Josh Hartnett's suave insouciance in Lucky Number Slevin (2006) is accounted for by him "having ataraxia." [1] That is, as if it were a medical condition. I'm sure it was intended as a joke, but apparently wiktionary says "ataraxy" is sometimes used in a similar way, although I've never seen that. [2]
Reminds me of the film Office Space, where Peter is hypnotised to (temporarily) have no cares in the world, but the hypnostist dies before snapping his fingers [0]. There's also a very similar trope in the first episode of the show Black Books, where Manny swallows the "Little Book of Calm", absorbs it into his body, and becomes a Jesus-like calm presence for a while.
"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."
— Matthew 21:12–13, King James Version[10]
I suppose I meant "calm like the modern image of Jesus, that has dramatically evolved and been cultivated over 2 thousand years", but that's a bit of a mouthful.
On his first day of work he missed the bus, so he called our boss and just said "I missed the bus, the next one is tomorrow morning, see you tomorrow".
Working on any kind of problem with him is absolute joy, from outages to designing new features, including once when the server burned down and everything was lost.
> "having ataraxia." [1] That is, as if it were a medical condition.
There is kind of a noticeable overlap between the stoic ideal and a schizoid personality style. For people who are already left-brain-dominant / spectrumy, or whatever you might call it, which applies to a lot of people in the computing profession, getting into stoicism as a philosophy and lifestyle is probably maladaptive.
Funny to learn this word today. Stuff have been pretty rough for me these past few month and I have been unknowingly practicing ataraxia. Problems (at least mine) are temporary, instead of lamenting I should stay cool and enjoy what I have, preparing for the better days. It's truly liberating.
In Epicureanism ataraxia is paired with ἀπονία (aponia).
Aponia is for the body what ataraxia is for the mind. You can find more details in the Wikipedia page about Epicureanism [1]. True pleasure comes from the absence of spiritual trouble and the absence of physical pain. The Latins used to say "mens sana in corpore sano" (healthy mind in a healthy body)
Next question / consideration in your situation of course is whether it's ataraxia, indifference, stoicism, emotional numbing, or disassociation. I think they're probably all related concepts.
Yes, it's "funny" how an ancient philosophy of "you should be happy with your natural place in the universe, even if you were born a slave" was co-opted by a movement claiming you should strive to escape your current financial situation, all by yourself.
I think they were mostly interested by the "real men don't cry" part of stoicism.
There seems to be quite a bit of overlap between cryptocurrency enthusiasts (at least those of the silicon valley variety) and get-enlightened-quick people, and the current favourite flavour of the latter seems to be stoicism. At least that's my best explanation as an outsider.
Sure, but as someone with zero interest in crypto who has found ideas from Stoicism very useful to make my life better since long before cryptocurrencies existed- conflating an ancient philosophy followed by some of the greatest leaders in history with an obnoxious ponzi scheme fad seems absurd. I can understand how they could be associated if you were first introduced to Stoicism from hearing that cryptobros liked it, but otherwise didn't know much about it.
Personally, it helped me navigate some incredibly difficult times in my life with more dignity and strength than I otherwise would have had. There is a 2000 year history of many people I admire doing the same with these ideas- Viktor Frankl in Auschwitz, James Stockdale as a POW in Vietnam, etc.
To me because it requires hard, introspective, painful, and slow personal work that doesn't "pay off" with profits, attention, etc. it is sort of the polar opposite of shallow trends to get rich or "enlightened" fast and easy.
The Neal Stephenson thing, if anyone didn't get it was a joke about how his books often involve cryptography and cryptocurrency themes together with ancient characters that time travel and/or are immortal.
Josh Hartnett's suave insouciance in Lucky Number Slevin (2006) is accounted for by him "having ataraxia." [1] That is, as if it were a medical condition. I'm sure it was intended as a joke, but apparently wiktionary says "ataraxy" is sometimes used in a similar way, although I've never seen that. [2]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjDTmTAy5rs
[2] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ataraxy#English
Reminds me of the film Office Space, where Peter is hypnotised to (temporarily) have no cares in the world, but the hypnostist dies before snapping his fingers [0]. There's also a very similar trope in the first episode of the show Black Books, where Manny swallows the "Little Book of Calm", absorbs it into his body, and becomes a Jesus-like calm presence for a while.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfZpEe7KIJ8
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_dMEX_Lke0
but was jesus jesus-like calm?
