If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness)
This week’s book:
Discourses and Selected Writings
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
Epictetus was born a slave around 50 ad. His owner was Epaphroditus, a rich freedman who was once a slave of Nero. Though he was a slave Epictetus was sent to study philosophy under Musonius Rufus.
Epictetus was lame and there are some stories it was caused by his master and others that it was caused by disease.
He was a freedman when all philosophers were banished from Rome in 89 by the Emperor Domitian. He then started his school in Greece, and had many students. He did not leave any writings from his lessons, but one of his students, Flavius Arrian, took notes and wrote the Discourses.
Epictetus did not marry, had no children, and lived to be around 80-85. In retirement, he adopted a child that would have been abandoned and raised him with a woman.
He died sometime around AD 135.
He might be my favorite Stoic teacher. I love his bare bones and very straight forward approach.
Following is a paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of one of his lessons. Epictetus’s text appears in bold, my replies are in normal text.
That we ought not to be angry with men; and what are the little things and the great among men?
What is the reason that we assent to anything? The fact that it appears to us to be so. It is impossible, therefore, to assent to the thing that appears not to be so. Why? Because this is the nature of the intellect—to agree to what is true, to be dissatisfied with what is false, and to withhold judgement regarding what is uncertain. What is the proof of this? “Feel, if you can, that it is now night.” That is impossible. “Put away the feeling that it is day.” That is impossible. “Either feel or put away the feeling that the stars are even in number.” That is impossible. When, therefore, a man assents to a falsehood, rest assured that it was not his wish to assent to it as false; “for every soul is unwillingly deprived of the truth,” as Plato says[1];
We only agree with things that seem to us to be true. Everyone believes that they are correct and cannot be easily convinced otherwise. While it is very difficult to make a man agree with something he knows is wrong, he can be fooled into it.
5it only seemed to him that the false was true. Well now, in the sphere of actions what have we corresponding to the true and the false here in the sphere of perceptions? Duty and what is contrary to duty, the profitable and the unprofitable, that which is appropriate to me and that which is not appropriate to me, and whatever is similar to these. “Cannot a man, then, think that something is profitable to him, and yet not choose it?” He cannot. How of her who says.
Now, now, I learn what horrors I intend:
But passion overmastereth sober thought?[2]
It is because the very gratification of her passion and the taking of vengeance on her husband she regards as more profitable than the saving of her children. “Yes, but she is deceived.” Show her clearly that she is deceived, and she will not do it; but so long as you do not show it, what else has she to follow but that which appears to her to be true? Nothing. Why, then, are you angry with her, because the poor woman has gone astray in the greatest matters, and has been transformed from a human being into a viper? Why do you not, if anything, rather pity her? As we pity the blind and the halt, why do we not pity those who have been made blind and halt in their governing faculties?
It is easy to be angry with those of us who are not just wrong on important issues, but willfully ignorant of the truth. The woman quoted above is from an ancient play where she resolves to kill her children as revenge on her husband for his betrayal. She believes it is more important to punish him than to live in exile with the kids. While I understand she is overcome with emotion, I have trouble with not being angry at the type of person that would do this. I can feel a little pity for them, but not as much as anger, even knowing the anger accomplishes nothing.
10Whoever, then, bears this clearly in mind, that the measure of man’s every action is the impression of his senses (now this impression may be formed rightly or wrongly; if rightly, the man is blameless; if wrongly, the man himself pays the penalty; for it is impossible that the man who has gone astray, is one person, while the man who suffers is another[3]),—whoever remembers this, I say, will not be enraged at anyone, will not be angry with anyone, will not revile anyone, will not blame, nor hate, nor take offence at anyone.
Anger at other’s people actions and decisions is an exercise in frustration. I have seen many real crime shows where a family member of the victim is very proud of the fact they went to confront the killer at the sentencing phase of the trial. As they angrily or tearfully recount how much they lost, the killer sits there and looks bored. To me, that seems to be a waste of time. I don’t think I would even attend the trial, unless I had questions about the person’s guilt. I think I would have a hard time not being angry, it just wouldn’t be worth my time to talk to the perpetrator.
So you conclude that such great and terrible things have their origin in this—the impression of one’s senses? In this and nothing else. The Iliad is nothing but a sense-impression and a poet’s use of sense-impressions. There came to Alexander an impression to carry off the wife of Menelaus, and an impression came to Helen to follow him. Now if an impression had led Menelaus to feel that it was a gain to be deprived of such a wife, what would have happened?
I wonder how many giant events have turned on simple choices like that?
