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 mentions him as deceased.
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
That women too should study philosophy. [1]
1 When someone asked him if women too should study philosophy, he began to discourse on the theme that they should, in somewhat the following manner. Women as well as men, he said, have received from the gods the gift of reason, which we use in our dealings with one another and by which we judge whether a thing is good or bad, right or wrong. Likewise the female has the same senses as the male; namely sight, hearing, smell, and the others. Also both have the same parts of the body, and one has nothing more than the other. Moreover, not men alone, but women too, have a natural inclination toward virtue and the capacity for acquiring it, and it is the nature of women no less than men to be pleased by good and just acts and to reject the opposite of these.
I don’t think this was the prevalent opinion in 1st century Rome. Most women only went to school until the elementary level was completed, and were not allowed to vote or hold public office. I would think women could benefit from Stoicism the same as a man, but I have had a few of the mythical ones here tell me that while they thought it was interesting, it was not something they felt they could adapt for daily life. Admittedly that is a small sample from a ridiculously small group, so that might mean nothing.
2 If this is true, by what reasoning would it ever be appropriate for men to search out and consider how they may lead good lives, which is exactly the study of philosophy, but inappropriate for women? Could it be that it is fitting for men to be good, but not for women? Let us examine in detail the qualities which are suitable for a woman who would lead a good life, for it will appear that each one of them would accrue to her most readily from the study of philosophy.
Nothing should stop a man or woman that is interested in Stoicism from studying and practicing it. I believe it is beneficial to anyone that practices it in good faith.
3 In the first place, a woman must be a good housekeeper; that is a careful accountant of all that pertains to the welfare of her house and capable of directing the household slaves. It is my contention that these are the very qualities which would be present particularly in the woman who studies philosophy, since obviously each of them is a part of life, and philosophy is nothing other than knowledge about life, and the philosopher, as Socrates said, quoting Homer, is constantly engaged in investigating precisely this:
“Whatsoever of good and of evil is wrought in thy halls.”
But above all a woman must be chaste and self-controlled; she must, I mean, be pure in respect of unlawful love, exercise restraint in other pleasures, not be a slave to desire, not be contentious, not lavish in expense, nor extravagant in dress. Such are the works of a virtuous woman, and to them I would add yet these: to control her temper, not to be overcome by grief, and to be superior to uncontrolled emotion of every kind.
This is good advice for men and women. Lucky for me, my wife is all of these things. Women have an inordinate amount of power in the state of mind of the household, at least in my experience. Being with a woman that possesses these traits would let a man live a much more peaceful life than one that is the opposite. It reminds me of one of my friend’s favorite bible verse Proverbs 21:9 : “it is better to live on a corner of the roof than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.”
4 Now these are the things which the teachings of philosophy transmit, and the person who has learned them and practices them would seem to me to have become a well-ordered and seemly character, whether man or woman. Well then, so much for self-control. As for justice, would not the woman who studies philosophy be just, would she not be a blameless life-partner, would she not be a sympathetic helpmate, would she not be an untiring defender of husband and children, and would she not be entirely free of greed and arrogance? And who better than the woman trained in philosophy— and she certainly of necessity if she has really acquired philosophy —would be disposed to look upon doing a wrong as worse than suffering one (as much worse as it is the baser), and to regard being worsted as better than gaining an unjust advantage? Moreover, who better than she would love her children more than life itself? What woman would be more just than such a one?
Having a strong base in Stoicism can make all of life’s ups and downs more manageable. My wife has no interest in studying it, but she has always had a much calmer demeanor than I have. Back when the kids were younger and I was trying to be a Christian, I had a discussion with them about perfection in people. I told them, “Jesus is perfect, but people are not. “I’m not perfect.” They quickly agreed with this statement. Then I said, “And your mom’s not perfect.” This brought hesitation out of both of them, and then the youngest said, “Almost.” The other boy quickly agreed with this assessment. If I had her innate personality, maybe I wouldn’t feel the need to study and practice Stoicism either.
