How To Stay Sane In An Insane World
[image error]Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic Roman emperor.
I watched a fine Youtube video on Stoicism (see below) the other day titled “How To Stay Sane In An Insane World (12 Stoic Practices That Actually Work)” It’s a bit long so I thought I’d summarize its main points.
Intro – It’s hard not to be infected by what’s happening around you—extremism, political dsyfunction, meanness, cruelty, misinformation, nonsense, etc. This has always been the case and the stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius reminded us not to lose our humanity and to remain calm in response.
#1 Hold On To Truth – When people think about propaganda they often think about top-down censorship where the government censurs what you can read and hear. But in the modern world autocrats overwhelm us with disinformation so that you become confused and disoriented about what’s true. In other words, it becomes hard to seperate the signal from the noise. In response you must maintain control of your own mind so as not to be controlled by the noise.
#2 – This Is Your Duty – At a time when the system is falling apart your job is not to let it infect you; don’t let crazy people make you crazy; don’t get sucked in, don’t let it break you. You can’t control the external world but you can control your response to it.
#3 They Are Who They Are – When you encounter bad people remember they probably won’t change no matter what you do or say because that is who they are. You must accept that there will always be selfish, cruel, entitled, aggressive, stupid people. Try not to let such people make you frustrated or mad at the world. Instead, try not to be like them. And don’t waste your time trying to change them.
#4 Focus On What You Control – We have almost no control over the world which causes many people anxiety, fear, and worry. A good day is one where we disregard anxiety and fear. Don’t let it infect you.
#5 Keep An Even Keel – Be stead amidst the chaos. Marcus Aurelius says “To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.”
#6 Turn Off The News (Do This Instead) – Being an informed citizen is a good thing but you will go crazy if you follow every bit of breaking news. To remain sane turn off all the forces (social media) that are trying to make you insane. Instead read an old book dealing withe timeless themes from which you can learn about yourself and human nature rather than engaging all the fleeting, ephemeral noise scrolling across our screens. Reading substantive books about history, philosophy, biography, or science that deal with timeless themes tells you much more about what’s happening than the latest “news.”
#7 Ask Yourself This Question – Is a world without dishonest or annoying people possible? No. So when your meet someone like that don’t be surprised. And don’t be surprised that you’re stuck in traffic or your plane is delayed or someone doesn’t like you. All these things will happen.
#8 Choose Not To Be Harmed – Bad things will happen. But such things only harm you if they change who you are, if they change your character. Remember, things only harm you if they harm your character.
#9 See The Opportunity – All the jerks we meet in life provide the opportunity to practice virtues such as courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom. In response to such people we can be patient, creative, kind, etc.
#10 Don’t Follow The Mob – It’s demoralizing to live in a world where the worst people are rewarded for being who they are. It makes you wonder it you should be like that. No. The Stoics tell us to maintain our cognitive and ethical virtue because that’s a better way to live. You wouldn’t actually want to be like those who seek only power and money because that’s a hellish way of life. You might want some of the things they have you wouldn’t want to be them.
#11 Don’t Let It Stop You – Your worry and fears about all the bad things happening or that will happen don’t stop you from acting with courage and wisdom and justice. The world you live in isn’t fair or good or just but it still provides the opportunity for you to act with virtue.
#12 Have Fewer Opinions – You don’t have to have an opinion about everything. You can just try to see the world as objectively as possible. Don’t add opinions or judgments about things. This leads to peace and wisdom and to doing what need to do—our duty.
On Writing This Post – Given that you can watch the video below causes me to wonder why I go through the video and its transcript slowly and then physically type my summary. One reason is habit. For many years as a college professor I would hand out summaries of assigned readings after giving students reading quizzes on the material.
The other reason I have for doing the actual reading and typing is that it helps me absorb the material. The process of actively writing better impacts the old brain than simply passsively watching the video. So doing this is as much for me as for my readers. Naturally one can ask what is the point of trying to really understand the video or the point of learning anything at all. A big question I’ll ignore for now. You learn early on in philosophy that the answer to any why question leads to another why question.
Here’s the full video.
