No matter how much we try to live the Stoic ideal, we will slip up, we will make mistakes. We will get angry or sad when things go wrong, we will be happy when things go well. That is natural; we are flesh and blood creatures, not marble statues. Perhaps things go well at work and you are congratulated, or something goes wrong and you are called on the carpet. We try to remember that the events themselves are out of our control, and thus indifferent, but we will react nonetheless. What do we do then?
The first thing to remember is that must not fall into the trap of thinking of mistakes in terms of sin, in the Judeo-Christian sense, nor in terms of karma in the Buddhist or Hindu sense. A mistake is a mistake, an event that is passed. In and of itself, it does not need to be atoned for, but learned from. Think of a mistake in these terms: if you are target shooting and miss the target, do you need to get down on your knees and repent for missing the bull's eye? No, you get up, see where you made the mistake, and try again. Perhaps your breathing was wrong, or your trigger grip was incorrect, or you did not account for wind. You see what you did wrong, correct the mistake, and see if there is any improvement. With practice you will get better and better.
Look again at the chariot imagery. Your intellect is the driver. Sometimes, the horses--the emotions and drives-will get spooked, perhaps by an animal or something else that startles them. There may be a pothole or a bump in the road that forces the chariot off the track. Once you have regained control, you keep practicing until you master the rules of the road, until the ride is smooth. This is how we must treat mistakes in judgement, as opportunities to learn, not as sins for which we must beg forgiveness.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Stoic and Drugs
I wonder why anyone who professes the Stoic way of life would want to use any substance that would interfere with the functioning of the brain. Consider this: our brain, and our sensory apparatus, evolved over millions of years in order to give us an accurate picture of the world around us. Without this, we do not survive as a species. Why alter it?
Our brain is, for us, an optimal combination of sensory perception and reasoning ability. Sure, there are animals that see better than we, who hear better, who smell better. No argument there. But, such abilities come at a price. I was watching a presentation on the Animal Planet; in it the host was talking about a breed of dog--and I forget which one--with an incredibly accurate sense of smell, and it wasn't the bloodhound. This dog has an amazingly accurate sense of smell, but 50% of his brain is dedicated to smell perception and recognition. That is a high price to pay for that ability.
Anyone who has owned a bloodhound knows what I mean. Those amazing animals can track a scent for miles on only a drop of blood, but that ability has left them with a brain that is one of the least capable in the canine world for learning new tasks not related to smelling. In other words, that dog can track a tiny item for miles--and save lives in the process--but not be able to learn to get off the couch! That is a trade-off that would have meant elimination for the hominid line.
To refer back to the image of the chariot: the driver must control the chariot and the horses, and it is just as hard to drive a chariot while intoxicated as it is a car. What is gained?
Our brain is, for us, an optimal combination of sensory perception and reasoning ability. Sure, there are animals that see better than we, who hear better, who smell better. No argument there. But, such abilities come at a price. I was watching a presentation on the Animal Planet; in it the host was talking about a breed of dog--and I forget which one--with an incredibly accurate sense of smell, and it wasn't the bloodhound. This dog has an amazingly accurate sense of smell, but 50% of his brain is dedicated to smell perception and recognition. That is a high price to pay for that ability.
Anyone who has owned a bloodhound knows what I mean. Those amazing animals can track a scent for miles on only a drop of blood, but that ability has left them with a brain that is one of the least capable in the canine world for learning new tasks not related to smelling. In other words, that dog can track a tiny item for miles--and save lives in the process--but not be able to learn to get off the couch! That is a trade-off that would have meant elimination for the hominid line.
To refer back to the image of the chariot: the driver must control the chariot and the horses, and it is just as hard to drive a chariot while intoxicated as it is a car. What is gained?
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