Just moments ago my sister said something that reminded me of Epictetus in such a simple way that it made me laugh a bit. We were sitting at the kitchen table having lunch, when I noticed that the light bulb in the fixture above was flickering for some reason. I said, “That is going to annoy the hell out of me if it keeps on.” and she simply replied “You don’t have to let it.”
Now I am not on the side of Stoicism as a total way of living for many reasons. I believe that we as human beings are made to have passions: many of them benefit the world when we use them correctly for the greater good. And I know I personally could not quickly get over grief if I had a child that passed away by remembering that “that’s how the world works, people die”. In class most all of us agreed that with little things (like breaking your favorite CBU mug) choosing Stoicism can be the right way to go. Don't sweat the small stuff, right? But what about bigger more important situations? Epictetus would say treat everything like the CBU mug.
In section 42 Epictetus writes about how to react to someone who is doing wrong to you. He says to see that the person is acting in accord to “how it seemed to him”. And to attribute the person's vice to an error in reason, then simply correct the irrationality. Imagine if all Police officers thought this way. They would see the criminal in a way that allowed them to stay calm though the whole encounter. Thus for the cases (given that the criminal was in fact being nonviolent or no longer posing a threat) where excessive force has been used the outcomes would have been different. The error might have been corrected without passion clouding the view of what was necessary.
The answer “you don't have to let it”, puts it perfectly. Technically, we don’t have to let things bother us or get enraged or passionate about everything every time. Even though it is often acceptable in our culture and is a human tendency, we do have a choice.
With all that being said....I have chosen to sit here under the flickering light to type this post. In all honestly it is still annoying me just as much.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteYour last comment, I agree with and it was so funny. I just experienced a "flickering light" of sorts and yes when something annoys me I wish I could be a phronemon of stoicism. Experiencing too much of a high or low is not a good thing. Let me clarify; a great high feels amazing, examples include acing a hard test, realizing you have a great friend in someone, accomplishing all the tasks you planned for the day and so forth. However, at least for me, once I have a great feeling like that, it only lasts for so long and then I have to return to normality. And the lows are often terrible, examples being scoring low on a test you felt prepared for, losing a great friend over a fight on some small matter and being so lazy as to not accomplish anything for the day. These lows are what make me wish I can master stoicism. I would prefer to remain even-kill and not let anything affect me to much and be able to put everything in Epictetus' perspective.