The Illusion of Control

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_6g4s9DkGc&feature=related

I talked about this part of the movie in class. Essentially the Turtle tells the mouse that he has to let go of the illusion of control. The two debate whether or not we have control over things, and to what extent we have control. the whole conversation had clear Stoic undertones (possibly Buddhist, but I am not trained to claim that).

I found this entire conversation enlightening for several reasons. Essentially, the turtle is saying that we have little control over what happens in the world, but we do have the ability to choice whether or not to follow it. The turtle is simply expounding Stoic metaphysics. At the end of the clip, he even returns to nature. He gets carried of into the sky by a gust of wind and flower petals. That scene to me seemed to be overtly Stoic: he returns to nature upon his death becomes one with it.

Stoics and my Daddy

WISE OL' DAD

After today’s class and our discussion of stoicism, I couldn’t help but think about my dad. I have always been a pretty emotional person. Commercials make me cry, my temper has a hairpin trigger, and I tend to get emotionally bogged down in the trials of everyday life. When I lived at home with my parents, they would often get frustrated with the constant emotional rollercoaster that were my teen years. Each crisis with my academic or social life would send me into a tailspin of negative emotions and they would inevitably try to get me back on course. Like the Stoics, my father would offer me the advice that should not let other’s control my emotions. He would say, people, events, and circumstances cannot affect your happiness or mood unless you allow them to. This is very similar to the aspects of Stoic philosophy we discussed today. Stoics teach that if you do not concern yourself with the good or bad actions of others and do not allow it to affect your own feelings, you are completely free from worry. By realizing the absolute control an individual has over his or her own emotional state, one may realize that happiness is a choice one makes and a way of life. While I don’t think my dad has been studying stoic philosophy, I can say that from personal experiences following his advice has given me peace in some difficult situations.

Stoicism at War

In high school Latin class, we learned about Stoicism and Epicureanism as an aid to understand the texts we would translate. Our high school Latin teacher had an immense respect for the Stoics and for Cicero, and that has passed on to nearly all of his students. Although society tends to push a sort of Neo-Stoicism on men as the way to live life, it is genuinely hard to find a good example of Stoicism in the world today. As I was surfing the internet, trying to see if there was an actual renaissance of Stoic thought, I found this retired officer Vice Admiral James Stockdale. Stockdale, it turned out, never studied Epictetus in the classroom, but a former professor gave Stockdale a copy of the Enchiridion when he graduated. As a POW, Stockdale found immense comfort in the teachings of Epictetus, which I find a spectacular testament to the ability of Stoicism to grant someone peace while still participating in society. Epicurus and Diogenes are certainly profound thinkers, but there is a certain amount of uneasiness to most of us at the thought of secluding ourselves from society, no matter the degree. Stoicism remains a profound influence on the way I live my life, but I am by no means a model Stoic. What Stoicism preached over two millennia ago still has value for us today.