We should have lost not merely the Iliad, but the Odyssey as well.—Then do matters of such great import depend upon one that is so small:—But what do you mean by “matters of such great import”? Wars and factions and deaths of many men and destructions of cities? And what is there great in all this?—What, nothing great in this?15—Why, what is there great in the death of many oxen and many sheep and the burning and destruction of many nests of swallows or storks?—Is there any similarity between this and that?—A great similarity. Men’s bodies perished in the one case, and bodies of oxen and sheep in the other. Petty dwellings of men were burned, and so were nests of storks. What is there great or dreadful about that? Or else show me in what respect a man’s house and a stork’s nest differ as a place of habitation.—Is there any similarity between a stork and a man?—What is that you say? As far as the body is concerned, a great similarity; except that the petty houses of men are made of beams and tiles and bricks, but the nest of a stork is made of sticks and clay.
Does a man, then, differ in no wise from a stork?—Far from it; but in these matters he does not differ.—In what wise, then, does he differ?20—Seek and you will find that he differs in some other respect. See whether it be not in his understanding what he does, see whether it be not in his capacity for social action, in his faithfulness, his self-respect, his steadfastness, his security from error, his intelligence. Where, then, is the great evil and the great good among men? Just where the difference is; and if that element wherein the difference lies be preserved and stands firm and well fortified on every side, and neither his self-respect, nor his faithfulness, nor his intelligence be destroyed, then the man also is preserved; but if any of these qualities be destroyed or taken by storm, then the man also is destroyed. And it is in this sphere that the great things are.
The main thing that differentiates us from the animals is our reasoned choice. As long as we use this to the best of our ability, we can achieve greatness. If we don’t then we will probably end up stressed out over things that we can’t affect in any way.
Did Alexander come to his great fall when the Hellenes assailed Troy with their ships, and when they were devastating the land, and when his brothers were dying? Not at all; for no one comes to his fall because of another’s deed; but what went on then was merely the destruction of storks’ nests. Nay, he came to his fall when he lost his self-respect, his faithfulness, his respect for the laws of hospitality, his decency of behaviour. When did Achilles come to his fall? When Patroclus died? Far from it; but when Achilles himself was enraged, when he was crying about a paltry damsel, when he forgot that he was there, not to get sweethearts, but to make war.
We cannot be brought low by the actions of others unless we decide to let them. Once we give the power of our choices to things we can’t control then we are powerless to control our emotions and choices.
25These are the falls that come to mankind, this is the siege of their city, this is the razing of it—when their correct judgements are torn down, when these are destroyed.—Then when women are driven off into captivity, and children are enslaved, and when the men themselves are slaughtered, are not all these things evils?—Where do you get the justification for adding this opinion? Let me know also.—No, on the contrary, do you let me know where you get the justification for saying that they are not evils?—Let us turn to our standards, produce your preconceptions.
All of the things he lists as a consequence of war sounds evil to me. Adding that judgement makes it more difficult to make rational decisions, but it is hard to see another way to look at them. A true Stoic would merely say that that outcome is not preferred. While dealing with the aftermath of any of these scenarios anger would not help but would be very difficult to avoid.
For this is why I cannot be sufficiently astonished at what men do. In a case where we wish to judge of weights, we do not judge at haphazard; where we wish to judge what is straight and what is crooked, we do not judge at haphazard; in short, where it makes any difference to us to know the truth in the case, no one of us will do anything at haphazard.
Where there is an objective standard, it is easy to identify what is correct and what is wrong.
30Yet where there is involved the first and only cause of acting aright or erring, of prosperity or adversity, of failure or success, there alone are we haphazard and headlong. There I have nothing like a balance, there nothing like a standard, but some sense-impression comes and immediately I go and act upon it.
When there is no standard, everyone has to make their own decisions. Some people control their decision making better than others.
What, am I any better than Agamemnon or Achilles—are they because of following the impressions of their senses to do and suffer such evils, while I am to be satisfied with the impression of my senses?And what tragedy has any other source than this? What is the Atreus of Euripides? His sense-impression. The Oedipus of Sophocles? His sense-impression. The Phoenix? His sense-impression. The Hippolytus? His sense-impression. What kind of a man, then, do do you think he is who pays no attention to this matter[4]? What are those men called who follow every impression of their senses?—Madmen.—Are we, then, acting differently?
When we let emotion overrule our reason, then we have decided to justify our actions by saying things like:”but I was upset” or “I know I shouldn’t have done that, but…”. I strive to not let emotion do that to me. I still fail sometimes, and anger is still my number one weakness when it comes to these situations. I continue to be mindful of the times I fail, and this has helped me to be able to control it better. I also look out for situations that used to consistently make me angry and if I am aware of the potential before it starts, I can stay one step ahead of my emotions.
