How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness.
Today’s lesson comes from: Musonious Rufus’s Lectures
We don”t know much about Rufus’s life, he was born between 20-30 AD. By the rein of Nero he was a leading Stoic teacher. He was banished twice under different Emperors. His most famous student was Epictetus and like him Rufus did not write any of his own lessons. The lessons and fragments that remain were written by his students. We do not now when he died, but in 101 AD Pliny mention him as deceased.
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
Discourse 1: That there is no need of giving many proofs for one problem.
1 Once when discussion turned upon proofs or demonstrations, such as beginners must learn from their teachers of philosophy in gaining a mastery of whatever they are studying, Musonius said that there was no sense in seeking many proofs for each point, but rather cogent and lucid ones.
I agree with this philosophy, a good example would be “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”. Being simple and easy to understand does not make it ineffective. Trying to argue obvious false hoods usually leads to convoluted thinking and word salads.
Thus just as the physician who prescribes many drugs for his patients deserves less praise than the one who succeeds in helping them with a few, so the philosopher who teaches his pupils with the use of many proofs is less effective than the one who leads them to the desired goal with few. And the pupil too, the quicker his intelligence, the fewer proofs he will require, and the sooner he will assent to the conclusion of the argument in question, provided it be sound. But those who require proofs at every point, even where the matter is perfectly clear, or demand to have demonstrated at length things which could be explained briefly are completely inept and dull-witted.
This reminds me of Thomas Sowell explaining to Biden in the simplest terms possible that affirmative action in college admissions hurt the student that was put into a learning environment he was not ready for and the dull-witted Biden could not (or would not) grasp the basic concept.
2 The gods, we may assume, need no proof of anything inasmuch as nothing to them lacks clearness or is obscure, and it is only in reference to obscurity that there is any need of proof. Man, however, must needs seek to find out that which is not plain nor self-evident through the medium of the plain and obvious. That is the function of proof. Take for example the proposition that pleasure is not a good. At first sight we do not recognize it as true, since in fact pleasure appeals to us as a good. But starting from the generally accepted premise that every good is desirable and adding to it a second equally accepted that some pleasures are not desirable, we succeed in proving that pleasure is not a good: that is we prove the unknown or unrecognized by means of the known or recognized.
It is simple to assume pleasure is a good thing. However, pleasure is an external force so by definition it is neither good or bad. My attitude towards pleasure, what constitutes it, and what I trade for it decides if it is a net positive or not.
Or again, that toil is not an evil is not on the face of it a persuasive proposition, while its opposite, that toil is an evil, seems much more persuasive. But starting from the known and accepted premise that every evil is a thing to be avoided, and adding to it another obvious one, namely that many forms of toil are not in the category of things to be avoided, we conclude that toil is not an evil.
Much good can be gained from toil, even though the act itself can be difficult and/or painful. Being able to look past the short term drawbacks for the long term results, whether mental or physical, is one characteristic of a successful person.
3 Since this, then, is the nature of proof, when we consider that some men are quicker of wit and others duller, that some are reared in better environment, others in worse, those of the latter class being inferior in character and native disposition will require more proofs and more diligent attention to be led to master the teachings in question and to be molded by them; just as defective physiques, when the goal is to restore perfect health, require very diligent and prolonged treatment.
It can be difficult to convince a person that’s not very bright, but it is impossible to convince a smart person they are wrong if they don’t have an open mind.
4 On the other hand such pupils as are of a finer nature and have enjoyed better training will more easily and more quickly, and with few proofs, assent to sound reasoning and put it into practice. How true this is we may readily recognize if we chance to know two lads or young men, of whom one has been reared in luxury, his body effeminate, his spirit weakened by soft living, and having besides a dull and torpid disposition; the other reared somewhat in the Spartan manner, unaccustomed to luxury, practiced in self-restraint, and ready to listen to sound reasoning. If then we place these two young men in the position of pupils of a philosopher arguing that death, toil, poverty, and the like are not evils, or again that life, pleasure, wealth, and the like are not goods, do you imagine that both will give heed to the argument in the same fashion, and that one will be persuaded by it in the same degree as the other? Far from it.
Looking back on history, it seems the indolent rich kid has been a universally hated type. People that have done things in life and improved their circumstances that way usually have a better understanding of how the world works and an ability to deal with setbacks based on life experience.
