Stoicism Is Not Enough - The Map Is Mostly Water

I suspect this kind of stoicism — for Marcus and Wallace and some modern popularizers — is a response to perceiving the breakdown of a functioning world. Their prescription for dealing with such troubles is to develop profound internal strength, and in doing so the stoic attitude can dodge some societal-level failures by compartmentalizing toward a... See more

Our emotions and intuitions are not something to be set aside, they are among the best tools we have in determining what to work on in this world, how to live, and how to aim towards a better sense of belonging. Learning to tame your emotions through willpower is helpful, but your emotions themselves are still an asset. They are a tool to be cultiv... See more

This is not a simple philosophy to prescribe. It does not have the advantage of being straightforward, there is no umbrella of specifics or rules. But it is the opposite of stoicism: A philosophy of noticing the world and remaining open to it. It is the acknowledgement that ultimate goals lie beyond ourselves, in society and family, and in the worl... See more

Life can become terrible at any moment, you should equip yourself to be prepared for difficult situations. Almost everyone could use more personal responsibility and personal strength. And nobody disagrees that a certain level of emotional continence is desirable. But stoicism is not a sufficient philosophy for a good life, only a survivable one.

We should encourage ourselves to ponder problems beyond the scope of one person. We should be thinking of not only what we lack, but what our society lacks, and how we can build those things.

A world with failing institutions may be survivable by the strong-willed, but a better world will always be one where strong institutions exist.