Stoicism as a recipe for a happy life and for dealing with suicidal depression.
Blog post: A New/Old Strategy for Decision-Making (saved to scrapbook)
https://www.garynort...com/public/16735.cfm__________________________________________________
Interesting and potentially very useful/helpful post. Links to this video:
Video: TED Talks - Tim Ferriss (13:21min.)
WHY YOU SHOULD DEFINE YOUR FEARS INSTEAD OF YOUR GOALS
https://embed.ted.co...stead_of_your_goals#In the low (acute depression) point in a bi-polar swing (he suffers from BPD), Tim Ferriss was at the point of self-destruction (suicide).
What saved him was a recipe he developed to help avoid self-destruction (and self-paralysis).
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stoicism /"st@UIsIz(@)m/
· n.
1 stoical behaviour.
2 (Stoicism) an ancient Greek school of philosophy which taught that it is wise to remain indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.
Concise Oxford Dictionary (10th Ed.)
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Research notes:
The Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno_of_Citium>
(Not to be confused with Zeno of Elea.)
Born c. 334 BC in Citium, Cyprus
Died c. 262 BC in Athens.
Era Ancient philosophy
Region: Western philosophy
School: Stoicism
Main interests: Logic, Physics, Ethics
Notable ideas: Founder of Stoicism
Influences[show]
Influenced[show]
Zeno of Citium (/'zi?no?/; Greek: ????? ? ??t?e??, Zenon ho Kitieus; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Hellenistic thinker[1] from Citium (??t???, Kition), Cyprus, and probably of Phoenician descent.[2] Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC. Based on the moral ideas of the Cynics, Stoicism laid great emphasis on goodness and peace of mind gained from living a life of Virtue in accordance with Nature. It proved very successful, and flourished as the dominant philosophy from the Hellenistic period through to the Roman era.
,,,
Zeno died around 262 BC.[a] Laërtius reports about his death:
As he was leaving the school he tripped and fell, breaking his toe. Striking the ground with his fist, he quoted the line from the Niobe:
"I come, I come, why dost thou call for me?"
and died on the spot through holding his breath.[24]
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Tim Ferriss video notes:
He bought a book on "simplicity", which held the quote:
@05:20 He gave the quote: "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality." - Seneca the younger.
Which led to" Prememdiatio malorum" (the pre-meditation of evils).
Which led him to develop :fear-setting".
@06:00 He describes "Fear-Setting" (Goal-setting, but for FEARS). [@10:20 He does it once a quarter-year.]
3-pages of analysis
Page 1: What if I ,,,? (list of fears causing procrastination of action steps)
Define: (the worst things/events you can imagine happening if you take that first step).
Prevent: (what could be done to prevent each fered event feared, or devrease its likelihood).
Repair: (if the worst-case scenarios eventuated, what could be done to repair the damage?Key: conside who are the likely people who have had to deal with such events and have useful experience of same and that you could learn from?)
Page 2: What might be the benefits of an attempt or partial success? (the upsides)
Page 3:
The Cost of Inaction (doing nothing).
(Emotionally, Physically, Financially, etc.)
6 months-------- 1 year -------- 3 years
If one avoids the action for these periods, then what might be the result - what might one's life look like after those periods?
@12:26 He gives the quote: "Easy choices - hard life. Hard choices - easy life." - Jerzy Gregorek's "mantra".
He also quotes JerzyG as saying: "He couldn't imagine a life more beautiful than that of a stoic.".
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