Consider this an informal poll, but if you gentlemen are willing to share it:
What discipline or school of philosophy do you follow?
Alternatively, which one most fascinates you?
Let’s be clear: this isn’t picking for an intellectual brawl or even a debate — I don’t care about how accurately you follow the school or your strength of adherence or your opinions on opposing schools.
Especially in terms of warrior culture, this has been a subject that’s always enthralled me and I take great interest (particularly in the what or why that draws someone to certain precepts or the lack of them) and I’m of the mind that living in a society filled with men who seem to have supplanted discipline with the mercurial happiness of their spouses — and women who think no further ahead than singularly selfish gratification — is a sizable portion of what’s wrong.
With that bit of ranting out of the way, I’ll kick things off:
I’ve personally arrived at a compartmentalization, of sorts, between Stoicism (my external and social philosophy) and the Havamal/Nine Noble Virtues (my internal and personal discipline). While the two do have a few points of overlap, they’re beasts I keep in separate rooms for the express purpose of keeping up the sort of mental fail-safes I need to ensure I hold myself to a higher standard than I hold others, especially in times of weakness or hubris.
I believe that what you do is what most matters and what you say is largely irrelevant in light of your actions (good old-fashioned Hellenistic thought), but I also believe in absolute freedom of will and cannot reasonably place the demands of virtue on another human. To do so is only going to lead to my inevitable disappointment and damages my ability to distance myself from those sorts of people by thinking the better of them when their deeds reflect otherwise. Of particular note, I do think that, in accordance with respecting free will, there are certain moral absolutes… but the beautiful irony of that is having to allow others the freedom afforded by their moral relativity that I don’t practice.
Conversely, in line with that classic human standby of cognitive dissonance, I refuse to accept “whatever I feel like as long as it’s internally consistent” as a standard for myself because I also believe an adult — not just “a man”, but anyone who wants to call themselves an adult — should face some sense of challenge or sacrifice in their life if they have any hope of personal growth, but I also believe that depressingly few agree with that ideology.
You can look at any SJW movement or feminist sect if you have any trouble understanding why I don’t bother expecting that of others. (This also gives me the opportunity to say that the intellectual relativism of feminism and social justice fascinates me, at a clinical distance, if only because the mental gymnastics involved makes studying quantum physics seem remedial.)
All in all, no, this doesn’t stop me from binge-eating a box of Cheez-Its once in a blue moon or drive me to absolute sobriety or always prevent me from flagellating myself for my failures, nor does it wholly prevent the sting of disappointment when interacting with the world at large… especially with women. But it keeps me in good attendance standing with the Church of Iron, steers me clear of slovenly behavior, pushes me into challenges that I initially balk at, and helps me keep my inner world well-shielded from the whims of others.
Of greatest note is that last bit. It is why I think that MGTOW is so critical a concept in the modern world where there is an expectation that how others feel should dictate who you are. And it’s also why I keep coming back to this band of brothers — not for validation, but for the resolution and revitalization that can only really come from being part of a group that prizes truth regardless of how you feel or who you are.
And damn it, is that hard to find these days.
"Almost the main work of life is to come out of our selves, out of the little dark prison we are all born in... The danger is that of coming to love the prison." ~ C.S. Lewis
Elric Greenstone 3 years, 1 month ago.
