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
Never bestow either praise or blame upon a man for the things which may be either good or bad,[1] nor credit him with either skill or want of skill; and by so doing you will escape from both rashness and malice. “This man is hasty about bathing.” Does he, therefore, do wrong? Not at all. But what is he doing? He is hasty about bathing.—Is all well, then?—That by no means follows;[2] but only the act which proceeds from correct judgements is well done, and that which proceeds from bad judgements is badly done.
Whether a person is competent or incompetent is not a way to judge their character. This is usually true, but in my Marine Corps time, it seemed like the ones who were bad at their jobs were also unreliable people.
Yet until you learn the judgement from which a man performs each separate act, neither praise his action nor blame it. But a judgement is not readily determined by externals. “This man is a carpenter.” Why? “He uses an adze.” What, then, has that to do with the case? “This man is a musician, for he sings.” And what has that to do with the case? “This man is a philosopher.” Why? “Because he wears a rough cloak and long hair.” 5And what do hedge-priests wear? That is why, when a man sees some one of them misbehaving, he immediately says, “See what the philosopher is doing.” But he ought rather to have said, judging from the misbehavior, that the person in question was not a philosopher.
If I claimed to be a master mechanic and attempted some work on a vehicle for pay and botched it, it would be obvious that I am not a master mechanic. But I do have long hair and my clothes are not always the best(especially when I am being an amateur mechanic) By the same token a man that claims to be an expert in philosophy but is actually a bullshit artist is not a philosopher.
For if the prime conception and profession of the philosopher is to wear a rough cloak and long hair, their statement would be correct; but if it is rather this, to be free from error, why do they not take away from him the designation of philosopher, because he does not fulfill the profession of one? For that is the way men do in the case of the other arts. When someone sees a fellow hewing clumsily with an axe, he does not say, “What’s the use of carpentry? See the bad work the carpenters do!” but quite the contrary, he says, “This fellow is no carpenter, for he hews clumsily with the axe.” And, similarly, if a man hears somebody singing badly, he does not say, “See how the musicians sing!” but rather, “This fellow is no musician.” But it is only in the case of philosophy that men behave like this; when they see somebody acting contrary to the profession of the philosopher, they do not take away from him the designation of philosopher, but, assuming that he is a philosopher, and then taking[3] from what goes on that he is misbehaving, they conclude that there is no good in being a philosopher.
It is easy to fake being an expert in philosophy and having a deeper understanding of life. These lies can be detected by looking at the philosopher’s deeds and not just listening to his words. If I claimed to have my anger mostly controlled by following Stoicism and then when I met some of you in person, I was an easily irritated ass, any value you might get from my articles here would probably be lost. Or if I said things here that made no sense in the context of Stoicism, nobody would waste their time reading these once they noticed that.
10What, then, is the reason for this? It is because we respect the prime conception of the carpenter, and the musician, and so also of all the other artisans and artists, while we do not respect that of the philosopher, but as if it were confused and inarticulate in our minds we judge of it only from externals. And what other art is there that is acquired by guise and hair-dress, and does not have also principles, and subject-matter, and end? What, then, is subject-matter for the philosopher? It is not a rough cloak, is it? No, but reason. what is end for the philosopher? It is not to wear a rough cloak, is it? No, but to keep his reason right. What is the nature of his principles? They do not have to do with the question how to grow a long beard, or a thick head of hair, do they? Nay, rather, as Zeno says, to understand the elements of reason, what the nature of each one is, and how they are fitted one to another, and all the consequences of these facts. Will you not, therefore, observe first of all whether the philosopher fulfills his profession by misbehaving, and then, if that be the case, blame his way of acting?But as it is, when you yourself are behaving decently, you say, on the basis of the evil that he seems to you to be doing, “Look at the philosopher,” just as though it were proper to call a man who acts like that a philosopher; and again, “Is that what a philosopher is?” But you do not say, “Look at the carpenter,” when you know that a man is an adulterer, or see a man eating greedily, nor do you say, under similar circumstances, “Look at the musician.” Thus to a certain degree you too realize what the philosopher’s profession is, but you backslide and get confused through carelessness.
Even if a philosopher doesn’t follow his own teaching, that doesn’t mean the lessons are wrong. I try to explain how to keep anger under control, but I am not always successful at it. On the other hand, if I said the same things, but did not attempt to follow them, it would be very easy to dismiss me as a charlatan or a hypocrite.
This might be the most crucial element of stoicism – the idea that proper name and proper understanding are intricately linked.
Another concept that the postmodernists have fucked into a cocked hat.
Certainly, and foresooth!
And, on that note, I need to mount my velocipede and amble down to the dry goods to reup my shirtwaist supply before my wife assaults me, the vituperative harridan.
Thanks Ron
My advice is worth every cent that you pay for it.
I have a friend that will say , “What you should do is…” and I immediately tune out.
What you should do is ignore any advice I give you.
My brother’s Polish widow was like that when she was around. I once retorted, “don’t ‘should’ on me.”
She got offended, I didn’t care.