Music this week is from Iron Maiden’s 5th album Powerslave.
This was their first huge album and has some real bangers on it, but a lot of not so good ones as well IMO.
It starts strong with Aces High.
Powerslave – a little weird, but an excellent song.
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner– Probably my 2nd favorite song from them.
Went to the five and dime today and picked up a couple of new grandkids. It is what it is. I guess that counts as stoicism.
I don’t know what’s more surprising, that five and dime still exists, or that they sell new grandkids.
I could use some grandkids, how much are they going for now?
Depends. Six bits each from the odds and ends bin.
Okay, this is off-topic, but no one’s talking philosophy for the past three-quarters of an hour, so I’ll ask.
For the word Cist, how do people pronounce it? I’ve heard it both as like “Kissed” and like “Cyst”.
Merriam-Webster says yes
cist noun
ˈsist ˈkist
: a neolithic or Bronze Age burial chamber typically lined with stone
So why do both sound wrong?
Do you want to pronounce it schist?
Always pronounced it with a “s”, like “cistern”, which has the same root.
Everybody makes up pronouns and pronunciations these days. I say we pronounce it as “shist” and picket Merriam-Webster until they give in to our demands.
No, clearly it’s a latin G and we must pronounce it Gist and deny those who want to pronounct it Jist!
I vote chisht. Somebody forgot the hacheks.
I am joining the “Gist Liberation Front of Merriam – Webster.” Anybody with me?
GLFoM-W?
Needs work.
Every cyst begins with K.
Is it valentines already?
No, but apparently tomorrow is “Sweetest Day.” 🙄
Democratic senators introduce bill establishing Supreme Court term limits
The legislation would appoint a new Supreme Court justice every two years, with that justice hearing every case for 18 years before stepping back from the bench and only hearing a “small number of constitutionally required cases.”
Only the nine most recently appointed justices would hear appellate cases, which make up a bulk of the court’s work. All living justices would participate in a smaller subset of cases under the court’s “original jurisdiction,” such as disputes between states or with foreign officials.
Alito argued earlier this year that Congress does not have the authority to force any reform on the court without a constitutional amendment. “I know this is a controversial view, but I’m willing to say it,” Alito told The Wall Street Journal. “No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period.”
So what happens when the existing Supreme Court rules the new law to be unconstitutional?
I think we’d much rather see this headline:
“Democratic senators introduce bill establishing Democratic senator term limits”
Indeed. They need to keep their grubby hands off the court.
I’m pretty sure the media will portray the Supreme Court’s ruling as a threat to Our Democracy, but Alito is right.
I think it’s way beyond what the media says.
Say the law passes. No one has standing to sue until Congress sends a new Justice to SCOTUS. Does SCOTUS reject the new Justice? Does someone get to file a law suit? For what reason? Does a legal schism happen that breaks the country?
The size ofthe court is only legislated, so they can keep sending new justices.
What they can’t do is make the existing justices with lifetime appointments step back.
The size ofthe court is only legislated,
Thanks, forgot about that.
So, they can make the court 10 justices. Then wait two years to get to 11, then two more years to get to 12, and then finally two more years to get to 13 (slow motion court packing).
That spans two presidential cycles.
The legislation can’t change that the president has to nominate this new justice every 2 years. Congress doesn’t get to nominate and then approve judges.
In all seriousness, they would need to amend the constitution, as that is what spells out the terms of judges. They already lost the public on stacking SCOTUS and this is a loser too.
So no power of the purse, scotus can spend whatever they want and all employees are completely not subject to any federal work rules or regulations? Hell, scotus can enact new laws because they are unlimited and unchecked by any other branch?
Alito once again impresses me as a retard.
See whether it be not in his understanding what he does, see whether it be not in his capacity for social action, in his faithfulness, his self-respect, his steadfastness, his security from error, his intelligence. Where, then, is the great evil and the great good among men? Just where the difference is; and if that element wherein the difference lies be preserved and stands firm and well fortified on every side, and neither his self-respect, nor his faithfulness, nor his intelligence be destroyed, then the man also is preserved; but if any of these qualities be destroyed or taken by storm, then the man also is destroyed. And it is in this sphere that the great things are.
Nice summation, but a tall order. I’m still too much of a materialist.
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner– Probably my 2nd favorite song from them.
It’s a great song. And from the comments:
Truth.
XY got his wisdom teeth out yesterday. Based on how he reacted after waking up from general anesthesia when his nose was reset, I was expecting howling at the oral surgeon’s office. But no. He waited until he was home and the novocaine wore off. Oh the weeping and wailing. There was no gnashing of teeth because that hurt too much, I suppose. In short, he was not stoic. He doesn’t remember a thing.
