Stoicism in practice

[Anonymous No.11856412]

How the fuck do I actually practice stoicism properly? I can only take so much abuse and shit from the world before I start reacting to it. Muh bois Epictetus and Marky Mark say that no matter what happens, you should be in control of your reactions even in the face of unfortunate circumstances. To those of you who practice it/are influenced by it, how much of it do you think is actually applicable in reality/how do you utilize it in your daily lives?

[Anonymous No.11856447]

>>11856412
Many are called, few are chosen. Just accept what you're given and work with it. You may not even reach a truly stoic or zen state, and that's fine. Just keep making progress and do the best you can ;)

[Anonymous No.11856683]

Stoicism is only a branch of virtue ethics, and the worst one. Read the republic and the nichomacean ethics and ignore stoicism.

[Anonymous No.11856765]

>>11856412
Not to brag but I'm pretty stoic. I willed myself through emotions that hindered me from my goals to a point that I mostly experience emotions in line with what I want to achieve.
I've found it to be completely dependent on actions. Start light by establishing specific goals for yourself daily and accomplishing them over anything else. Then give yourself respite and shitpost on /lit/ or whatever. Start increasing the amount of goals, create new habits, and start limiting your respites. Having a high level of testosterone also helps a lot, you need to start exercising and lifting (heavy compounds) at least 6 days a week (alternate full body compound workouts with cardio). It gives you a natural drive to go out and conquer, even immediately after waking up.
You should also read autobiographies of real life stoics, Schwarzenegger's autobiography Total Recall is actually a great and motivational read

[Anonymous No.11856773]

Concern yourself with things you actually have power to change.

[Anonymous No.11856785]

>>11856412
Stoicism is just a coping philosophy, pick something better.

[Anonymous No.11857452]

>>11856683
>>11856785
T.

[Anonymous No.11857472]

>>11856412
it is genetically determined how much stress you can cope with, hormonal profile plays a big role and early childhood experiences with negative stimuli. if you are mewling beta faggot who is trying to toughen up its going to take years of being a cuck taking the world’s cum on your chin before you learn to not react to being a cuck object for the world’s amusement.

[Anonymous No.11857529]

>>11857472

[Anonymous No.11857546]

>>11856412
WHEN WILL MARKY MARK GET SHUNNED.

[Anonymous No.11857554]

>>11856412
Start by accepting your own death, and realizing that anxiety or depression is utterly useless.

[Anonymous No.11857571]

>>11857554
Just because you realize something is useless doesn’t mean you can stop it or exercise complete control over it.

[Anonymous No.11857656]

>>11856412
Stoicism is easier said than done. This is why you have buddhism.

[Anonymous No.11857682]

>>11857656
Did Marcus, Seneca or Epictetus manage to practice it properly? It seems humanly impossible to do it as described. Like if you’re getting your leg sawed off how do you not react to that?

[Anonymous No.11857703]

>>11856412
I haven't read stoic literature but what you describe there is a 'mode' that I turn on when thigns are just too shit, or when things are high tension- like being arrested or someone trying to rob you.

It's not really stoicism for me it's just 'it doesn't actually really matter' and it is an instinctive thing, I am not thinking that verbally.

It allows me to act very calmly in crisis times, or when my life is falling apart.

[Anonymous No.11857717]

Stop caring about things you can't change.

Reduce the noise in your life to an absolute minimum.

[Anonymous No.11857883]

>>11857703
Yeah it’s a somewhat simple and intuitive philosophy. Many people stumble upon parts of it themselves like you.

[Anonymous No.11857972]

>>11857682
I think they'd react to it, the difference is how they'd deal with it.
I know Marcus talks about pain and says to realize that it is endurable and not everlasting. If his leg was sawed off obviously he'd react to it, but his mental recovery from it would likely be very strong

(also is it taking anyone else forever to solve the captchas? pissing me off, literally will not let me post sometimes)

[Anonymous No.11858038]

Take a look at *Stoicism and the Art of Happiness* by Robertson. It's a great auxiliary text to understand the work of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, etc.