5 The one reluctantly and slowly, and fairly pried loose by a thousand arguments, will perhaps in the end give sign of assent—I mean of course the dullard. The other quickly and readily will accept the argument as cogent and relevant to himself, and will not require many proofs nor a fuller treatment. Was not just such a lad that Spartan boy who asked Cleanthes the philosopher if toil was not a good?[1] He made it plain that he was so well-endowed by nature and by training for the practice of virtue as to consider toil closer to the nature of good than of evil, in that he asked whether toil was not perchance a good, as if it were conceded that it was not an evil. Thereupon Cleanthes in surprise and admiration of the boy replied,
“Thou art of noble blood, dear child, so noble the words thou speakest.”[2]
Hard work can be a good thing. When I was 15 my Dad and I put about mile of fence posts in to make a new lot for cows. This was done with a tractor mounted auger and then we would tamp the ground by hand. I don’t remember griping about it, but I would be surprised if I didn’t. When school started and I went to wrestling practice, all my team mates were shocked at how much stronger I was compared to last year. After that, I started looking for more physical work to do around the farm. This was really beneficial for me when I joined the Marines a few years later.
6 To come back to the starting point of my discussion, I repeat that it is mistaken zeal for the teacher, if he be a true philosopher, to rehearse a multitude of arguments and proofs to his pupils. He should rather touch upon each one with just measure, seek to penetrate to the very intellect of his hearer, and present persuasive arguments and such as cannot easily be refuted. But most of all his treatment should consist in showing himself not only as one who utters words which are most helpful, but as one who acts consistently with them. As for the pupil, it is his duty to attend diligently to what is said and to be on his guard lest he accept unwittingly something false. But of what he accepts as truth, his effort should not be directed toward learning numbers of proofs—far from it—but only such as are plain and lucid. Finally whatever precepts enjoined upon him he is persuaded are true, these must he follow out in his daily life. For only in this way will philosophy be of profit to anyone, if to sound teaching he adds conduct in harmony with it.
Using too many proofs to me seems like a person is trying to show off their intellect. As long as you are honest and what you are calling a proof actually is one then there should be no reason to use many. This assumes that you are dealing with either an honest person or a willing student.
Not sure what fixed my computer. I turned it off for a few days so it could think about what it had done and tonight it is acting right. It is an old Asus AIO and is incompatible with Windows 11. I am thinking about doing the Linux install, but have questions. Would the Linux installation work on this old machine? Does Linux replace all of the Microsoft and Adobe program? Would I lose my old files if I install it?
If Nolan wanted to make a modern spin on the Odyssey he should have avoided the PTSD tropes Hollywood has become so fond of and just featured Odysseus’s quest upon returning home to navigate the byzantine labyrinth of rules and regulations established by his local city-state’s veteran affairs office to get benefits. You came up with the idea to burn down Troy? Do you have documentation of that?
The later invention where his wife cheats on him when he’s away can stay in there.
My guess is that 90%+ of the VAs PTSD claims are fraudulent.
It’s all about the grift.
Grift as old as time itself. Hate the game, not the player.
You can hate both the game and those who choose to play it.
Those that play it tend to be multi generational players.
I knew guys when in who were just doing 3 years who would document every sick call or pretend injury. Some may or may not be cops now. I saw some story not long ago about a police force shit canning a few vets on the force who were rated 100%.
It’s most definitely a racket, but as far as rackets go the government giving kick backs to the idiots they sent over into shitholes to nation build is pretty low on my priority list.
I know someone who was in the military and went to either Iraq or Afghanistan. Didn’t see combat, not wounded or anything. As they – and some of their friends – were getting ready to leave, their sergeant (?) told them to file disability claims. Supposedly none get refused. This person’s did not get refused so they’re getting a decent monthly pay out for the rest of their lives while working jobs that require both mental sharpness and physical strength.
Government money attracts fraud and graft like shit attracts flies. The only solution is to cut off most of the government money, while aggressively investigating, prosecuting, and punishing the fraudsters. It’s especially bad when the fraudsters are members of a (real or de-facto) protected class.
It totals in the billions a year.
They need to be busted.
I consider mine a tax refund and give nearly all of it away as I don’t deserve it even though I am a cripple due to my time in.
All of the psychological VA ratings need to be zero dollar payouts.