Better to get it done now than when you are well into your fifties.
They’ve been bothering him for a long time. He was happy it was going to get done. But when the stuff wore off, oh boy. He said he’d rather not have had it done.
TODAY, he’s just fine. He doesn’t remember most of yesterday.
I came out of my neck fusion surgery and wept disconsolately for 10 minutes. I barely remember, but my wife and the doc said it happens sometimes.
From what I understand there are two factors that could be at play. First is that you are suddenly in a lot more pain. Second is that some medications don’t actually get rid of the neurotransmitter, but block its uptake for a time, and when it wears off you’ll get hit with a lot of pain signals all at once. If I recall correctly, the biggest benefit of opiods is that they actually remove the pain signals and don’t cause that buildup issue. So it depends on what you were medicated with and how painful that particular slicing open of your flesh was.
Of course, I could be completely off the mark, since this is half-remembered details from years ago.
It made me horribly groggy each time I am sedated, I did not wake up well and my blood pressure did not recover quickly. I dislike it intensely. My wisdom teeth were botched and I coughed up a ton of blood an hour later, wife was horrified.
Son was squalling about all the blood (but he does that about what he considers copious amounts of blood). I’m like, what, you didn’t expect blood? You’re fine. Chomp down on that gauze, dude.
When I had my rotator cuff repaired, they do something called a suprascapular nerve block before the procedure. It lasts through the surgery and several hours after that. But your arm is completely numb and you can’t move it because it’s so heavy and your proprioception of it is gone. Think about your mouth when it’s full of novocaine and then apply that to your arm. Freaking freaky, is what. Anyway, when that wears off—yowza.
I seem to recall that at least one type of anesthetic doesn’t prevent the pain, but blocks the memories of the pain from forming. So you experience it, but don’t remember it.
That sounds evil.
Don’t mess with my memories. I was freaked out enough by not even recalling ever being under, just having the time disappear and asking “so, are we done?”
Yeah, that time distortion thing takes some getting used to. The first time it happened to me was MY wisdom teeth. “Okay, count down from 100.” “…99…” Last thing I remember before waking up.
You wept because they told you some really good puns.
Well, laughter *is* supposed to be the best medicine.
*narrows gaze*
The first thing I remember when waking up from having my wisdom teeth pulled, was the dentist saying “No, not that one.”
Apparently with my wisdom teeth, after the anesthesia wore off, I was hitting on the nurse (who was about 6’2” with a very short haircut) pretty hard…
Powerslave is about the ravings of a pharaoh on his deathbed. Quite appropriate, given the current president. Well picked.
I enjoyed that whole album.
This was also on the album.
Iron Maiden / Aces High [Cover by NEMOPHILA]
Love the cross generational and cross the world appeal.
Nemophila is great stuff.
They just always look like they are having a genuine good time.
OT:
How is it that the button to read articles on this site doesn’t say “Would You Like to Learn More?”
More OT from way dead thread:
The worst commercials on TV are made by that sweathog doctor with the cellphone camera selling the anti-swampass lotion.
1. This is Glibs, we are lucky it doesn’t just say “F Off Slaver”
2. I know nothing of this commercial. Must be local? Link?
Re: the button – who has such a button. It’s not a universal website convention in my experience.
Re: the commercials – Agree vehemently! No, I do NOT respond positively to TV ads that look like amateurish TikTok cell phone videos, especially ones saying “Rub this on your ass so it won’t stink!”
People living in a satirical fascist state?
My favorite adds are the ones that are timed with supper showing cartoonish illustrations of the unblocking of turd dams in intestines then snaking their way out. Yep, that is what I like to see right before I eat, other people’s shit.
There are a number of ads in that genre. Menstrual items, sucking out blackheads and zits, nail fungus’, etc. etc. I dont want to think about other people’s bodily functions or gross conditions. They dont need TV ads FFS. They are things we all need. If we have questions we can ask our docs or pharmacists.
You realize there’s whole shows that people watch about those very topics?
And people say I’m sick for enjoying B horror films.
“Yep, that is what I like to see right before I eat, other people’s shit.”
I didn’t know you were German.
Reading this and remaining Stoic is quite difficult.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/1000-days-without-trial-jan-6-prisoner-shares-his-story-endurance-perseverance-and-hope
Out of the goodness of his heart
Bankman-Fried said in an interview last year that he gave what he called “dark” contributions because he didn’t want the public to know that he was giving money to Republican-leaning organizations. While Bankman-Fried quietly funded more conservative dark money groups behind the scenes, he publicly cultivated a profile that was clearly aligned with the Democratic Party.
