Stoicism: Modern Day Application

By Tyler Martin (H03)

Whether the reader of this blogpost likes it or dislikes it is not of my concern because it is out of

my control. This is a Stoic belief. Stoicism is an ancient way of thinking that is growing

in popularity in today’s society. As once said though, Carl Sagan “You have to know the past to

understand the present.”

The word Stoicism derives from the latin word stoa poikilê, meaning Painted Porch. This

“Painted Porch” at the Agora at Athens was the birthplace of Stoicism. There students

gathered, shared ideas, and eventually created Stoicism. They gained inspiration from

the Cynics.They both understand and recognize that virtue is the only good. To achieve virtue

through Stoicism, one must follow these principles: seek wisdom, act justly to others,

overcome your fears, and master self-discipline. When people think of Stoicism,

they tend to think of self-control and not letting factors you can not control affect you.

One of the people who popularized this way of thinking was Epictetus.

Epictetus was a Turkish philosopher who was born into slavery. He is well known for

his book the Discourses of Epictetus. Epictetus preached that we can not control

what happens to us as people, but we can control the way we react to those things.

In his book he writes, “I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains.

Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from

going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment? …. But my will not even

Zeus himself can overpower.” This idea is the basis of modern Stoicism the

way it is practiced today. 

Stoicism is becoming increasingly popular in today’s world. It is becoming so

popular that even the biggest one person content creator on YouTube,

Pewdiepie, made a video about Stoicismand why he practices it. Personally I think that people having to deal with the

difficulty of a worldwide pandemic might be part of the reason. People are

learning to not let things out of their control (like a new Omicron variant)

affect their mental state. There is a quote I like that I feel like fits this

situation. G. Michael Hopf in his novel, The Warriors writes,

(modified slightly for reasons relating to the inclusion and equality

of genders) “Hard times create strong human beings, strong human

beings create good times, good times create weak human beings, and weak

human beings create hard times.” I feel that since Covid has happened people

are becoming stronger due to a Stoic mindset, so hopefully that should mean we

have good times ahead. The mental state of these new Stoics are improving

because they are not letting modern day media get to them. In Pewdiepie's

video, he says, “If you imagine an angry face, it’s rarely a pretty one. However,

it's an emotion that's often displayed in media… We even enjoy seeing anger

if it’s justified [in the form of revenge]” He addresses this as a problem in

today’s society and points out that being Stoic will force you to expose

yourself less to these trials of our world. He also points out that Stoics

appreciate things further because they see things for what they truly are…

and accept it.

There are some people in today’s culture that embody stoicism. One of

those people is David Goggins. Goggins is a very vulgar retired

veteran who has written books and gives inspirational speeches

selling his brand of being “hard”. What it means to be “hard”

according to Goggins is to keep pushing. No matter what anyone

(even your own body) tells you or what the world throws

at you, go through it and don’t let it affect you. This is a shared belief with the

Stoics and has brought many of his fans to Stoicism without them even knowing

it. Goggins even has a very similar quote with William James. Goggins said,

“There is no better way to grow as a person than to do something you hate

every day.” While William James said, “Everybody should do at least two

things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.” Can you see the

resemblance? One concerning thing about Goggins is that he is pushing the

Stoic beliefs to the extremes. He is shying away from the beliefs about

kindness and more focusing on not letting anything affect him. This can

lead his fans to easily misinterpret his ideas and bury and bottle their emotions,

instead of learning to deal with them and control them to the point where

you have complete mastery over them. Practicing this instead of Stoicism

can be very harmful to a person’s mental state. 

Another way Stoicism is pushed to the extreme is memento mori. Memento

Mori means in latin “remember that you will die”. This can seem gruesome,

ominous, or even horrific to some; however, it serves as a reminder to the

Stoics. Life is short, so do not let it be ruined by things you can not control.

Stoics aren’t afraid of death either because they can not control it, so why

would they be?

So how can you implement Stoicism into everyday life? Well, first you have to

understand that in life there are things you can control (whether you prepare

for inclimate weather) and things you can't control

(a tornado). Stoicism today is how you react to these things.

For example, you can not control whether there is a tornado coming, but you CAN

control what you do about it. Whether that be running from it, hiding in your

basement, or going to your grandmother’s house to make sure she is safe. Your

reaction to the situation is up to you. Well how do you control your emotions?

You could do what the Roman emperor, Marcus Aruelius, did

and meditate each morning. and prepare

yourself to meet all of the tribulations of the world without anger. You can also

practice self restraint. According to Epictetus, we have desires, but we are also

bound to our desires. The goal of Stoicism is to not be bound to anything so nothing

else can control how you feel besides you.

Final tally- 30 total posts including classes attended