5 Now as for courage, certainly it is to be expected that the educated woman will be more courageous than the uneducated, and one who has studied philosophy than one who has not; and she will not therefore submit to anything shameful because of fear of death or unwillingness to face hardship, and she will not be intimidated by anyone because he is of noble birth, or powerful, or wealthy, no, not even if he be the tyrant of her city. For in fact she has schooled herself to be high-minded and to think of death not as an evil and life not as a good, and likewise not to shun hardship and never for a moment to seek ease and indolence. So it is that such a woman is likely to be energetic, strong to endure pain, prepared to nourish her children at her own breast, and to serve her husband with her own hands, and willing to do things which some would consider no better than slaves’ work.
Knowledge of right and wrong helps to make good choices, if your sense of right and wrong is just based on feelings, it is easy to be led astray. Being able to overcome the baser impulses and not worrying about other people’s opinions are both benefits to practicing Stoicism.
6 Would not such a woman be a great help to the man who married her, an ornament to her relatives, and a good example for all who know her? Yes, but I assure you, some will say, that women who associate with philosophers are bound to be arrogant for the most part and presumptuous, in that abandoning their own households and turning to the company of men they practice speeches, talk like sophists, and analyze syllogisms, when they ought to be sitting at home spinning. I should not expect the women who study philosophy to shirk their appointed tasks for mere talk any more than men, but I maintain that their discussions should be conducted for the sake of their practical application.
Being married to a strong woman(not in the modern sense) has helped me to grow into a better man. I would not expect my wife to be arrogant because she has a good grasp of right and wrong. I also would not expect her to not fulfill her roles because she is too busy lecturing others, although she does spend 2 hours a week in Bible studies with 2 different friend groups so she uses that as her foundation and it definitely works for her.
7 For as there is no merit in the science of medicine unless it conduces to the healing of man’s body, so if a philosopher has or teaches reason, it is of no use if it does not contribute to the virtue of man’s soul. Above all, we ought to examine the doctrine which we think women who study philosophy ought to follow; we ought to see if the study which presents modesty as the greatest good can make them presumptuous, if the study which is a guide to the greatest self-restraint accustoms them to live heedlessly, if what sets forth intemperance as the greatest evil does not teach self-control, if what represents the management of a household as a virtue does not impel them to manage well their homes. Finally, the teachings of philosophy exhort the woman to be content with her lot and to work with her own hands.
Studying things that enable peaceful living should not cause a woman or man to act in the opposite way. All of the things in this paragraph work for both. Having self-control, accepting your current circumstances, and being willing to work will never cause a person to lead an intemperate or foolish life.
Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it…
Not all persons have opened their gift.
I feel like I should be working.
Getting my ducks in a row to conduct interviews next week doesn’t feel like work. It feels like avoiding work. Even though it is my job. Work is fixing technical issues and doing computer things to fix process issues.
What the *bleep* is this prepping for people blather? Meatspace sucks.
It’s only 1pm?
Ugh….
Users test me vexatiously.
If you can’t be bothered to read the documentation or understand the process, at least provide sufficient information that we don’t have to draw out from you what it is you are trying to do.
I ask if I can leave early.
I answer “No, you’re the only manager here today”
But it’s dead quiet. Yet I still deny my own leave requests.
A gentleman is a man who uses a butter knife even when dining alone.
😞
😃 When do I get mine??
I want a gardener, a mechanic/body and paint guy, and a housekeeper.
I’m only one zero off on my income for such servants.
I didn’t know you could afford domestic staff on $12k/yr
/I keed. I keed.
If it’s $12k in face value of 1963 quarters…
Let me check.
Nope, it’s in Zimbabwe dollars.
Sorry.
Hot damn!
I’ve got a 50 trillion note on my desk! I can afford it.
Congratulations – you’ve just triggered the wealth tax!
I find this point interesting throughout these postings “ inclination toward virtue.”
Is this a consistent theme among the stoics or primarily a belief of Rufus?
I’m in the camp that a natural inclination is not virtue but survival and preservation of self.