[Anonymous No.11858074]

>>11857972
That makes more sense when you put it that way. Also yeah the captcha is fucking annoying, before you only had to solve one but now you have to solve like 12 of em and it still doesn't work.

[Anonymous No.11858108]

>>11856765
That’s actually a good idea on Arnold, the dude was an immigrant, became a famous bodybuilder, then a businessman, then an actor, even governor, he accomplished a lot of successes and just kept trying for more.

What other successful people wrote good autobiographies explaining their mindset?

[Anonymous No.11859478]

>>11856412
>Meditate naked in the cold
>Sleep on the floor
>Cold showers only
>Intermittent Fasting
>Occasional weekend long fasts
>Eat and drink only bread and water for a week
>Meditate daily on the fact that you're going to die
>Remind yourself constantly through the day that you can die this moment
>Meditate on the size of the universe and the insignificance of your problems

>No idling
>Directed attention towarda something, no mindless browsing

[ϟ · Z H K N D · ϟ !Ry9.23Wow. No.11859519]

STOICISM IS THE ETHOS OF RESIGNATION, AND OF FATALISTIC DILIGENCE —STOICISM IS THE ETHOS OF THE "SUPERFLUOUS MAN".

[Anonymous No.11859528]

How do I filter out all the tripfags?

[Anonymous No.11859550]

Will stoicism help me deal with depression and anxiety?

[Anonymous No.11859551]

>>11856447
If this was a post on reddit it would be a copypasta on lit

[Anonymous No.11859643]

>>11856412
Don't be too hard on yourself, because that will lead you to feel inadequate and lead to a negative loop that stoicism is precisely against. Instead try to hold yourself accountable, but in a detached way. Don't get too caught up in the ideals of stoicism, feel free to explore other perspectives too. I personally think stoicism shares a lot in common with eastern thinking (in practicality, maybe not in metaphysics). I've enjoyed texts on buddhism and taoism. Take baby steps, this is a life-long journey, it's better to be consistent rather than trying to take leaps and anguish over the speed of your personal "progress". >>11859478 has some practical points, expecially daily meditation on death, which I believe lies at the heart of many, if not all, life philosophies or religions. My old neurotic self still occasionally screams in my head because of this weird feeling of being at ease and "flow". Perhaps I've successfully lobotomized myself and officially become a brainlet, but it honestly feels pretty good. Dostoyevski said: "Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth." I used to think of this quote a lot. While I think it still holds true in some sense, I also feel that it is only half of the truth (and is a bit naive and self-masturbatory quote anyway). What I try to say is that much of the suffering is not actually real, but only imagined, I guess. I held on to the idea that my oh so great intelligence and philosophizing validates my extremely depressive way of thinking of the world, but stoicism etc. helped me to see through my own bullshit and cut it out. Now I'm rambling. Thanks for reading my blog. Persevere and the Way will open before you. Also The Inner Citadel by Hadot is a good supplementary reading to Meditations. Cheers.

[Anonymous No.11859748]

>>11857452
t. The Happy Helot

[Anonymous No.11859987]

>>11856412
You dumb cunt. You don't ignore things, you train your emotional regulation faculties and get good at revealing the nature of whatever bothers you, to see it is minor, completely empty, or at the least, manageable..

[Anonymous No.11860109]

>>11856412
Read Seneca instead

[Anonymous No.11860750]

This seems to right to ask.

I found this quote by Seneca:
“Can you no longer see a road to freedom? It’s right in front of you. You need only turn over your wrists”

It shows up quite often on the internet in relation to stoicism and suicide. But I can't find the actual source of this quote. Does someone know where it's from, or is it misattributed?

[Anonymous No.11860758]

You know how you sometimes laugh so hard you dont make any sound at all.

