded a bolt because I was frustrated when I was replacing the window regulator in my truck last weekend.
I cringe every time I watch some youtube jackass ramming stuff together with a power ratchet. I’d hate to have to clean up after them.
That’s what the orphans are for.
I have a pneumatic ratchet. I rarely use it as I value my fingers.
Inside-Trader-in-Chief
Examples of large purchases, valued at between $1 million and $5 million each, were an S&P 500 Index fund, Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc. Large sales of between $5 million and $25 million each included Microsoft, Amazon and Meta. The filing does not always make explicit the type of security, such as whether it was a stock or a corporate bond.
The filings also do not make clear in what accounts the transactions took place or who placed the trades. The president’s assets are held in a trust controlled by his children, while some of the transactions in the new filings indicate that a broker acted as an agent.
When he’s not bombing foreign countries or censoring beloved teevee comedians he’s using privileged information to enrich himself in the stock market.
JFC. What is he supposed to invest in?
Nvidia is in almost every type of stock portfolio the same as Apple. They both dominate the equity market.
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/smart-money/magnificent-7-stocks
Also how many articles has NBC done on Pelosi’s stock trades?
He’s already a billionaire. What is he supposed to do with his money?
Give it to the commie grifters undermining society, obviously.
According to Robert Fourth Reich’s column today, the rich are ripping off the taxpayers for having the audacity to buy U.S. bonds. UCS, below, has the approved progressive answer.
We used to buy saving bonds as kids. The school ran a program. You buy stamps and put them in a book. When the book is full, you get a freshly printed bond.
The good news is that the early childhood indoctrination didn’t stick.
We had those in grade school, circa WW2. Fourscores never had a dime for a savings stamp, every morning the kids would line up to buy a stamp from the teacher. It was a rare day when I bought one. I doubt that we ever filled a single book but the partial books were redeemable too.
Gold bond and Green stamps were much more valuable.
I had a bunch of bonds left over from Army times. When I realized they were paying .75 of a % I dumped them. Nowadays Amazon gets my 1% points as soon as I buy something.
kinnath:
The grandparents and parents would buy me and my sister (and I assume the cousins) savings bonds for our earliest birthdays. Really wasn’t that impressive to get them when we turned 18.
I remember finding a book of green stamps in my grandmothers basement.
I wish I had taken it.
Amazon points work out to about $0.07/$1
When you see carrier groups moving to the Persian gulf you buy oil stock.
When the bombing starts you wait a few days and sell it.
Duh. That’s called logic.
The disclosure forms are required under federal ethics rules and provide only a partial snapshot of an official’s financial activity because they list transactions above $1,000 in broad value bands and do not disclose exact prices, profits or whether assets were purchased directly or through managed accounts. The president’s annual financial disclosure, a broader filing that includes business assets and income, such as golf resorts and crypto ventures, is expected in the coming months.
Where are the 1040s?
JFC. What is he supposed to invest in?
They kicked up a fuss about him buying municipal bonds.
I’m actually surprised…
N.J. State Police detective convicted in 100 mph chase that left motorcyclist dead
https://www.nj.com/burlington/2026/05/nj-state-police-detective-convicted-in-fatal-100-mph-chase-that-left-motorcyclist-dead-investigators-say.html
Mind you the cyclist played the stupid game and won the stupid prize. But if our hero in blue wanted to chase him he doesn’t get to do so with no lights and sirens or without calling it in. The reason he didn’t was because the chase itself goes against policy.
That and Ive heard once the lights/sirens are activated it turns on the dash camera(s) and starts recording.
Pick up the last 2 hives worth of bees tomorrow. I want to flood the honey market, driving prices down. I need some subsidies so I can hold my product off the market, to keep from destroying the other producers.
Minor adjustment
The U.S. government has proposed a new water-sharing plan for the drought-stricken Colorado River that could cut up to 40% of current supplies to Arizona, California and Nevada, according to a senior Arizona official.
With a 20-year-old plan expiring this year, and talks between seven states that share the river at an impasse, the federal government late last week intervened with a strategy to deal with severe water shortages, according to Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Fortunately, California has nobly resisted the temptation to bring desalinization plants on line. They might be tempted to sell water to Arizona and Nevada, and that would be wrong.
Market failure
A medium-sized data center can consume up to about 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling, equivalent to the annual water usage of about 1,000 households. At hyperscale, the figures multiply. Microsoft’s water consumption from its operations totaled about 1.69 billion gallons in the most recent reporting year, according to data compiled by DGTL Infra. That represented a 34% increase in consumption compared to the previous year. Google’s 15 U.S. data centers withdrew about 4.2 billion gallons of water in 2021, according to the APM Research Lab.
Most of this water does not come back. In a data center cooling context, most of the water withdrawn is consumed, with 70-80% lost to evaporation through cooling towers. The distinction matters: This water leaves the local water system entirely, unlike industrial processes, which discharge wastewater for downstream treatment.
Better pricing might encourage more efficiency. Maybe closed systems using something other than water. Ethanol, for instance.
A data center ate my homework.
This water leaves the local water system entirely
Color me skeptical about this claim. Evaporation bad because it leaves the local water system entirely? Doesn’t that mean that putting data centers upwind of California would solve drought problems there?
Out at sea?
About 12,600 gph
Im not an engineer but that seems to be on the high side.
Spectacular. I had no idea that they were continuing 007 novels or that they were this woke.
https://x.com/Delicious_Tacos/status/2055319760284585989?s=20
That’s some amazing writing, there.
It’s quite pro-Covid/pro-mask/pro 5G/pro-Conspiracy.
(That was hard to type on a phone)
I have heard people say in the past that the Koreans were the Irish of Asia. I hadn’t seen the opinions of Bond anywhere in the past.
The highlighted section reads like a parody.