Some of the other Stoics called it living in accordance with nature.
A dishonest person could spin it to say that is their nature, but those kind of people don’t usually study philosophy.
The liberty to study philosophy requires a minimum amount of free time and education. This indicates a pre-existing separatation from the law of the jungle which changes the perspective of those who can afford to sit and philosophize.
i spel gud
Salient point UCS.
To not be a savage you have to have not been raised by savages in a savage culture.
There is photographic evidence that I threw tantrums as a toddler, but my mother cured me of that by refusing to reinforce the behavior. Where I COULD use some help is with dealing with the anger of others, which gives me the heebie-jeebies. Happily, it’s rare that I have to do that.
One thing life beat into me was that lashing out made things worse for me – tantrums, schoolyard fights, verbal disputes – letting emotion show never helped.
It also punished smiling or laughing, so I kept that in as well until recent years.
Maybe I knew too many people who just didn’t like me.
My youngest brother was a holy terror when he was a toddler.
He would bang his head against the floor and do a full body lock if you picked him up when he was mad.
I remember he would be so mad and we would leave the room. He would stop screaming, follow us to the next room, and then resume right where he left off.
It was such fun seeing him deal with his daughter when she did the exact same things to him and his wife.
Finally, the teachings of philosophy exhort the woman to be content with her lot and to work with her own hands.
Docile acceptance is a good trait in beasts of burden.
Where I COULD use some help is with dealing with the anger of others, which gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Have you tried sluicing them down with mace?
::takes notes::
From personal experience while mace may reduce your effectiveness in a fight it in no way reduces your anger level. A bullet applied to the Medulla oblongata on the other hand is an instant off switch for rage.
::amends notes::
Oh no!
I hope he has enough socked away to make it through this turmoil.
Hmm, no breathalyzer results? Just saw a video of cops emptying a sealed bottle and then claiming they found it empty on the passenger seat. Yep, the cop’s own body cam impeached her.
Give him a break, he was in Wisconsin.
Tony had the right idea. Never, ever consent to a field sobriety test. Those tests have no scientific basis in determining if you’re intoxicated, they’re intended to make you look drunk when the recording is played back in front of a jury. Demand either a calibrated breathalyzer or a hospital blood draw.
This is correct.
“he made me do a field sobriety test, where you stand on one foot, raise the other foot six inches off the ground, and count to thirty. I made it to “woo!”
Is that going to be close enough?!”
Exactly. Years ago ex wife and I were friends with a couple and one was an attorney- patent law but w/e
He always said, “Look if you get pulled over for driving when you know you shouldnt be driving, dont give them evidence to use against you. You have a 5th amendment for a reason. Use it.”
He looks drunk in those pics. Good enough for me.
That’s how he always looks
Or, he looks like he was in the sun golfing and now has a “You’ve got to be kidding me” smirk on his face.
Left wing populist blather
The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues that affordability proposals should focus on low-moderate income groups that struggle the most to pay for basics. This makes sense considering that households below the median income level of $74,000 spend 86 percent of their income on basics compared with 36 percent for those in the top half.
But the center goes too far in arguing that U.S. taxes could be raised by eight percentage points to put the combined federal-state-local tax rate at the average for industrial countries.
An alternative approach is presented by economists Jared Bernstein and Neal Mahoney. Their guiding principle is that affordability policies should achieve the goals of making goods and services less costly without distorting price signals or economic production. For example, the authors oppose price and rent controls, because they reduce incentives to increase supply.
We’ll just flip the levers and twiddle the knobs until the economy comes into focus. Then we’ll have a living wage for the working man and fair prices. It’ll be just like when Ike was in charge.
So they have 14% play money?
Dumb question perhaps… but how is raising taxes an effective “affordability proposal”?
Because shut up.
Stoicism escapes me this week.
Saw a quick preview of a slide deck from the department gathering next week.
It appears we will be moving from the 4th circle of cubicle hell (open floor plan quad-cubes) into the 8th or 9th circle of cubicle hell (10-seat open pods). The only unknown is whether or not we get assigned spots or it goes on a first-come-first-served basis.
