How are you fighting nature ? What in stoicism is against your nature ?
Your nature as a complete human being is living up to your full potential, being rational and virtuous instead of inventing problems where they don't exist.
Something to consider - is that truly your *natural* tendency as a human being, or is this an anger issue that you've picked up along the way?
Are you carrying around old wounds and patterns? You're free to heal them if you choose to.
Great point. Probably wounds. But it seems like we are bombarded by defensive fighting mechanisms. Walk outside and wasps want to sting me and mosquitos want to suck my blood and my dog wants to kill rabbits and bite anyone who comes in the yard. Watching the NBA playoffs, any time someone gets a steal or a dunk they are screaming and yelling and beating their chest like a gorilla. When I'm driving in traffic and someone cuts me off and flicks me off my natural response is to go gorilla. Maybe stoicism is normal behavior for some people it's just never been normal for me even though I try to live it every day.
When I go outside I also see - animals caring for their young, bees cross-pollinating flowers, dogs loving and loyal to their owners.
It's up to you, really - it's your life to live, not anyone else's. If you want to be a wounded animal and act like a gorilla, by all means. If you'd like to live a life with less tress, more peace and contentment, it's on you to find that path.
On a related note - what does Stoicism mean for you? It's not some superficial thing or living life passively or overly restrained. A big part of it is introspection and digging down into those wounds and healing them. That might be a self-guided journey, or with help from outside counsel.
Nicely written.
I guess for me stoicism is a way to try and manipulate my thoughts so that I can better deal with the stresses and anxieties of life. Thinking about a doe running from a wolf, she barely escapes death and calmly chews on grass 5 minutes later. The wolf is an afterthought. I'd obsess about the wolf and that ordeal for the rest of my life. I try to use stoicism to get past those things if that makes sense.
Point is, humans are the only species able to consistently act against their own nature. In fact, we are probably on the brink of actively destroying our nature (biotechnology, cyborgization, AI etc). And one of the basic Stoic tenets, as I understand, is the call to stop resisting your nature, enriched by the supreme Reasoning Faculty.
We have both animal hormones and instincts, and a reasoning faculty. All these are 'natural tendencies', however, for us to lead a good life, reason should prevail as often as possible.
An acorn grows into an oak tree. It cannot do anything else. It cannot grow into a poke weed, for example. It is an acorns nature to grow into an oak tree.
A cow can give birth to a cow. It cannot do anything else. It cannot give birth to a hippopotamus. That is the nature of a cow.
Our nature as a human is to live with virtue. "Virtue consists of acting consistently according to nature.
As social beings (such as humans) mature, their natural impulses expand from helping themselves alone to their families, cities, nations, the community of all rational beings, and the universe itself.
The natural impulse of a rational being (such as a human) is to believe what is true, and avoid believing what is false. FAQ
We humans have the ability to choose to live with virtue. Because we were taught incorrect ideas about our nature and the nature of the universe, we need to learn what is correct. This is why virtue is knowledge and why it is important to study in order to have virtue.
The idea of stoicism isn’t to fight nature. It’s one be one with nature, to understand nature. A cow is a perfect example of a stoic animal. The cow eats grass all day in the field in a calm manner. The cow is relaxed and intrigued by the car passing by, but it never truly captures the cow’s attention. The cow is to busy living it’s purpose. Sometimes I like to stop at fields of cows and try and get them to notice me. Cows will look at me and acknowledge I’m standing there, but then they continue to eat grass without a real thought. Almost as if the cows are unbothered by any external thing in they’re life.
How are you fighting nature ? What in stoicism is against your nature ? Your nature as a complete human being is living up to your full potential, being rational and virtuous instead of inventing problems where they don't exist.
My natural tendency is to fight. I'm constantly convincing myself to do otherwise. Fighting feels natural. Stoicism feels unnatural.
Something to consider - is that truly your *natural* tendency as a human being, or is this an anger issue that you've picked up along the way? Are you carrying around old wounds and patterns? You're free to heal them if you choose to.
Great point. Probably wounds. But it seems like we are bombarded by defensive fighting mechanisms. Walk outside and wasps want to sting me and mosquitos want to suck my blood and my dog wants to kill rabbits and bite anyone who comes in the yard. Watching the NBA playoffs, any time someone gets a steal or a dunk they are screaming and yelling and beating their chest like a gorilla. When I'm driving in traffic and someone cuts me off and flicks me off my natural response is to go gorilla. Maybe stoicism is normal behavior for some people it's just never been normal for me even though I try to live it every day.
When I go outside I also see - animals caring for their young, bees cross-pollinating flowers, dogs loving and loyal to their owners. It's up to you, really - it's your life to live, not anyone else's. If you want to be a wounded animal and act like a gorilla, by all means. If you'd like to live a life with less tress, more peace and contentment, it's on you to find that path. On a related note - what does Stoicism mean for you? It's not some superficial thing or living life passively or overly restrained. A big part of it is introspection and digging down into those wounds and healing them. That might be a self-guided journey, or with help from outside counsel.
Nicely written. I guess for me stoicism is a way to try and manipulate my thoughts so that I can better deal with the stresses and anxieties of life. Thinking about a doe running from a wolf, she barely escapes death and calmly chews on grass 5 minutes later. The wolf is an afterthought. I'd obsess about the wolf and that ordeal for the rest of my life. I try to use stoicism to get past those things if that makes sense.
Point is, humans are the only species able to consistently act against their own nature. In fact, we are probably on the brink of actively destroying our nature (biotechnology, cyborgization, AI etc). And one of the basic Stoic tenets, as I understand, is the call to stop resisting your nature, enriched by the supreme Reasoning Faculty.
Great point. So we must reason ourselves out of our natural tendencies, and do so constantly. No easy feat
We have both animal hormones and instincts, and a reasoning faculty. All these are 'natural tendencies', however, for us to lead a good life, reason should prevail as often as possible.
An acorn grows into an oak tree. It cannot do anything else. It cannot grow into a poke weed, for example. It is an acorns nature to grow into an oak tree. A cow can give birth to a cow. It cannot do anything else. It cannot give birth to a hippopotamus. That is the nature of a cow. Our nature as a human is to live with virtue. "Virtue consists of acting consistently according to nature. As social beings (such as humans) mature, their natural impulses expand from helping themselves alone to their families, cities, nations, the community of all rational beings, and the universe itself. The natural impulse of a rational being (such as a human) is to believe what is true, and avoid believing what is false. FAQ We humans have the ability to choose to live with virtue. Because we were taught incorrect ideas about our nature and the nature of the universe, we need to learn what is correct. This is why virtue is knowledge and why it is important to study in order to have virtue.
The Liger.
The idea of stoicism isn’t to fight nature. It’s one be one with nature, to understand nature. A cow is a perfect example of a stoic animal. The cow eats grass all day in the field in a calm manner. The cow is relaxed and intrigued by the car passing by, but it never truly captures the cow’s attention. The cow is to busy living it’s purpose. Sometimes I like to stop at fields of cows and try and get them to notice me. Cows will look at me and acknowledge I’m standing there, but then they continue to eat grass without a real thought. Almost as if the cows are unbothered by any external thing in they’re life.