I’m the dummy for not filing. Not just the tax free money, but quite a few bennies even with 10%. Local airport gives two weeks free in the short term lot (closest to the terminal).
This has been far too many of my work interactions lately…
I didn’t put in fence posts but I worked with my Dad in the woods. I wasn’t allowed to run the chain saw (A 30 lb Mall), I was the notcher, after my Dad gave me the direction he wanted the tree to go. Then I was in charge of limbing or de-limbing and measuring the logs.
I may not have learned much about logging but I learned a lot about working at 16-17.
I lament this. Just as my son came of age, cancer laid me low. Looking back, I see that he is not going to remember the prior 14 years when I did everything with him. He is going to remember his high school dad who was in bed with tubes and palid grey skin and couldnt walk a half mile.
When he was younger he would follow me around as I cut the trees and hauled debris to the curb, carrying such as he could and begging to use the dangerous tools and implements of destruction.
Between covid and cancer, my boy really got the shaft on those moments.
In my youth I knew two people who as teens had a parent die of unearned cancer. Great people but I sensed something was cut short in them. So I’m sure your son is glad to have you around, whatever state you’re in.
“ We don”t know much about Rufus’s life”
I heard he worked hard.
Where’s our own muppet Rufus? Jeez, nearly fainted with the misreading.
And I fear the worst about our secretive Festus, if anyone knows anything there. Sorry to hijack.
Toxteth:
I was just wondering about Festus the other day.
Emergencies are so embarrassing. I am reminded of Juleigh’s troubles with her husband. And it’s not Bob’s fault that questo palazzo è fatto di crackers.
Darryl (sp?) / Festus seemed to want to be left alone. ☹️ I have his surname, number, and city around Somewhere. Prince George? BC.
I’m told the dude knows what he’s talking about.
Ron Jeremy worked hard, too.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091867/mediaviewer/rm366156800
Anyone remember this? (Can’t find the clip of him ineffectually waving away a fly; maybe Ted can.)
I wish I had more time to read this! Yes, Grey Gardens situation here but less posh zip code.
Trigger warning – tranny Senatorial candidates: https://x.com/SwipeWright/status/2078123020103581706
If you’re bleeding from your asshole, I’m pretty sure I know why that is, and it has nothing to do with menstruation…
My dog is bleeding from his asshole, but it’s not what you think!
That’s the other reason.
“Ever since he ate that damn cue ball, he measures everything first!”
Damn AOL, I mean X.
Poop lettuce?
Okay, third possibility. And looking at the pics…overindulgence in Chipotle might be the most likely culprit.
He would do anything for love, but he wouldn’t actually menstruate.
Thanks Ron.
I would otherwise not read any of this material.
It’s amazing that any of this survives two thousand years later.
It’s interesting but not surprising to me that there remains to be nothing new under the sun.
Dead Spaces.
I watched the SpaceX launch of StarShip yesterday and the abort left me wanting. I used to frequent the SpaceX subreddits for such info before the rise of communist propaganda chased me away…. so I decided to give them another chance.
Dead.
Nothing much at all going on. No knowledgeable insiders. No expert opinions. Just idiots like me… except they didnt know anything at all.
What a waste.
It used to be an amazing community.
Which spurred me to think about all of the dead spaces that have not been replaced. Valuable spaces that had really good information and ideas to share.
Slashdot. Man, that was a great place back in the day. And meta-moderation did away with the racist trolls, so it was useful, unlike Usenet had become. You could really find great info on the tech industry.
Wow, it is deader than dead. Nothing of use there, but it still exists.
And on the political side there was The Agitator. A hardcore libertarian community of folks who discussed actual libertarian issues in a respectful manner, with empathy for all sides in arguments (if not sympathy for their proposed solutions). Then Balko went to Huffpo which was worse.. and then to WaPo which was useless… then crazy DNC voice that left liberty in the bin. And a dead community with no home.
But at least we had Hit and Run. It wasnt cohesive like The Agitator… but it was interesting and fun. There were right wing firebrands who had something to say, mixed in with the right wing crazies who just repeated talking points. And left wing crazies. Plenty of those. And several of what I suspected were paid left wing propagandists, spouting the day’s talking points. And a couple of certifiable nutcases that made you really, really want to protect online anonymity.