Imagine this but with rage. After a point you just cant manifest it anymore and you become apathetic. This is the closest you can get in terms of practising Stoicism in the real world.

[Anonymous No.11860786]

>>11856412
The trick is to pick wisely the things to care about. You should not invest strong emotions in things outside of your control. Once you realize that something is not in your control then it loses power over you. And if something turns out to be in your control, then you know the next step is to take action.

This is probably the most important lesson of applied stoicism in the day to day life. To identify the things in your control and those outside of it.

[Anonymous No.11860999]

>>11856412
>how much of it do you think is actually applicable in reality/how do you utilize it in your daily lives?
I use it all the time. I used to be controlled by agoraphobia and barely left my apartment for 3 years. Now I do what I want thanks to stoicism. Especially Epictetus helped me a lot.

[Anonymous No.11861207]

>stoicism

[Anonymous No.11861236]

>>11856785
Every philosophy is a coping mechanism you brainlet.

[Anonymous No.11861247]

>>11856412
If you truly want non-meme stoicism, get off the internet entirely
Much of 4chan culture in this day and age is based on getting people angry about shit

[Anonymous No.11861248]

>not being epicuro-schopenhaurian neghed pessimist antinatalist master race

[Anonymous No.11861260]

>>11861247
That actually makes 4chan the perfect place to practise apatheia. Avoiding triggers is more of an Epicurean approach, the Stoic seeks to become immune to them.

[Anonymous No.11862003]

>>11856412
dude just be natural haha

[Anonymous No.11862035]

Kierkegaard utterly and irreversibly BTFOd stoicism in the "Sickness unto death", by the way

[Anonymous No.11862065]

>>11862035
quick rundown?

[Anonymous No.11862137]

>>11862065
Stoic wants to attain a "self" starting with a thought, an abstraction, but a thought will ultimately remain just a thought. However far one goes in "bettering yourself" on this way, however much stoic virtues one display, it never transcends a realm of an experiment on yourself. Therefore instead of attaining a "self", one loses it in abstractions. And just as a thought gave birth to stoic virtues, a mere thought can undo all of this at any time. By the way, I'm a brainlet, so if you want to understand what I tried to say you better read the book.

[Anonymous No.11862430]

>>11856785
In practice it's a philosophy for cowards.

[Anonymous No.11862435]

>>11856412
Stoicism is for gay nerds.

[Anonymous No.11862509]

>>11862430
>>11862435
T.

[Anonymous No.11862523]

>>11862509
Your picrelated is the prime audience of modern brands of stoicism though. Those trying to follow Roman stoics do warrant respect at least.

[Anonymous No.11862620]

>>11856412
I think you need the innate temperament for it. I think only a select few can truly be as stoic as Aurelius would intend. The point is trying your best to attain this, even though its probably impossible for you. And anyways, being able to be that stoic means you can certainly reap the benefits of stoicism, but it also can suck out your ability to give a fuck about a lot of things because you're so un-phaseable. I'm that way and its both great and sucky at the same time

[Anonymous No.11862648]

>>11862523
>modern brands of stoicism
What the fuck are you talking about, everyone still reads the romans

[Anonymous No.11862651]

>>11862523
What do you consider modern brands of stoicism? This thread is about Seneca, Marcus And Epictetus so I don’t see why you’re bringing that up anyway.

[Anonymous No.11862664]

>>11862620
>but it also can suck out your ability to give a fuck about a lot of things because you're so un-phaseable
>T.
Stoicism isn’t about being cold and unphasable to everything lad. You need to reread everything if that’s what you gleamed from it.

[Anonymous No.11862698]

>>11860750
I could be wrong, but I think he was talking about this man who decided to commit suicide (maybe due to illness?). Pretty sure it's from Letters

Could be totally wrong though

[Anonymous No.11862701]

>>11862620
Yea? What about it sucks?

[Anonymous No.11862707]

>>11862698
yea I'm pretty sure they forced Seneca t slit his wrists.

