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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Cautionary tales: Rajat Gupta edition

Stoic writings tend to write about those who uphold Stoic ideals.  They rarely seem to show examples of those who fall victim to greed, lust, or any of the sins decried by Stoic writers.  My guess is that these failures are so commonplace that they don't really need explanation or illustration.

Still, I think such examples can be occasionally useful, and the story of Rajat Gupta, as portrayed in Business Week, is one of them.  Rajat Gupta is someone who had a great reputation for honesty, but he only achieved great success and became rich.  Those around him were even richer, and his need to catch up to them apparently lead him a conviction of 14 counts of fraud and conspiracy.

Everything is relative.  How rich you are in absolute terms doesn't seem to matter as much as relative earnings. We're social creatures, and even if we're better off than 99.99% of everyone else, we still measure ourselves against our peer group.  Psychology and social pressure is a hard thing to fight.  Maybe it's best to not associate with the rich.  If we do, we're going to have to be remarkably good Stoics to help guard against the inevitable social pressures.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Bill Cunningham New York

Movies are rarely about happy people, but a new documentary called Bill Cunningham New York is an exception.  It's about a man who does what he loves, lives a simple but interesting life, and is simply happy.  I haven't seen this yet, but it would be interesting to approach this documentary from a Stoic perspective to see what must be an exemplary lifestyle.

This makes me wonder.  There are of course some Stoic methods of increasing happiness, such as living in the moment and rejecting greed, fame, lust, and other forms of harmful desires.  I wonder if chronically happy people are similar in adopting these principles.   It seems likely to be true on average, because how could someone be truly happy if, for instance, they always wanted more money?  But I'm not aware of any actual study that's been done that confirms this.  Does anyone know of any?

It reminds me of the famous opening lines of Anna Karenina:
All happy families resemble one another, every unhappy family is unhappy after its own fashion.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Myth of Stress

Once you read the Stoics, lots of philosophical and psychological ideas seem relevant to their teachings.  My latest example of this is a book I recently came across: The Myth of Stress by Andrew Bernstein.  I haven't read this book yet, I've only seen his website, and watched one of his talks.  The idea seems to be that we get stressed out because we have an opinion that what actually is happening shouldn't be happening, and this upsets us.

To rid ourselves of stress, Bernstein advises us to reason about why what is happening should in fact be happening, and figure out how we can change that.

The ideas here seem very Stoic-influenced to me, especially, the realization that it isn't the situation that causes stress, it is the opinion about the situation.

Here's his Leading@Google talk:



If you watch the Q&A section of the video, it feels like the audience is a bit skeptical.  Bernstein doesn't profess to be an expert in psychology, and I'm unsure what his degree is in.  If he's done experiments with this technique and has data to back up his assertion that it works, that'd be great, but he doesn't seem to mention more than anecdotal reports.  Maybe it's in the book.  Also, his example of stress being caused by fight or flight responses that are essentially subjective seem sketchy to me.  If I see a tiger about to pounce on me, I don't think that an opinion will be formed, at least consciously.  The fight or flight response is quite instinctual, so his example seems to work against him.  Whether a looming deadline is anything like a pouncing tiger is something I'm unsure of.

Still, even with my skepticism, the ideas are interesting here.  I haven't tried Bernstein's technique, which he calls ActivInsight, but I may give it a try the next time I'm feeling stressed out about something.

Monday, May 16, 2011

New follower, new resources

This blog's readership has grown amazing 100% in the last few months, making it one of the fastest growing blogs out there.  Yes, we're up to two readers!

Reader Michael Daw is now following, and not only that, he kindly provided a link to a list he maintains of recommended Stoic readings.  This is a great resource, and he's pointing to several interesting free works that I haven't read before.  Especially interesting is the link the book A New Stoicism.  I haven't even heard of that book yet, and the name of this blog has no relationship to the book.  But the book seems philosophically aligned with what I believe in, so it should make for a good read.

The Stoic community isn't much, yet.  A few mailing lists, a few books.  A handful of blogs.  Maybe it's the start of a bigger movement, or maybe this is just all background noise.  The movement doesn't need to be large, though.  It just needs to be there for those who could use it.

