Me

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Chris

“If one were to measure what is agreeable by the standard of pleasure, nothing would be pleasanter than self-control; and if one were to measure what is to be avoided by pain, nothing would be more painful than lack of self-control.” Musonius Rufus

How do I live? Isn’t that the whole point of having a philosophy? It is good to have a philosophy, to be whole and virtuous, to have tranquility, but is it a mistake to spend the bulk of my time and thought on “me”? In the end, we are looking for our own contentment. I am not going to lie to myself; in the end, how I live my life is determined by how it makes “me” feel. Will my actions and thoughts bring me tranquility?

I close my eyes for a moment. What do I sense? Where is the center of this sensation? For some, it will be in our heads, for others it will be somewhere near the center of mass of our body, maybe the navel, maybe near the heart. What is my perspective when I open my eyes? The perspective comes from the center of my head. When I listen where does the sound go? Inside me somewhere, yes? When I feel pleasant, where do I feel it…somewhere within the boundaries of my body, no? Everything starts somewhere within the confines of “me.” For you, it is the same.

The Eyes are the “Portal to the Soul”

My point here is that I cannot avoid the fact that everything in my life starts with an egocentric motive, it starts with me. All things in my life start with me. All the things that I can control are inside of me. My mood, my thoughts, parts of my health. This is not to say that everything in me is in my control. I will maintain that cancer may destroy my body regardless of how much I do not want it to. My brain does not fire on all cylinders all the time despite how much I want it to. The examples abound of things I cannot control within me. But here is my point: if it is something we can control, it is within us. Nothing outside of us is completely in our control.

Are you “seaworthy?”

Moreover, too many times we attempt to “fix” the world around us before we have made ourselves ready for the task. Before setting sail, shouldn’t we make sure our ship is seaworthy? Absolutely! Keep in mind, that you could spend 100% of your time on yourself, and of course there will still be imperfection. For a ship, being seaworthy does not mean that there aren’t maintenance issues to be dealt with constantly. Eventually, you have to sail with what you have, and you deal with the minor issues on the ship as they appear. So, I hope you see my point: tending to your own mind and body is first and will take the bulk of your time, but that is so you can well and faithfully serve where necessary…but only if and when you have readied yourself.

I think that is why the Stoic philosophy is so “me-oriented,” since that is the locus of control that we truly have. That is why me is always first. Wholeness begins with yourself. You can serve others better when you are whole.

The Problem with Maslow

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Chris

In all of my studies of Maslow (which are limited to brief undergraduate and that for this article), nowhere does anybody speak of the fact that we can CONTROL our desires. People throw around Maslow’s Hierarchy like humans are just animals, acting instinctively with little control over our minds.

Maslow’s Hierarchy

On the spectrum of things we can control, our desires are one of those things that we have quite a lever on. This is where a Heroic Stoic can use the tools of philosophy to modify the hierarchy. For example, if I must have caviar and filet every day, then certainly I have set a high bar for fulfilling my physiological need of food. What about shelter? Do I need a 5,000 square foot home or a tent? These things are for us to decide. Certainly they are not easy decisions, and they require some judgment. Many human beings live in simple dwellings with no heat/cooling, while I cannot imagine not having a powered system that controls my indoor environment.

Live here?

Or could I? My awareness of this fact is half the battle, isn’t it? Could I live without central heating? Well, first of all I live in a mild climate so I am ahead of the game. But seriously, could I? At first, I think it would be difficult, but eventually I can imagine that I would adapt with less clothing in Summer and bundling up in Winter. Imagining this is therapeutic. It allows me to see that my life as I know it can change, and it also helps me appreciate the needs I have fulfilled. In a sense, this awareness allows me to jump up the ladder of needs fulfillment. It helps me realize that central heating is not physiological but maybe a safety need. When I don’t need caviar and filet for my food, then I can move on to higher needs.

…or live here?

Then, I can control the higher needs as well using what I know about control, fate, and impermanence.

When will you be happy? You decide!

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Chris

I have read several studies that have stated that once you are beyond a certain level of subsistence, more wealth does not bring you more happiness (see here, here, and here). If you are reading this, you are probably one of those people with enough to live on. So the question is what are you after? Certainly not power; that too, is ephemeral and it just brings more desire.

Happiness…that is what you are after. How do you obtain it? The third article above states that we tend to have a “set point” of happiness, regardless of our life condition. This may very well be true.

Happiness from virtue?

As I have mentioned many times, I think our happiness is derived from our perspective on how things really are. Our perspective can be widened by understanding the three Stoic concepts of control, fate, and impermanence. Understanding these concepts takes work. That’s the theme of my entry today, that you can read my interpretation of the Stoic philosophy, you can reach the end and say, “Ah-hah!” and you are not even close to finding happiness through virtue. This pursuit has to be done through constant tending of your mind. Wouldn’t it be great if we could throw some seeds down, and a garden would just grow itself? Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have to nurture those seeds constantly, water them, feed them with fertilizer, look out for pests, pull the weeds, and THEN we have to know when is the right time to harvest. Wow! All that for a garden!

Seems happy. I wonder if he has a garden?