But then it died. And we fought on, because there was nowhere to go. Until some great people made this place and most of the sane (and some of the insane) libertarians fled to this sanctuary.
So now it is dead. And the magazine that spawned it is dead. A few dozen anti-republican screeds per week and maybe 1 or 2 libertarian articles per month. Useless.
All my spaces are dead.
Except this one.
I used to have places to discuss microbiology, parasitology, virology, genetics, astrophysics, rocketry, skydiving, skepticism, computer hardware and software….
The internet was great for enabling those niche spaces where you could take any subject seriously with other interested parties.
They all died. Many subsumed by politics that chased everyone away.
Is this just the way of things? Did you have spaces that were great, until they just went away? Were some of them killed by politics? Or driven only by a small handful of people who found other things to do and nobody took up the mantle?
Think of the Internet niches as conversational clusters at a large gathering. Initially there is a lot to say, the talking persists, but as time goes on, people realize they have either run out of things to say or have somewhere else to be, so they drift away until you only have the last few drunkards left before those are shooed out of the venue by the host who wants to go to bed.
Eventually, a new gathering will be organized and new conversational clusters will spring up and the pattern repeats itself. The hard part is that nobody sends out invitations, so you won’t know where the new party is being held unless you stumble on to it or someone you know has and sends you the location.
That is great insight.
And thanks for reminding me that I am that last drunkard that just wont leave.
That is a great analogy.
The left destroys everything it touches. That has always been the way of things.
I lean towards it is just the way of things.
Woke is the disease — the personal is political — it kills everything it touches.
Politics have taken over everything online.
For a recent example, if you didn’t like Supergirl, you were called right wing.
I think that led to more people saying it was a perfect movie and if you didn’t like it you were a misogynist.
Same thing is starting to happen with The Odyssey, everyone has their minds made up before the movie came out.
Ron o was trying to figure out why Craigslist kept removing my ad for a free kitten.
I made the error of going to the hell forums.
Almost immediately I was the devil for “breeding cats” “your the reason Trump got elected”. It was madness.
I just wanted CL to let me give away a kitten.
It’s fine to sell pitbulls but god forbid if I try to give away a kitten, and it becomes political. It’s stupid. Not everything is politics, at least on the surface.
I knew someone that started a FB group on medieval gardening. I knew of the group because of my interest in heritage apples and espalier. Within a year, there were 10,000 members.
A new administrator took over and announced she wanted to shift the focus to food insecurity and racial disparities in medieval agriculture (or some similar shit).
I dropped immediately.
Work incredibly hard, crop fails, resort to cannibalism, repeat next year if you make it…that doesn’t sound like fun at all.
I had a coffee shop
Group of old guys. Three of them are actually dead. And the coffee shop went through two remodels of hostile architecture. The most recent change there was eliminating the door handle on the back door which cut off 16 or so parking spaces. They don’t want you to sit and stay so screw them. I found the group of old guys to hang out with by sitting on the Starbucks in the first place.
Glibs is my last place.
Start your own tiktok channel.
Reddit?? A place for everyone there. Would be looking at old recipes now if I could.
Traumatic stress?
Off topic but I have a second gen Dodge question for you Ron.
My Freightliner shares some little parts with that pickup, I’m looking for the closed pore foam spacer/washer that Dodge used between the door panel bushing and the window crank. Dodge parts houses haven’t even come up with a PN for me. Was wondering if you had any idea. It’s like pool noodle material but in dark grey. And of course I don’t have them because the panels were off of this thing and they got lost before I owned it. https://ibb.co/S4dRy3xL
LMC truck might have it.
All I see are the handles though:
https://www.lmctruck.com/door-components/door-glass-parts/de-1994-02-door-glass-and-components
You might have to get some closed cell foam and make them.
I’m lazy.
Lime green pool noodle it is!!
I can find them for VW and 60-72 Chevies. Neither which are thick enough, and the Chevy ones are white. The Dodge/FL ones are 5/8-3/4”.
Insight
The so-called “great wealth transfer” — the passing of assets from the baby boomer generation to their heirs — will mostly benefit younger Americans who are already affluent, according to a July report from Visa Business and Economic Insights.
Affluent families have more assets.
I’ll have to lie quietly with a damp cool rag on my forehead after reading that stunning revelation.
I can’t believe that poor people don’t have wealthy parents.
