News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why Is Silicon Valley So Obsessed with the Virtue of Suffering?. Parent comment

Re:Why Is Silicon Valley So Obsessed with the Virtue of Suff... by FabHK on Tuesday March 26, 2019 @03:34PM (#19495273)
As you state (I believe), that's not what Stoicism is about - it does not advocate to impose suffering on others. (It does suggest to voluntary undergo deprivations occasionally to reset the hedonistic treadmill: Seneca is said to have slept on the floor every now and then, to appreciate the bed afterwards.)

Interesting theory though, that a simplistic caricature of Stoicism is invoked to justify immoral behaviour. Pity the article didn't seriously investigate that.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why Is Silicon Valley So Obsessed with the Virtue of Suff... by notfromhere on Tuesday March 26, 2019 @04:18PM (#19495622)
the stoicism of marcus aurelius is about personal responsibility and accepting what you can't change, which seems a handy ideology to push so that people don't try to affect change.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why Is Silicon Valley So Obsessed with the Virtue of Suff... by floatingatoll on Tuesday March 26, 2019 @08:17PM (#19497133)
"I can't change the outcome of self-worth destruction from my billion-dollar idea, so I'll just have to learn to accept what I can't change."

As opposed to:

"I should try to change the outcome of self-worth destruction from my billion-dollar idea, even if I think I can't or it might cost me my wealth."

Again, I am not saying that this is Stoicism. This is the misuse of Stoic principles, by declaring that wealth-generating activities as "things that can't change" and then applying Stoicism to bear the burden of the resulting harm that they "can't change".

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why Is Silicon Valley So Obsessed with the Virtue of Suff... by FabHK on Tuesday March 26, 2019 @04:52PM (#19495903)
I'd interpret the Stoic dichotomy not so much as "accept it and don't worry about it", but rather as "if it's unacceptable, it is not enough to worry, but you have to do something." It's not fatalistic, in other words.

Second, I see the necessity for concerted (political) action to right societal ills; I wonder what Stoicism has to say about that. Many Stoics were in politics or academia, so it does not strike me as an isolationist position.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why Is Silicon Valley So Obsessed with the Virtue of Suff... by floatingatoll on Tuesday March 26, 2019 @04:06PM (#19495530)
Yeah. That’s my worry: they’re implementing what soothes their conscience and calling it stoicism.
[ Parent | on HN ]