Separately, Bankman-Fried registered over $36 million in donations to Democratic campaigns and outside groups that disclose the names of their donors during the 2022 cycle, according to data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. He was a vocal and major financial supporter of charities promoting the concept of effective altruism, which argues people should work and use their money to better the world.
Just making the world a better place. Biden should pardon him and give him a medal.
Poorly written, as usual. You finally get to the point that the people who want to quit are more pro-Palestinian and are angry that Biden is not trying to get Israel to show restraint. Good, quit already. This less employees at the federal level, the better.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-gaza_n_6531a23ae4b0da897ab75ce4
fewer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3y0CD2CoCs
Yeah, given the track record of the State Department, I won’t be all broken up if most of them leave.
Wobbly
Solar stocks tumbled on Friday after solar product manufacturer Solaredge warned that demand in Europe has significantly weakened, furthering battering sentiment on the renewable energy sector amid a difficult year.
The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN tumbled 6.57% Friday and was last trading at $44.18, putting it at its lowest level since July 2020. Stocks in the solar sector fell broadly on the pessimistic outlook. Sunrun and Sunnova were down 5.7% and 8.9%, respectively, while Enphase Energy shed nearly 15%.
Solaredge tumbled 28.2% Friday after it said revenue, gross margins and operating income in the third-quarter would be below what Wall Street was expecting, and added that it estimates “significantly lower” revenue in the fourth-quarter. CEO Zvi Lando cited “substantial unexpected cancellations and pushouts” of existing backlogs from the company’s European distributors due to high inventories and slow installation rates.
Needs a few billion more subsidies.
Same old scam. How many phony baloney green companies did Obama shovel money to…companies started 5 minutes after that shitstain was elected by his cronies and supporters?
“I slept with 300 people in a year — haters say I’m ‘disgusting’ but I feel empowered”
https://nypost.com/2023/10/17/i-slept-with-300-people-in-a-year-haters-say-im-disgusting-but-i-feel-empowered?
Nice body but her head’s too small.
Playing Venerial Disease Pokemon – gotta catch em all?
Labor enacted…
Is it maybe the long neck?
I have no interests in other people’s sex lives. Leave kids alone, dont force anyone and play around to your heart’s content. It is none of my business and I am not qualified to judge anyone.
I will note this: I wrote a paper back in the mid-nineties on the relationship between pathogens and hosts…damn that was a long time ago. What stuck with me the most is that nearly 100% of nursing home residents have some sort of venereal disease. Jokes aside my theory (over all) was and still is that many conditions and diseases are caused by pathogens. Those conditions and diseases are currently mis-attributed to being inherent or metabolic mistakes. Yet the nursing home cases indicate that perhaps we are exposed to bazillions of pathogens throughout our lives but the majority of them are suppressed until we get old and our immune systems weaken. Two good examples being herpes and warts…viruses that are very nearly universal yet few of us show symptoms until our latter years.
If she is playing VD bingo I assure you all, she is winning.
“We cannot be brought low by the actions of others unless we decide to let them. Once we give the power of our choices to things we can’t control then we are powerless to control our emotions and choices.”
Seems the entire job of media organizations is to try to take power over our choices.
I slept with 300 people in a year
Did she take Tuesdays off?
65 days she didn’t sleep with someone. Divided by 12 is 5 and 1/2 days per month. So, I presume she took a break each month for her menstrual cycle.
You’re assuming she didn’t sleep with multiple people per day.
Hey, Glibs: Milfoni is single now.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67168294
Question for the commentariat;
I have a young fellow here at the house that runs his own window cleaning business. I will tip his three employees but my understand has been that one does not tip the owner. Has that custom changed?
I lean towards tipping everyone. That way I don’t have to remember all the social rules.
Sounds fair. The $20 should erase any faux pas on my part.
Give them an easily divisible amount for (tomorrow’s?) lunch?
This is the best advice.
I gave them $20 each for “beer” (including the owner).
I’ve known this guy for years. He introduced D3 to her now-husband. His window cleaning business has grown to where he now has 3 employees and works all over the state. Self-made success story.
I tip everyone that showed up and did good work. I didn’t tip the tree removal guy because it took him 3 weeks to show up after his promise/hand shake. After he was finished I had to pull the remainder of the tree down with a tractor. His price was high (I did agree).
I tipped the chimney repair guys, the helper came back with a big smile and thank you. I tipped my neighbor that did the roof repair from the damage caused by the chimney coming down, he didn’t want to take it but he made a couple trips to Home Depot, time is valuable. Tip in cash.