A NEW Look at Stoicism in Crisis |
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The Coronavirus poses a severe challenge for Northeast Wisconsin. This is not just a health challenge or physical challenge or an economic challenge, for many individuals and families it is a mental challenge. We humans are social animals—we are not made to sit shut inside all day every day. What makes this even more difficult for many is the added anxiety of caring for a loved one who may be uniquely vulnerable to the virus (or being unable to visit and care for our loved ones at all). In such times of crisis, it is important to focus on the things we can control such as washing our hands and following CDC guidelines on social distancing. But perhaps there are even more basic mental weapons with which we can fight and more ancient sources of wisdom we can use to get through this crisis?
To explore that question, this week on the NEW Look podcast, Rep. Gallagher spoke with Ryan Holiday, best-selling author of Stillness is the Key, Ego is the Enemy, and The Obstacle is the Way (among many others). In addition to being an all-round good dude, Ryan is also perhaps the foremost contemporary student of the ancient philosophy of Stoicism, and author of The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. But don’t worry, though they discuss Stoicism, the conversation is not too…well…stoic. Mike and Ryan also discuss current events, social media misinformation, what’s on each other’s bookshelves, and what to say while parachuting into Vietnam. Watch the full interview by clicking HERE or the image above, or read some highlights from the conversation below.
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On What Stoicism Can Offer Us: |
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Rep. Gallagher: "Have you started to think about what Stoicism can offer us in the midst of this crisis as a lot of people are cooped up inside anxious about their economic future? Their physical future?"
Ryan Holiday: In a way I think what Coronavirus has reminded us of is just how not distant the past actually is...The central tenet of Stoicism is basically, we don't control what happens but we control how we respond. And I think leaders haven't done a great job explaining that to people...But starting now, everything that happened in the past is irrelevant. And what matters is what we do going forward. It's almost like the reaction has been either how can we pretend this isn't happening or how can we blame other people or other things for this happening. Or is there some magical legislation or you know, tax break or whatever, that will make it as if it has not happened. Do you know what I mean? When really what we should be focusing on is: how did this sneak up on us? How are we caught so unprepared? How do we mitigate the damage as much as we possibly can? And then how do we put all our energy towards making sure we protect ourselves and future generations from it and learn and are improved by this experience...The only meaning that can come out of that immense, horrific tragedy is that we emerge from it globally and nationally, stronger, more together. And, you know, better prepared to protect and prevent this from happening in the future.
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On Controlling Your Response in Difficult Situations: |
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Rep. Gallagher: "Can I have you help us distinguish between the ability to control your response to external stimuli and the inability to immediately control your emotional response...?
Ryan Holiday: "So Seneca and all the stoics they talked about this, they're like what no amount of training or wisdom makes you not feel cold when it gets cold outside, or if someone jumps out from around a corner, you're gonna be spooked by that. The stoics were not concerned with that or didn't believe it was possible to eliminate that entirely. What they were focused on is like, what do you do next? How do you integrate your response into this?...So I think it's more than reasoning. To be scared, to be angry, to be frustrated, to be confused, to be nervous, those are all emotions that I think a global pandemic rightfully brings out in a person. But you have to subsume those emotions day to day through the filter of like what you know is right, the courage that you might have, knowing that panic makes things worse, so on and so forth. So, I think it's about having those feelings, not pretending that you don't have them, but then processing them. So actually to come back to Talab, he says stoicism is not the absence of emotion, it's the domestication of the emotions. And I think that's a good way to put it."
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On Disinformation in the Age of Coronavirus: |
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Rep. Gallagher: "I think most people, and I count myself in this category, are just struggling to, in this crazy social media environment we're in, figure out what's true and what isn't...I'm wondering if there's a connection here between some of the trends you saw in both "Trust Me I'm Lying," your book, and "Conspiracy"? Help me connect this to sort of the way the media has changed and the amount of misinformation that's out there.
Ryan Holiday: "It's sort of two unfortunate trends, right? As people have become more partisan, and as the media has become less trustworthy, on both sides on whatever an issue is, the media has to be more and more extreme, and in a way less and less accurate to get the desired outcome they want...So it's this weird thing where when the media ceases to be objective, and has an agenda of some kind, people don't trust it because they believe there's an agenda...And this is a perfect example of when you need a media system that people trust. And we do not have that and that's really bad. And that's why people are reading random people on Medium to get their information because, hey, this guy actually seems like he knows what he is talking about, versus, you know, this person...who's been feeding you a steady diet of extreme information over the last three years."
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On Advice for NEW Students: |
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Rep. Gallagher: "Let's say you walk into a bar in Northeast Wisconsin...And a, let's say a 17 year old, a senior in high school from Green Bay comes up to you and says, "I love your books...you're awesome. I subscribe to all your stuff. Thinking about becoming a writer. I don't know if I should go to college or how does one you know, is this a good idea?" What advice would you give to that young kid?"
Ryan Holiday: "My advice is that college is the best default. But obviously, it should be an affordable college. Don't don't rack up $200,000 in debt because you don't know what you're doing, you're just trying to figure it out. But there's a bunch of great state schools in Wisconsin. Get into one of those, and then to be a writer, you have to go and experience and do things and learn. So I'd say take classes in as many things as you possibly can. You know, there would be what on, let's say University of Wisconsin, probably 80% of the faculty is a published author, right? What can you learn from those people? Those people are forced to sit in their office a certain number of hours per week, and do nothing but talk to students, and how few students take them up on this? So that was something I did in college, I went and met as many of the professors I possibly could to ask them as many questions learn as much as I could. And then when I had an opportunity to go do stuff, I left to do that. And I left college in 2006 or 2007, but my first book did not come out until 2012. So it took six or seven years of writing and learning and experiencing to go into the book. So I think being a writer is it's about training. It's about knowledge, and then it's about experience. And it's those three things coming together. Obviously, having a load of debt, or having no prospects on the job market, I think makes accumulating those three things more difficult. So college has to fit in there to some degree."
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SUBSCRIBE to the NEW Look podcast on your platform of choice below:
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De Pere
1702 Scheuring Rd., Ste. B
De Pere, WI 54115
www.gallagher.house.gov
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Washington, DC
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Washington, DC 20515
www.gallagher.house.gov
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