By my own reasoned choice, the only book that sits on my desk is “The Daily Stoic” by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. It is a collection of 365 quotations from the Stoic philosophers with the author’s interpretations and explanations. One quotation, one explanation each day on its own page. It’s the first thing I read every morning.
Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” is probably the best known and most often quoted source of Stoic philosophy and much of what he wrote 2000 years ago is still relevant today.
However, the quotation in The Daily Stoic for 24 July was by Epictetus and reads:
Whenever disturbing news is delivered to you, bear in mind that no news can ever be relevant to your reasoned choice. Can anyone break news to you that your assumptions or desires are wrong? No way! But they can tell you someone died – even so, what is that to you? Epictetus, Discourses,3.18.1-2
The author’s unpacking of the quotation gives the example of me asking you what you think about some tragedy on the other side of the world. As a good compassionate person, you might answer that you feel bad/awful/terrible or something similar.
He goes on to say that both of us have put aside reasoned choice, become invested in the tragedy, without doing a single thing for the victims of the tragic event.
The Stoic response is not callous indifference to other’s suffering, we are not encouraged to not care. If we can do something real and positive to help – volunteering, raising money – we should. Then news of the tragedy has relevance to our reasoned choice. If we cannot, we are not helping them, our families or our selves by getting caught up in the mindless sympathy driven by the media wringing the last ounce of emotion out of every tragedy.
Reasoned choice in the face of tragedy close to home
The tragic shooting deaths of a girl and a young woman in Toronto last month were examples of the media – conventional and social – stirring up waves of emotion, grief and sadness.
There is nothing wrong with expressing sympathy or saying a prayer for the victims, but endlessly watching the coverage on the news does not help the families of the victims, the survivors or anyone else, least alone ourselves.
From the comments of some after that tragedy, we could be forgiven for thinking that the streets of Toronto were as dangerous as those of Baghdad during the war in Iraq or Damascus in Syria now.
Living most of my life in Africa, where we lived with violence and death constantly, we learned to exercise reasoned choice to survive and remain sane. Share on XIt affected us every time a friend, neighbour or fellow soldier was injured or killed. We mourned, did what we could to help the families of the victims and then got on with our lives. We did not allow the news of the event to paralyse us. Luckily for us, the creation of Facebook, twitter and You tube was still years away in the future. You can read my story here.
There were few news channels on TV or radio. In later years, 24-hour news channels on BBC and CNN became available for satellite TV subscribers. Until 9/11 few of us developed the habit of continually watching the latest updates of the same tragedy. After a day of watching the 9/11 coverage, our attention went back to what was happening around us.
Conclusion
We should use reasoned choice before getting caught up in the media driven hysteria that follows any tragedy that has emotional appeal. Discernment in where we focus our attention helps us overcome adversity.
The way to do that is to ask:
- Can I do anything about this
- Can I help the victims or survivors?
- Can I take any action that might help prevent a recurrence?
If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then do something. If not acknowledge the tragedy and move on.
Don’t read about, watch or listen to endless updates of the same event.
What do you think? Am I being callous and unfeeling? Or are Epictetus’ words from 2000 years ago still a recipe for a balanced and serene life?
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