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A Stoic Renaissance FROM ANTIQUITY TO AI: A STOIC RENAISSANCE Best-selling books. A following among some corporate heads. An ancient philosophy is making a comeback. But why? By Meghan Walsh says Hansson, who also authored the programming language Ruby on Rails, which powers web apps like Airbnb, Hulu, and Twitch. “Most businesses go out of business. When I can remove the fear that it’s all going to end, the calmer my life is.” It’s a practice ancient philosophers termed “negative visualization,” which Hansson learned after entrepreneur and author Tim Ferriss recom- mended he read A Guide to the It was early November 2018, Good Life: The Ancient Art of and the Woolsey Fire hurtled through Stoic Joy by William B. the Santa Monica Mountains, devour- Irvine. Stoics also dabble ing hundreds of structures with stun- in self-imposed ning ferocity. As the fire drew closer austerity as The Problem and gusty winds changed direction a means of Different guiding principles can be confusing unpredictably, David Heinemeier honing oneself for managers and corporate chiefs. Hansson, known as DHH, imagined against the his Malibu Hills home going up in hardships of Why It Matters flames. It wasn’t a morbid hallucination. life. So when Leaders are more effective when their world Instead, the Danish programmer turned Hansson finds is in perspective. tech darling deliberately envisioned himself impa- with pixelated precision the flaky ash tient that his The Solution For some, looking centuries back can his home might become; he played out Uber is taking be helpful. the years of battling insurance adjusters five minutes that would inevitably follow. Without instead of the regret or yearning, he simply said good- quoted two, he takes the bus. He eats bye to the hazy sunsets and crystalline cheap cheeseburgers and ventures into memories unfulfilled. the cold underdressed. “This modern Though in this instance the flames life that we’re living is smothering us in were real, it wasn’t the first time the comforts,” he says. 40-year-old cofounder of Basecamp, a Sure enough, now it’s Stoicism that’s project management software company, catching fire. 52 had fantasized losing that which is most A growing number of people, from precious to him. For years, Hansson has gilded elites to everyday folk, are shed- A STOIC RENAISSANCE been imagining worst-case scenarios ding the 21st-century accouterments of as a way to channel the anxieties that comfort in exchange for a Hellenistic come with running a growing business. philosophy born almost 2,300 years (He’s also a father, a successful race car ago that extols the virtues of detach- driver, and a New York Times best-selling ment and discipline. Stoicism is the author.) “As I acquire things, I keep in antithesis to the overly accommodating, mind these things could be temporary,” snowflake culture of recent generations. FAST-TRACKING HEALTHCARE 53 It urges adherents to identify what is on intention and action. This may within their control—essentially only sound familiar if you’ve ever heard the personal character—and to let go of closing prayer recited at 12-step meet- worrying about all that is external, ings: “Grant me the serenity to accept whether that be a natural disaster or the things I cannot change, the courage another’s expectations. Proponents say to change the things I can, and the eudaimonia, the Greek word for prosper- wisdom to know the difference.” ity and well-being, can be found in the After the fall of the Roman Empire, virtues of courage, justice, and wisdom, Christianity and theology eclipsed Sto- rather than worldly success. icism and philosophy. But throughout Of course, the philosophy does have its critics; some call it outmoded, others a hollow life hack. But advocates point Executive coaches who follow out that today’s modern brand of Sto- icism has spread broadly and briskly— it say the philosophy can reduce from its Silicon Valley adopters to the anxiety and make for more worlds of sports, military, and media, to name a few. Almost every week a new nimble leaders. book is released on the topic. But why, after two millennia, is Stoicism seeing a the centuries, countless leaders and resurgence now? And does it deliver on artists, from George Washington and its promise of greater purpose? Bill Clinton to Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling, have returned to its teachings for guidance. While many Greek and hile today the Roman philosophies from antiquity word “stoic” is most remain frozen in the past, this one has often employed as proven to be easily adaptable. Wa lowercase synonym for emotionally Seven years ago, a small group of aloof, the term originates from the academics and psychotherapists in Greek name Stoa Poikilê, which refers London organized the first Stoicon to the muraled porch in Athens where conference in an attempt to bring Sto- the intellectual seeds of