[Anonymous No.11862727]

>>11862698
I found this in the Letters:

"[16.] You have often been cupped in order to relieve headaches. You have had veins cut for the purpose of reducing your weight. If you would pierce your heart, a gaping wound is not necessary – a lancet will open the way to that great freedom, and tranquillity can be purchased at the cost of a pin-prick." - Seneca, Moral letters to Lucilius, Letter 70

The meaning is similar, but it's too different to be just a matter of translation, right?

[Anonymous No.11862823]

>>11862727
Yeah sounds like the same message just a different translation

[Anonymous No.11862871]

>>11856412
http://tomvangelder.antrovista.com/control-of-will-140m42.html

Anyone here seen this? What do you think about it?

[Anonymous No.11862903]

>>11862701
Sometimes it can be good to be un-aescetic and outwardly impassioned. Don't get me wrong I still will willingly choose to practice stoicism to the best of my ability but its not right for everyone

[Anonymous No.11862913]

>>11862664
I'm saying that being unphasable and cold are traits that can exist in a person with a temperament that is actually suitable to be truly stoic instead of of somebody who isn't suited for it yet always trying and always failing

[Anonymous No.11862951]

Seneca explains real-world application of stoicism in letters from a stoic, i.e. don't need asceticism, just practice self-control and don't strive to be the best, just try to do better every day and not worry about things you can't change since it's futile.
It's in the first third of the book, come on now guys.

[Anonymous No.11863023]

>>11859478
>high GI carbs
not gonna make it

[Anonymous No.11863937]

>>11862137
>but a thought will ultimately remain just a thought

Kierkegaard was wrong because he wasn't able to know what neuroplasticity is. How do you think some types of monks achieve inhuman levels of control over their minds and bodies? Meditation,which when done correctly, over a relative period of time can rewire the brain immensely.

[Anonymous No.11863952]

>>11863937
how do i get more test?

[Anonymous No.11863978]

>>11863952
Stop masturbating

[Anonymous No.11863993]

>>11863978
How do I stop masturbating?

[Anonymous No.11864004]

>>11863952
I will not give a detailed explanation on this because I'm busy shitposting on other threads.
But read this book by Jay Campbell, the guy knows what he is talking about.
>The Testosterone Optimization Therapy Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Living a Fully Optimized Life
Also what this>>11863978
guy said, Nofap and Noporn truly work,whoever say otherwise is dishonest or failed.

[Anonymous No.11864009]

>>11863993
The same way you break any habit. Find something else to do and take it one day at a time.

[Anonymous No.11864076]

>>11863993
Don't expose yourself to any erotic material,delete all porn of your computer.
When in urge to rub one out take a cold shower and/or do high intensity physical trainning.
Nofap works really well,you can test this by going on a 90 to 120 days streak,you will change man. I've failed on my first streak at day 93, felt like shit for a week(your test returns to baseline levels at the 7th day) now I'm on 15 in nofap and feel alot better(confident,assertive,little to no anxiety,raging boners when I wake up etc...) than when I relapse. That was the way I confirmed this shit really works.

[Anonymous No.11864109]

>>11864004
what's the current nofap perspective on having frequent sex

[Anonymous No.11864173]

>>11864004
>>11863952
Sorry thats the wrong book.

>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27815209-the-definitive-testosterone-replacement-therapy-manual

This one is the correct,also by the same author, you can find it on libgen.

>>11864109
From my understanding having sex is one of the goals for doing nofap.
There's an actual connection with a human being in the act of sex and it makes a whole world of difference from just masturbating(which is essentially conditioning yourself to be a cuck). There's several threads about it on /fit/ everyday. SIG threads there are really good too.

[Anonymous No.11864181]

>>11864173
I live with my gf and our sex drives are good enough that I rarely have cause to fap, so I figure I may as well eliminate the convenience wanks that I pull off when she's asleep and see what happens. Only do that every few weeks anyhow.

