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from Ashley Zhang: the longer I spent seeking answers on how to flourish, the more I recognized that the challenges we face are both systemic and philosophical. People cannot flourish if our institutions, structures, and beliefs are hostile to it — and yet, the onus is placed on individuals to resist pernicious incentives in order to craft a goo... See more

Pragmatic Strategy: Eastern Wisdom, Global Success

Zhichang Zhu

amazon.com

Cover of Pragmatic Strategy: Eastern Wisdom, Global Success

We can see here why many traditions are robust over decades or centuries, even if they really are arbitrary,

Richard H. Thaler • Nudge: The Final Edition

Epictetus’s 'Encheiridion': A New Translation and Guide to Stoic Ethics

Scott Aikin

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Cover of Epictetus’s 'Encheiridion': A New Translation and Guide to Stoic Ethics

My teachers in college and graduate school never asked me to read the Stoics, and although I am an avid reader, I saw no need to read them on my own. More generally, I saw no need to ponder a philosophy of life. I instead felt comfortable with what is, for almost everyone, the default philosophy of life: to spend one’s days seeking an interesting m

William B. Irvine • A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

From the Daoists to the neo-Confucians (xinxue) right up to the adherents of the syncretic Morality Society, the practices of self-cultivation have represented a turning back towards one’s original nature that was simultaneously a move towards the quiet and pure “nature of Heaven-and-Earth.” It was through this process that practitioners were able

Prasenjit Duara • The Crisis of Global Modernity: Asian Traditions and a Sustainable Future (Asian Connections)

I digress but the main point is simple: the drivers of social coherence, such as culture, governance, morality, law, shared stories, and shared values might as well be considered “technologies”. These stories, at least as much as our manipulations of fire, matter, and information, sustain our relationships with one another and with the planet. Thei... See more

Matt Prewitt • Secret Societies, Network States, Burning Man, Zuzalu, and More: Thoughts on New Political Communities

Future self-continuity may even operate at the group level, since cultures that value respect for elders tend to save more, while nations with longer histories tend to have cleaner environments.

Edge • Edge.org

They are not congenital Stoics, nor are they chronic malcontents. But although they might benefit from the practice of Stoicism, many of the individuals in this group see no need to give it—or, for that matter, any other philosophy of life—a try. They instead spend their days on evolutionary autopilot: They go around seeking the rewards their evolu