Stoicism and TRP

Wabbajak · 2019-01-17T08:53:28+00:00

Depends on what you mean.

stoicism: repressing one's feelings and emotions, being unreactive towards adversities.

Stoicism: an ancient Greco-Roman school of philosophy in which one acts according to nature and lives in terms of the virtues. It teaches you how to react to the adversities of life in a rational and controlled manner.

I practice the last and real one. There is also a sub-reddit dedicated to this school of thought, but don't bother asking questions there unless you have read the FAQ. It really is a complex philosophy and way more than "muh keep frame and repress emotions".

Edit: If I were to summarize it, it would look like this:

There are the three disciplines that deal with theory which are put into practice as virtues.

a) discipline of desire, virtue: temperance and courage, exercise: askesis

b) discipline of assent, virtue: wisdom, exercisr: prosoche

c) discipline of action, virtue: justice, exercise: oikeiosis

Explanation:

a) askesis: doing things which you have irrational aversions for (courage) and refraining from doing things you have irrational affinities for (temperance), (both of which are created by your ego), the fundamental exercise of the discipline of desire,

b) prosoche: accepting things as they are and not being blinded by imaginations and subjective, irrational judgements (that stem from the ego), but seeing things as they truly are, the fundamental exercise of the discipline of assent, and

c) oikeiosis: acting in a way that puts the striving of humanity first and foremost, by realizing that you are a part of mankind that needs to be aware of its role (you should strive to be a virtuous individual, by transcending your egoistic nature), the fundamental exercise of the discipline of action.

There is also the concept of the "Inner citadel" which overlaps with "Frame".

"Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquility; and I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat, and renew thyself; and let thy principles be brief and fundamental, which, as soon as thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to cleanse the soul completely, and to send thee back free from all discontent with the things to which thou returnest."

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, IV, 3

"Reatreating in yourself", also known as the "inner citadel", is used to illustrate the discipline of assent (sunkatathesis), comprising the field of logic and virtue of wisdom, which, in short, is about not being deceived by imaginations and judgements (phantasia) of external events (the indifferents) but seeing things as they really are (indifferent). Whenever your mind creates an automatic value judgement (hypolepsis), you have the power to agree with it or deny it (inner discourse).

The inner citadel is a concept introduced by Pierre Hadot in his book of the same name.

"In the first place, sensation (aisthesis) is a corporeal process which we have in common with animals, and in which the impression of an exterior object is transmitted to the soul. By means of this process, an image (phantasia) of the object is produced in the soul, or more precisely in the guiding part (hegemonikon) of the soul."

-Pierre Hadot, The Inner Citadel

The main idea here is that not things trouble us, but the automatically created images we create (phantasia) and judgements we make about them. An inner citadel is a sort of "fortification" around your reasoning faculty (hegemonikon) which essentially is realizing that external events (things outside of you control) never had power over you. Things cause suffering because you allow them to cause trouble in your mind, or in the words of Marcus Aurelius:

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."

-Marcus Aurelius, VIII, 47

The inner citadel is thus nothing else than a metaphor for the tranquility of mind (ataraxia).

"Things Cannot Touch the Soul"

"Things cannot touch the soul."

"They have no access to the soul."

"They cannot produce our judgments."

"They are outside of us."

"They themselves know nothing, and by themselves they affirm nothing."

-Meditations IV, 3, 10; V, 19; VI, 52; IX, 15

It is used to remind yourself to not be blinded by irrational evaluations and judgements of events. As a matter of fact, irrational judgements create an irrational and emotional reaction, the passions, which may lead to depression, fear, sorrow etc. No matter how difficult or stressful the situation is, concentrate on what you can control, your own rational decisions. Realize that this is where your power lies: You can give assent to these judgements or re-evaluate.

We tend to trust our perception and think that our emotions are a reliable reaction to external events. However, one needs to be reminded that this is not always the case. Cognitive behavior therapy, a therapy to counter depressive thoughts which is based on Stoicism, is a thing.

For clarification: Prosoche and the inner citadel are not the same. By training Prosoche, that is by being aware of Stoic principles in the here and now, you build your inner citadel, which is tranquility of mind in your inner self, figuratively speaking.

latinasonly · 2019-01-17T05:28:05+00:00

Stoicism is being less emotionally reactive yeah ?

The more I have lived life , the stronger my composure is and the less emotionally reactive I am to things . I have noticed that the respect I get from women has been increasing steadily , and these girls have no knowledge of my experiences , for many have not even spoken to me yet .... but when I lock eyes with them and hold a straight face ... they will often glance down and away to the side and I will notice they smile ever so slightly ....

Meanwhile some of my friends smile excessively when they talk to girls and are not able to maintain the composure they normally have with men.

I do not try and develop stoicism . It just happens as a result of intense life experiences . Once you have been through these things , you are very unreactive to daily life, and do not have trouble with tense situations . My game improved more from getting through tough situations (involving men) than from actually practicing game.

boy_named_su · 2019-01-17T18:22:43+00:00

I'm a practicing Stoic. It's made my life better. I can handle small upsets more easily. I could finally handle my mother's crazy over Christmas

Start by reading https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/0195374614/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1547749317&sr=8-6&keywords=stoicism

then https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/0062457713/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1547749317&sr=8-5&keywords=stoicism

Subscribe to https://dailystoic.com/

INNASKILLZ2K18 · 2019-01-17T05:55:24+00:00

Yes...stoicism is the shit.

Like latinasonly said...it comes from life experience. Like, coming out the other end of shit that would break most people. Not only getting through it, but feeling what intense intense situations can lead to emotionally...what happens on the other side of them.

It helps me to develop a sense of inner status, because I know I've seen and done shit most boys only listen to in shitty trap music songs.

Like Latina's said...you can't fake it. It comes only from being exposed to stuff.

But it is very core to RP. It's what shit testing is all about. A woman is trying to see how stoic you are.

The more stoicism you build from life, I believe the more maturely and deeply you can take a woman's shit. You can also lock eyes and own her with a stare.

heres_johnnie · 2019-01-17T07:41:00+00:00

Sort TRP main sub by top, and you'll see a detailed post on Stoicism.

MisunderstoodAsian · 2019-01-17T09:21:22+00:00

They go hand in hand.

Ansec · 2019-01-17T16:55:51+00:00

Read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

_the_golden_rule_ · 2019-01-18T03:11:07+00:00

I haven't seen results from it, no. it's simply not where my interests or core strengths lie, but being well spoken and thoughtful has helped me a lot. I've always been pretty good as keeping my emotions together, at least outwardly, but I don't consider that stoic. Just... mature.

Title	Stoicism and TRP
Author	Sereden_91
Upvotes	11
Comments	28
Date	January 17, 2019 3:56 AM UTC (7 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/agtsnf/stoicism_and_trp/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/stoicism-and-trp.170508 https://theredarchive.com/post/170508

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