So imagine how much work it takes to nurture your own virtue. I maintain that this endeavor is far more tedious than growing a garden. Maybe a simple meditation based on a Stoic viewpoint, performed daily or whenever needed, could help. Maybe right before bed and also before you place your feet on the floor when you wake up, you can simply remind yourself:

Control – There will be much I cannot control, but I can control my attitude
Fate – Many things will happen to me, much will be unexpected
Impermanence – Someday I will be gone, someday it will all be gone
So (Telling yourself in the day): Live as if today were your last, but serve as best you know how, and be mindful and pleasant
So (Telling yourself before bed): Sleep deeply, leave it behind for now. If you awake tomorrow, you will be ready.

It’s just a suggestion. Maybe you can make your own Stoic Meditation or your own Creed.

The Inevitability of Change

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Chris

“Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are and to make new things like them. For everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be. But thou art thinking only of seeds which are cast into the earth or into a womb: but this is a very vulgar notion.” –Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations

Everything around me is always changing. Birth, death, creation, destruction. Things exist for a time, then they will be gone. Eventually our very own sun will begin to “burn out,” but first it is expected to grow into a red giant. The outer limits of this red giant stage will engulf the Earth, unless its orbit increases. In any case, the biosphere will be long gone by then, which means that all life as we know it will be long gone. All the oceans are predicted to be gone at just over 1 billion years from now, and all the water on Earth is expected to be gone by about 3 billion years from now. (get more details here). So we’ve got some time.

The sun is coming to get us; it will eventually.

Actually, most of us have about about 90 years +/-30 years or so. At this point, it is unlikely that there is anything I can do about this.

So, in the grand scheme of things I will relax, enjoy the day, enjoy the moment, and realize that BIG problems aren’t as big as they appear.

Disorder (uhh…Entropy)

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Chris

Entropy is the measure of energy in a closed system. When something has more energy, there is more disorder. Think of the molecules in a an ice cube versus that in water vapor. The molecules in the ice cube have less energy and they are all arranged nicely in a solid. Water vapor’s molecules, on the other hand, are warmer and are all over the place…disordered. So, scientifically (and in engineering, of course), the concept of entropy is used to measure the amount of disorder and energy in a system. In a closed system, entropy NEVER decreases. This is called the Second Law of Thermodynamics: “entropy of an isolated system never decreases, because isolated systems spontaneously evolve towards thermodynamic equilibrium — the state of maximum entropy [disorder].” (Thanks Wikipedia)

This is a scientific law, but it necessarily has had philosophical implications. Many, regardless of whether or not they have a scientific background, have referred to entropy to explain why things are the way they are. Everything naturally flows towards more disorder; if left alone, things will become disorderly. So accordingly, something must tidy it up. At the worldly level, it must be man. At the cosmic level, it must be the divine. For some, it proves the existence of God.

But I am straying from my original intent. I do think that the Second Law of Thermodynamics can have philosophical implications. That is, it can give us some perspective on life in general. At this point however, I would like to turn my thoughts away from what determines order or disorder, and limit the discussion to the fact that there simply is disorder in our system. In other words, since the tendency in a system is toward disorder, then there will definitely be disorder in your life.

This flows nicely into the Stoic triad of control, fate, and impermanence. If my life is orderly and just so right now, then I better enjoy it while it lasts. Something will upset this order, because it is the natural way of things. I cannot control most of it; it will happen as it is fate; and things that are so now, will not be so later…they are impermanent.

If your life is in disarray now, if it is messy, then maybe you should consider yourself lucky: it is the natural way of things and you are in harmony with nature. I know, that may be a sick joke, but in humor there is truth, no? Seriously though, you can take heart in the fact that this is just the way things are. Hopefully, you have already prepared for this state with your reflections on reality.

Which brings me to our place in a world of disorder. If there is much I cannot control, this means that there ARE things I can. I need to concentrate on those things I can control: my mental outlook, reactions to the insults, tragedies and attacks that come my way, not to mention my ability to reduce the chaos as much as possible for those around me. I can reduce the entropy in my world. I would definitely concentrate on the “world” inside my head, then limit my efforts to anything around me within a stone’s throw (or soccer ball’s kick, if you will), but that’s just me.

Remember, that entropy/disorder increases in a completely closed system. Since our own “system” is nothing even close to being closed, and we are surrounded by “systems” that are not closed, we can add order to each in our own way.

Just be mindful that the march toward disorder will continue, no matter what you do.

OK now, how about a quote from a Stoic giant. I think this one applies from Epictetus. Think of the onion and shellfish as the order in your life, and the ship as the reality of disorder: “Consider when, on a voyage, your ship is anchored; if you go on shore to get water you may along the way amuse yourself with picking up a shellfish, or an onion. However, your thoughts and continual attention ought to be bent towards the ship, waiting for the captain to call on board; you must then immediately leave all these things, otherwise you will be thrown into the ship, bound neck and feet like a sheep. So it is with life. If, instead of an onion or a shellfish, you are given a wife or child, that is fine. But if the captain calls, you must run to the ship, leaving them, and regarding none of them. But if you are old, never go far from the ship: lest, when you are called, you should be unable to come in time.”