Summary
When truth and reality is so impossible for you that you CHOOSE to believe in things that simply aren't true and can convince yourself that they are ... what do you think that is called? See things for what they are.
#FirstCoffeeThoughts
I have been a practicing Stoic since I was 11 years old. From the moment I first read the words of Epictetus and understood how to apply them to my life. I never stopped focusing on how stoicism made me feel, how it saved me from chaos, suicide, and dysregulation.
I have been focused on this philosophy of living for over 45 years … and I have learned this about mundanes …
EVERY SINGLE THING they do starts and ends with passions which is why were are in Hell.
The original meaning of PASSION is “suffering”. In Middle English passion was “the state of being affected or acted upon by something external”, something you are not in control of, something that instead controls you.
In stoicism a passion is a “disturbing and misleading force in the mind which occurs because of a failure to reason correctly.”
Passions are NOT GOOD THINGS. They are problems.
They are things that strip us of logic, reason, and regulation.
They bring ruin.
When you consider passions as related to modern psychology – which has it’s original foundations in stoicism – you will often find commonality when describing them alongside ideas like delusion and affective realism.
Most people I encounter are absolutely willfully delusional.
What is a delusion? It is a belief that, though false, has been surrendered to and accepted by the whole mind as a truth. The most common delusion is “hope” which is used to paint reality into colors you prefer.
When I call people delusional they get really upset. Why?
If you choose to live in a state of comfortable fantasy because it’s easier, less stressful, and more manageable than reality … what do you think that is called?
When truth and reality is so impossible for you that you CHOOSE to believe in things that simply aren’t true and can convince yourself that they are … what do you think that is called?
The word you are looking for is delusion.
“See things for what they are.” ⬅️Rule 1 of stoicism.
But here’s the thing … it wouldn’t be necessary to embrace lies and false ideas if more people were capable of mentally managing truth and reality. If more people put their strength in logic and reason instead of using all their energy for maintaining delusional states and losing themselves to passions … we wouldn’t be where we are now.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮.
Eliminate those collisions and what do you have?
Apatheia.
Apatheia is an important concept in Stoicism and one that gives the philosophy a negative reputation. In modern times, we often equate this concept with being cold or uncaring. But in Stoicism, the ideal state of apatheia is not about being emotionless; it’s about being free. Free from the hold of destructive emotions. Free to act with wisdom, reason, and calm in the face of whatever fate sends our way.
Passions are a prison.
You have no control.
That is how we got here.
Affective realism is related in that your brain interprets the world ACCORDING to your feelings. The world is basically subjective interpretations of reality based 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚.
Think about it simply like this: when you’re in a bad mood, it may seem to you like everyone is being mean to you or how people speak to you is negative etc … your internal, emotional dysregulation affects how you interpret reality.
It’s not truth.
It’s your dysregulation.
In stoicism emotions do not influence decisions, do not control your actions, and do not color your reality.
Emotions exist but PASSIONS don’t rule your body, mind, and spirit. Logic and reason are the first, and only, tools used to navigate reality.
The number of people I encounter daily who simply cannot understand the difference between using logic and reason to determine appropriate emotional responses and having no emotions at all is astounding.
This isn’t rocket science.
Willful delusion, choosing dysregulation, embracing passions due to an addiction to anger (and yes anger IS an addiction because your brain chemically rewards it) … these are all reasons why the world is a Hellscape.
Imagine a world with more logic, more reason, less delusion, less anger, less white men (in power), more members of the Global Majority in power, more emotional regulation, more spiritual fulfillment, and more understanding.
If that sounds BAD to you, you’re the problem.