[Anonymous No.11864214]

>>11864181
Masturbation causes in men "deathgrip",which means your dick will be alot less sensitive when you fuck a pussy,making sex less fun and in more extreme cases can even cause erectile dysfunction.
Also unironically read this book:
Sex God Method by Daniel Rose,it will improve your sex life by a ton,guaranteed.

[Anonymous No.11864227]

>>11856412
>diognes - "be persistent"
>read this
>close book
>be persistent
>read next book

[Anonymous No.11864233]

Too much stoicism is just tyrannizing over your mind. Instead focus on overcoming the shit that is impeding your ability to achieve what you will.

[Anonymous No.11864245]

>>11864233
>Too much stoicism is just tyrannizing over your mind

I wonder if people like you have ever read the stoics because I can't figure out what the hell this is supposed to mean. Not worrying about things you have no control over is tyrannizing your mind? It's nonsense.

[Anonymous No.11864254]

>>11864233
>Instead focus on overcoming the shit that is impeding your ability to achieve what you will.
Isn't that basically what stoicism is?
>If overcoming the roadblocks is something you can control -> go ahead and do it
>if the roadblocks are not something you can control -> bear it and don't let them negatively impact you

[Anonymous No.11864601]

>>11859528
No need for that,they're like woman,they feed on attention and become crazy without it. Just ignore and eventually they're gone.

[Anonymous No.11865210]

>>11864254
That's at least the 101. Different stoics have different views beyond that.

[Anonymous No.11865251]

Stoicism is CBT

[Anonymous No.11865297]

>>11865251
>tfw your shrink is a stoic and you’re an epicurean
>tfw you don’t want to leave the walled garden

[Anonymous No.11865343]

>>11856412
Getting older is the key. Stoicism is not a lifestyle for young men.

[Anonymous No.11865426]

just lobotomize your mind lmao

[Anonymous No.11866000]

>>11865297
>tfw your shrink is a j*w and just pretends to care about your problems and secretly is just milking you for cash as much as he cans while also prescribing pills that turn you into a braindead drone.

Psychiatry is the biggest meme of the medical field.

[Anonymous No.11866600]

>>11866000
>tfw eurofag so the shrink’s own income taxes pay for my neetbux and healthcare and lumpenproles live like kangz

[Anonymous No.11867403]

>>11866600
>Still wasting your time going to a shrink when autists on a papuan new guinean human stew howto forums can give you better practical advice without having to leave the confort of your home.

Go to /fit/ ,check SIG threads and help this sick,perverted bigpharma cunts die of starvation my dude.

[Anonymous No.11867506]

>>11856785
yous be da one coping coussss.

[Anonymous No.11867518]

>>11867403
the shrink visits are to keep up appearances with the state so i can keep getting bux desu. i don't do meds.

[Anonymous No.11867640]

>>11867518
That's cool man, fucking work for others sucks balls at this day and age,and starting your own business is nearly impossible to NEETs.This shitty western civilization needs to burn down to the ground and be rebuilt from it's rotten ashes. Keep NEETing and help the collapse advance faster man.

[Anonymous No.11867696]

>>11867640
>accelerationeetism

i like this idea

[Anonymous No.11867797]

>>11858108
>What other successful people wrote good autobiographies explaining their mindset?
Trump

[Anonymous No.11867812]

>>11867797
He didn’t write it tho

[Anonymous No.11867824]

>>11867812
It's still his experience though

[Anonymous No.11867828]

No need to thank me.

[Anonymous No.11867872]

Stoicism can only be reached by extreme suffering. Then you realise most is too trivial to worry about, even your wife cheating on you.

Stoicism is realising life is easy.

[Anonymous No.11867874]

>>11859478
None of this will do you shit until you stop mindlessly wasting 8+ hours a day on the internet

[Anonymous No.11868125]

>>11867874
>tfw my life is falling apart because I ignore all my responsibilities and spend 12 hours a day shitposting
How do I escape?