Stoicism first icism into the modern era. The annual germinated. Around 300 BC, in the meeting has since traveled to New York, wake of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, Toronto, and Athens, growing year a philosopher named Zeno of Citium after year. There are dozens of Stoic began holding public discourse on the Facebook groups, with tens of thou- veranda’s steps. Stoicism would go on to sands of members looking for advice spread to Rome as the reigning school on parenting, teaching, dating, and of thought for half a millennium, greatly athletic competition. Ryan Holiday, the influencing Christianity. former marketing director for American The Stoics taught that virtue is Apparel, has published several New York 55 the only good worth striving for and Times best-selling self-help Stoic adapta- everything else—whether it be health, tions, attracting a cult following among A STOIC RENAISSANCE wealth, or other worldly pleasures—is society’s highest rungs. indifferent. Preferable, perhaps, but “Stoicism is roughly one part theory not worth chasing. Since outcomes are and nine parts practice,” says Massimo uncontrollable, the emphasis is placed Pigliucci, a biologist turned philosophy A DAY IN THE LIFE O F A STOIC professor at City University of New York, who earlier this year published A Almost every week a new book Handbook for New Stoics: How to Thrive in a World Out of Your Control. “It’s is released on the topic. explicit. You don’t have to have a background in philosophy to lose all of my wealth? As Epictetus, she wrote in an op-ed. Others say some incorporate it into your life.” the freed slave and notorious Stoic, of the more well-to-do adherents are wrote, “It is not events that disturb simply inauthentic, allowing those at people, it is their judgments concern- the top to dismiss the impact socioeco- ithout doubt, ing them.” The argument is that when nomic circumstance has on well-being. Stoic-esque tech- we can reframe the minutiae of life in It’s one thing to fast for 24 hours, but niques circulating a broader context, it helps to bring into try telling someone without access to WSilicon Valley have garnered the most focus what matters most. clean water, healthcare, or housing that attention, including fasting, cold show- When entrepreneur and venture those are just trivial externals. ers, and silent meditation retreats. For capitalist Brad Feld, cofounder of Still, scholars say the Stoicism some, these practices can serve a pur- Foundry Group, a large venture capital renaissance is understandable if you pose in building resilience; others firm in Boulder, Colorado, began sink- compare modern times to when the say they can also amount ing into a deep depression, he says philosophy reigned. In the centuries Dr. Alkistis Agio, a former corporate to little more than his life preserver came in the form of before the fall of the Roman Empire, banker, incorporates Stoicism virtue-signaling Stoicism and therapy. He later sent there was cultural transformation and when Instagrammed Holiday’s book The Daily Stoic to all the distemper that in some way resembles into her leadership training and from a multimillion- CEOs in his portfolio. “It completely the current zeitgeist. There was uncer- authored a manual called The dollar Victorian. changed my relationship with what is tainty. Massive inequality. A series Stoic CEO. She offers a few daily Pigliucci started his career happening, what I think is happening, of ongoing and controversial wars. practices Stoic followers rely on: studying how genes interact and what I want to happen,” Feld wrote Flourishing religious fanaticism and with the environment. He waltzes in an email. anti-intellectualism. between the worlds of nature and Executive coaches have also begun Whatever the reason, advocates MORNING nurture, which is where Stoicism has incorporating Stoic frameworks into say a form of Stoicism appears to be Visualize what might go wrong— come to reside. It’s about controlling their work with clients, saying it reaching the very top of corporate including your own death—in the day base reactions and stripping away reduces anxiety and makes for more structures, especially as the so-called ahead, Agio says. Ask yourself, “Have I external values that put us in conflict nimble leaders. “The trouble is most purpose movement expands. An exam- closed the circle?” with ourselves and others, so that it’s people want to change it, control it, ple may be the well-publicized letter possible to, as the Stoics say, “live in avoid it. The last thing they want to that nearly 200 CEOs signed earlier DAY accordance with nature” internally, do is accept it,” says David Langiulli, this year that redefined “the purpose Constantly identify what is socially, and physically. To update who, from his base in Naples, Florida, of a corporation” away from just share- within your control and what is not.
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