😱
“We have too many well-adjusted employees who we’d have to pay severence to if we did a layoff”
“Say no more…”
Why?
For the love of God, WHY!?!?!
“Our employee turnover is too low.”
Astounding companies keep doing this when it’s been proven (there are papers and everything) that it is demonstrably bad for morale and productivity.
I’m in a 10 seat. The difference between it and a 4 group isn’t particularly bad.
The bigger issue is how high the partitions are. Higher partitions and 10 pack is much better than 4 seat and low partitions.
頑張って!
The only proper office is a corner office with large windows overlooking a beach where topless hot chicks are sunbathing or playing volleyball or kissing lobsters.
The only unknown is whether or not we get assigned spots or it goes on a first-come-first-served basis.
You should suggest a musical-chairs (Chinese fire drill) plan, where every twenty minutes a bell rings and everybody has to change seats.
If you do it properly, a quad-cube arrangement will look just like a swastika when viewed from above.
That is the superior layout.
And you can lead them in a rousing chorus of Springtime for Hitler.
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Winter for Poland and France
You can always spruce up the area with some edelweiss arrangements.
Context is everything
“These numbers, until they’re backed up by any kind of clear, transparent methodology, should be considered made up,” said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.
Stop it. You’re killing me.
In P-Brooks-topia, this would be the default assumption in 99% of news stories, not just part of an “election fairness” smokescreen for an NPR defense of Democrat-ocracy.
“Election Innovation”
Previous reviews and data-matching efforts on voter rolls that lack a unique identifier like a Social Security number have been notoriously error-prone, Becker noted.
“There’s no credible way to do this without creating an ungodly number of false positives,” he said.
So what you’re saying is your voter registration data is wholly unreliable.
In that case, none of your elections can be certified, and none of your officals can be seated until the issue has been corrected.
That was pretty much my take on it, too. “Reviews and data-matching” are pretty much audits. If you can’t get a solid audit done, there is no reason at all to believe the claimed results.
The Jugsy roller coaster has left me not very stoic.
Sorry to hear it. I have certainly been there. It is painful.
Absolutely. Eviscerating. We all process different shit differently, but for me its slightly below holding my mom’s hand in hospice watching her take her last breath.
Which is an experience I wouldnt trade for anything- she was there when I came out; I was there when she went out. Sucks tho.
Same here, bro. It’s rough.
Hey party people!
It’s the last day of the month, which means Slumbrew has tokens to burn before the pool resets at midnight (UTC).
https://gitlab.com/glibertarians/forumProject/-/merge_requests/14
New Monocle feature, ‘Rewrite X to Nitter’.
Off by default, can choose multiple Nitter instances, if more than one selected it’ll grab one at random.
If you’re already pointed at the development branch, you’ll get it automatically, otherwise:
https://gitlab.com/glibertarians/forumProject/-/raw/development/monocle.user.js?ref_type=heads
I’ll poke at it some more with my various browsers and release to the master branch if all looks good.
Let me know if you try it / have issues.
(message repeats in the afternoon links)
In action:
https://ibb.co/7dMzf75s
I’ll note that the link will still read ‘x.com’ but if you hover you’ll see it has been rewritten.
If you pull up the morning linx and search for ‘Doomer’ you’ll see it in action (if you’ve got it installed).
No pipeline for quality gates (lint, test, …)?
We test in production here at Glibs.
Well, not really, which is why there’s a ‘Dev’ branch; we have a very formalized workflow:
– product manager proposes a feature
– it’s reviewed and, if accepted, goes to the dev team for implementation.
– after the feature branch is marked as ready, the QA team starts testing.
– after formal sign-off by QA, it is then promoted to the development branch.
– beta testers provide feedback and, if positive, it’s promoted to the master branch by the release master.
See? All very professional.
(P.S., I am every single one of those people)
If I’m ever in person with one of you tech glibs I’ll throw my phone at you all to install that stuff.
I’ve still not figured it out.
You rock.