Thanks for reading, guys.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day

As for my mother, she taught me to have regard for religion, to be generous and open-handed, and not only to forbear from doing anybody an ill turn, but not so much as to endure the thought of it.  By her likewise I was bred to a plain, inexpensive way of living, very different from the common luxury of the rich.
Marcus Aurelius here writes in praise of his mother.  This is a great example for us.  Expressing gratitude, especially through the written word, is not only a good deed, but it's emotionally helpful.  This Mother's Day, take a moment and actually write out a few thoughts on why you are thankful for your mother.  Write it and save it to your computer, or just write it out on paper and throw it away.  Just the act of doing this will be helpful.

I'll follow my own advice here, and give a few thoughts on my mother.

My mother wasn't particularly religious, for which I'm very thankful.  She did have a good moral sense, though, and I was raised to know right from wrong.  She spent countless hours cleaning, driving me to activities, helping me with whatever I was doing.  When I was in 6th grade, she bought me a computer, which was pretty much the pivotal experience in my life.  She cared for me when I was sick, and amused me with her unique humor when I was well.  She put up with my bad humors and craziness with the patience of a saint. Kids never really understand how much work is involved in taking care of them, and I'm not exception.  I realize it now, though.  Thanks, Mom!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

If you see the Buddha on the side of the road, kill him!

Recently, I heard about an intriguing self-help book: If You Meet the Buddha on the Side of the Road, Kill Him!  Actually, it's more of an anti-self-help book.

I haven't read it yet, but it looks intriguing. From what I understand, the basic idea is that you fundamentally cannot solve some of your problems.  You can't do it, and no one else can really help you, because the problems are unsolvable.  To quote from a reviewer on Amazon:

Whether giving or receiving therapy, this book reminds us that we are all humans -- nobody has all the answers. The eschatological laundry list (which I've seen roaming around the web, but never attributed to Kopp) has become a classic.
1. This is it!
2. There are no hidden meanings
3. You can't get there from here, and besides, there's no place else to go
4. We are all already dying and we'll be dead for a long time.
5. Nothing lasts!
6. There is no way of getting all you want.
7. You can't have anything unless you let go of it.
8. You only get to keep what you give away.
9. There is no particular reason why you lost out on some things.
10. The world is not necessarily just. Being good often does not pay off and there is no compensation for misfortune.
11. You have the responsibility to do your best nonetheless.
12. It is a random universe to which we bring meaning.
13. You don't really control anything.
14. You can't make someone love you.
I'll stop there -- there's more in the book, and if you find the list discouraging, you need to read the book. If you find the words encouraging, you need to read the book. Add it to your list of books to give friends who are feeling glum and hopeless.
I think the basic outlook here should be interesting to anyone interested in Stoic philosophy.  I'm a big fan of this kind of realistic philosophy.  No, things don't have a meaning.  Life has no real purpose.  There is no grand plan.  When you lose the comforting illusions that you cherish, you can see the truth, and in seeing the truth, you can act appropriately.

I'll attempt to get a hold of it and read it and report back!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Bin Laden's death: to celebrate or not?

Last night Obama announced that Bin Laden had been killed.  I noticed that many Twitter users were wondering whether it was in bad taste to celebrate or not.  Most went ahead and decided to enjoy the moment.  My favorite tweet was from the great Roger Ebert:
I am against the Death Penalty. I rejoice that Bin Laden was killed. "Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself." (Whitman)
Others maintained that an emotional response was incorrect. Even if it feels good, it is morally wrong to celebrate another's death.   And of course, most just gave into the momentary euphoria and celebrated a victory without second thoughts; it was the first good news in a while.

I'm not sure what my position is, or what the Stoic position might be. Seneca writes in his essay On Anger:
If anger was sufferable in any case, it might be allowed against an incorrigible criminal under the hand of justice: but punishment is not matter of anger but of caution.  The law is without passion, and strikes malefactors as we do serpents and venomous creatures, for fear of greater mischief. It is not for the dignity of a judge, when he comes to pronounce the fatal sentence, to express any motions of anger in his looks, words, or gestures: for he condemns the vice, not the man; and looks upon the wickedness without anger, as he does upon the prosperity of wicked men without envy.
From this, I think it's clear that at least Seneca would be cool with taking out Bin Laden.   However, justice is to be carried out emotionlessly. Seneca warns against anger, but perhaps this also applies to jubilation.

Maybe.

Seneca warns against anger because anger is so destructive, as he details in chapter after chapter of his treatise On Anger.  To me, it's not clear that happiness is destructive or harmful in any substantial way.  We can celebrate good news.  Happiness over the defeat of an evil enemy isn't a moral statement; it is not a step on the road to moral ruin.  It's just happiness, and that's one thing we need more of.