I suppose I meant "calm like the modern image of Jesus, that has dramatically evolved and been cultivated over 2 thousand years", but that's a bit of a mouthful.
I have a friend that has it.
On his first day of work he missed the bus, so he called our boss and just said "I missed the bus, the next one is tomorrow morning, see you tomorrow".
Working on any kind of problem with him is absolute joy, from outages to designing new features, including once when the server burned down and everything was lost.
Would love to hear some more anecdotes
> "having ataraxia." [1] That is, as if it were a medical condition.
There is kind of a noticeable overlap between the stoic ideal and a schizoid personality style. For people who are already left-brain-dominant / spectrumy, or whatever you might call it, which applies to a lot of people in the computing profession, getting into stoicism as a philosophy and lifestyle is probably maladaptive.
I'm gonna check that out, now! Thank you for the recommend :)
As an actor, I wonder if he was merely simulating ataraxy or if he genuinely had it? Perhaps, as an actor, there's no difference!
BTW that clip was hilarious thank you! Hahaha :)
Ataraxia? Upekṣā? 与道合一? 不動心? Don't harsh my mellow, man; they're all the same to me...
Funny to learn this word today. Stuff have been pretty rough for me these past few month and I have been unknowingly practicing ataraxia. Problems (at least mine) are temporary, instead of lamenting I should stay cool and enjoy what I have, preparing for the better days. It's truly liberating.
In Epicureanism ataraxia is paired with ἀπονία (aponia).
Aponia is for the body what ataraxia is for the mind. You can find more details in the Wikipedia page about Epicureanism [1]. True pleasure comes from the absence of spiritual trouble and the absence of physical pain. The Latins used to say "mens sana in corpore sano" (healthy mind in a healthy body)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicureanism
Next question / consideration in your situation of course is whether it's ataraxia, indifference, stoicism, emotional numbing, or disassociation. I think they're probably all related concepts.
One of my professors liked to translate it as “un-stirred-up-ness” which I always loved.
What's the opposite? Because that's the one I have.
taraxia is then what you have.
Chill vibes.
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Yes, it's "funny" how an ancient philosophy of "you should be happy with your natural place in the universe, even if you were born a slave" was co-opted by a movement claiming you should strive to escape your current financial situation, all by yourself.
I think they were mostly interested by the "real men don't cry" part of stoicism.
Non-fungible feelings
How in the Neal Stephenson were the ancient Greeks cryptobros?
Apparently one of the earlies described scams was done by a greek merchant called Hegestratos.
There seems to be quite a bit of overlap between cryptocurrency enthusiasts (at least those of the silicon valley variety) and get-enlightened-quick people, and the current favourite flavour of the latter seems to be stoicism. At least that's my best explanation as an outsider.
Sure, but as someone with zero interest in crypto who has found ideas from Stoicism very useful to make my life better since long before cryptocurrencies existed- conflating an ancient philosophy followed by some of the greatest leaders in history with an obnoxious ponzi scheme fad seems absurd. I can understand how they could be associated if you were first introduced to Stoicism from hearing that cryptobros liked it, but otherwise didn't know much about it.
Personally, it helped me navigate some incredibly difficult times in my life with more dignity and strength than I otherwise would have had. There is a 2000 year history of many people I admire doing the same with these ideas- Viktor Frankl in Auschwitz, James Stockdale as a POW in Vietnam, etc.
To me because it requires hard, introspective, painful, and slow personal work that doesn't "pay off" with profits, attention, etc. it is sort of the polar opposite of shallow trends to get rich or "enlightened" fast and easy.
The Neal Stephenson thing, if anyone didn't get it was a joke about how his books often involve cryptography and cryptocurrency themes together with ancient characters that time travel and/or are immortal.
Yeah it's interesting how newer cultures syncretise aspects of much older ideas like that.