Unreliability was the worst flaw a Marine could have. Maybe the only one that couldn’t be forgiven. If I can’t depend on you while under stress, please stay far away from me.
I have a friend that will say , “What you should do is…”
I like to preface helpful tips with, “If I were me…”
Mine is (copied from my father):
At the risk of sounding like I want to run your life …
I have good advice I didn’t take because I was poor.
None of the people that had money listened to me in the 90s when I told them to buy Apple either.
Serious, knowledgeable strategic thinker
Global climate change, for example, is one of the biggest modern threats to global stability. Military and intelligence officials have warned for years that it is a critical national security issue. Trump ignores it.
——-
After the 1970s, the U.S. sought to reduce its vulnerability by setting fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles. Trump has rolled them back, and eliminated federal incentives for electric vehicles.
Don’t forget the carbon footprint of all that burning oil!
The Ninth Circuit decided that all-female Korean spas (where everyone is naked) have to admit guys.
Judge VanDykes’s decidedly un-Stoic dissent is rather blunt.
At first glans, he’s absolutely right.
Seems like he has some firm opinions.
Will they stand up in the Supreme Court?
The reasoning amongst the 9th Circus seems to be rather flaccid and rarely stands up to the abuse from the upper court.
There was probably some disfunction in the erection of this case!
“Thou must tolerate all, unto death, or be ostracized”
But of course the reverse is never true.
Conform or be cast out.
Well, someone is getting shafted.
This is only the tip of the problem.
I opened a link to a Rush song.
I am the guy that’s getting shafted.
It wouldn’t be polite to wave it in a woman-only space, but my dick is neither juvenile nor vulgar, thank you very much.
Now I have a new hero. Judge “Swinging Dick” VanDyke. The Hanging Judge!
I have no idea what his or her real first name is, but that’s all I’m ever going to hear.
Damn straight.
Judge VanDyke received his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor on the Harvard Law Review.
I’m not going to hold that against him.
He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Janice Rogers Brown of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
(Eyes close halfway) Oooooh, yeah.
Get this guy to replace Sotomayor stat, with Don Willett in the wings whenever Thomas wants to retire.
Get a load of that guy.
Manga cum
You can exclude on the basis of sex or you can’t, and it’s been decided you can’t. Letting individual business owners set their own policies would just lead to chaos and uncertainty!
I think this whole thing is nuts.
“The complaint alleged that Olympus Spa “denied [her] services and stated that transgender women without surgery are not
welcome because it could make other customers and staff uncomfortable.” Specifically, the Spa excluded preoperative transgender women who have not yet received gender confirmation surgery affecting their genitalia”
That’s going to be hard on the customers.
But a judgement is not readily determined by externals.
I woke up on time with my early alarms, but just kept sleeping. Now I head into work, and after today, I have six shifts remaining.
So as I head into the gas station, T-Minus 7 shifts until I’m out, awaiting my ~April 9 remote contract. With a normal schedule. Stoicism comes in handy, and the easiest most natural way to find it is to always look for something positive, a little sparkle of sunshine in the day. Well, it’s Friday. This eve may bring in some well-heeled customers.
Kick ass, y’all. Your day is (theoretically?) nearly done. Hope ya can enjoy the weekend.
Sometimes I think people have gotten a little carried away with that whole THE PENIS IS EVIL business.
It is a complete mystery! Fatties and their love of GLP-1 are redefining how drugs are priced and sold.
The author lists other reasons that GLP-1 drugs are becoming so cheap so quickly. You could boil it down to “people using their own money to buy something”. That and drug companies can’t rely on insurance to hide the true costs and have to compete on price.
When you can sell a drug to everyone and they’ll keep taking it forever, all that multi-million dollar development cost becomes somewhat trivial.
Instantly Full at 6 AM! Insane Wok Skills by Osaka’s “Solo Master”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtI74g7msdQ
raise the prices.
So sad
Speaking at an iftar dinner Thursday evening, a special meal held to break the daily Ramadan fast, Mamdani said many American Muslims face prejudice.
“When I hear such hatred and disdain unchecked in its rancor, I feel a loneliness and isolation that I know many of you have felt as well,” Mamdani said. “Who here has been told, you do not belong in New York City? Who here has been told, go back where you came from?”
Would it make you feel any better if I told you I despise zealots of any creed or color?
If you’re sick of hearing it, why don’t you leave for a country that already conforms to your [redacted]
How ’bout, I’ll treat Muslims the way you treat gun owners?
Earlier this month, prominent far-right New York City radio host Sid Rosenberg issued a partial apology after calling Mamdani an “America-hating, Jew-hating, Radical Islam cockroach.” Rosenberg later said his comments were “a bit over the top.”
That’s a little unfair to honest hardworking New York cockroaches.
During Thursday’s iftar dinner, Mamdani called on Muslim Americans to continue celebrating their faith and culture openly and with joy, but he also described a deepening climate of distrust.
“What I so often hear is the pressure to fit oneself into an ever-narrowing box, to suppress parts of oneself in the hope of finding acceptance,” Mamdani said.
Does that mean I have permission to stop pretending to give a fuck about your delicate feelings?
“Fuck your melting pot”