The left wants to get their paws on that money very badly.
Cut off those paws.
Wait I thought the problem was they were spending all the money and not leaving anything for their kids?
A lot of those “younger” Americans won’t see an inheritance until they are in their 60s, either.
Threedoor
It might get you kicked out of Pebble Beach, but if you need a softish spacer you can use a slice of fuel line or heater hose. Even more than one, inside one another for more surface area.
Non origional paint color and interior mods likely wouldn’t even let me haul cars to Pebble Beach!
Of the $36 trillion that will be transferred, only $8 trillion will be spent, according to the Visa report. That’s because most recipients are already wealthy and are expected to save or invest the remainder of what they receive from their families.
They’ll need bigger swimming pools to fill with their gold doubloons.
If I were poor, that’d be all the more reason to save and/or invest a financial windfall.
There is a strong correlation between people being poor and people who have poor financial habits and discipline.
Because the feds and states are going to tax the ever loving crap out of it.
Or Medicare is going to take it.
No profits over peoples!
Google workers on Thursday delivered a petition calling for layoff protections as tech giants continue to slash their workforces while pouring billions into AI.
“Make no mistake: this is a company that is enjoying massive, unprecedented success,” Parul Koul, Google software engineer and Alphabet Workers Union president, said outside the company’s California headquarters after delivering the petition to the office of the CEO, Sundar Pichai’. Koul pointed to Google’s $4tn valuation, which has quadrupled over the last six years: “These layoffs and cuts are not difficult decisions, but simply profit being put over the people that make this company run.”
The petition, which was led by the union and includes more than 4,500 signatures, calls for guaranteed severance, buyouts before mandatory layoffs in all product areas and the option to take severance as extended paid leave. Union members are also asking to end performance ratings they say are based on achieving quotas rather than merit.
The union’s definition of “merit” should be good for a chuckle.
I repeat: The left destroys everything it touches. They will happily destroy Google if they get a cut on the way out.
Google has been going to crap for well over a decade.
I thought the problem was they were spending all the money and not leaving anything for their kids?
Schroedinger’s Skinflint.
Atrocity
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), a close Trump ally, announced Thursday that he will introduce legislation to sanction Canada and Canadian officials over the huge wildfires that have poured smoke and haze across the United States, creating hazardous air-quality conditions.
“I’ll be introducing a bill next week to sanction Canada and the responsible Canadian government officials for this atrocity,” Moreno posted on social media.
Why can’t he just focus on playing grab-ass with Congressional pages?
Yet more proof that magical thinking is endemic to all political operators, not just Democrats…
Also, it still gets on my nerves when people confuse ‘tragedy’ and ‘atrocity’. A tragedy is when something bad happens. An atrocity is when somebody does something bad. The Canadian wildfires are a tragedy, unless someone deliberately set them.
I get so tired of people that are unreasonably reasonable.
Let me enjoy the outrage while it’s hot.
😉
Are there any serious people in Congress?
Good one.
Yes, and they’re the ones to be afraid of. Moreno’s grand-standing: whether or not the bill gets passed makes no difference. Someone like AOC – even if she’s a dim bulb – is serious.
Was it Clausewitz who ranked his soldiers along the Stupid/Smart and Lazy/Energetic axes? As I recall, it went something like:
Smart and Lazy should be general officers,
Smart and Energetic should be NCOs and aide-de-camps,
Stupid and Lazy should be line soldiers,
Stupid and Energetic should be taken out and shot at the first opportunity…
The serious and evil combination.
Here I was trusting in the serious and good. Like an idiot.
Today in the continued Infantilization of the population . . .
https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-travel/united-offer-travelers-free-flight-changes-avoid-landing-trump-international-airport
United to offer travelers free flight changes to avoid landing at Trump International Airport
Travelers can switch to Fort Lauderdale or Miami at no extra charge
United Airlines is planning to offer passengers flight changes free of charge to avoid landing at the newly renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport in Florida, according to an internal memo that appears aimed at customers who object to the airport’s new name.
Today in the continued Infantilization of the population . . .
So ridiculous it bears repeating.
The copy-pasta gods made an example of me today
https://x.com/BuffaloRon/status/1944768359234482465
Best akshuly ever.
Akshuly… that thing is really cool, whether a horse drew it or not.