Analytics

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Less is more

The happiness of staying in cheap hotels amongst other travelers is the subject of David Brooks' recent column The Haimish Line.  Those who spend more on luxury only get luxury, and miss out on the real warmth and congeniality of the simpler lifestyle.  It's one of those examples of less is more.  We have been conditioned to think that nicer & fancier is unquestionably better.  But it doesn't bring any more happiness.  This is the sort of thing that reminds us that Stoicism is not a philosophy of self-denial, it is one of self-fulfillment.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

McAfee on possessions

We all know McAfee's virus software.  Evidently the man was quite rich, but lost almost all of it in the recession, according to an ABC news article.  On the way, he learned a Stoic-like attitude.  I especially like the quote at the end of the article:
"I think most people don't sit down and ask, 'What do I need?" not "What do I want?" Because we all want everything," he explained. "But what do we need? We don't need very much. We really don't ... The things we want and the things we need are two different things."

Friday, August 19, 2011

Cyberstoic

I discovered a promising new Stoic blog, Cyber Stoic, through one of my Twitter followers, @NeoStoicism.  I'm looking forward to reading more!

Dwarf Fortress

Normal person: I must win.
Stoic: Winning isn't important.
Dwarf Fortress fan:  Losing is fun!

The recent story in the New York Times about a game called Dwarf Fortress strikes some Stoic chords.  The authors of the game aren't particularly concerned with becoming famous.  They just want to create an interesting game, even if it takes 20 years to finish.  The fans of the game aren't concerned with winning.  They just like creating a world, managing it, and then watching as it all inevitably goes horribly wrong.  It's a different approach to gaming.

I still don't think it's a great idea to spend much time playing games, but reading about this game seems refreshing.  I hope the ideas here catch on.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Personality

Sometimes I wonder if Stoicism, as a philosophy, can be taught to anyone.  I know several people that are decidedly non-Stoic. Not bad people at all, just people that are natural worriers and pessimists. They fret over things that they have no control over, repeatedly bashing their heads against the walls of their problems.

That's just their personality. And I don't believe you can change personality to any great extent.

Could these people be taught Stoicism? I haven't attempted it.

I wonder what the success rates were in the days of Epictetus?