by Bob Cymber
I recently watched the intense National Geographic documentary Free Solo. One of the most surprising things about the film is how Alex Honnold, the rock climber who challenges intense heights without a safety harness, approaches his challenges. Before each of his climbs, he keeps meticulous notebooks that include overviews and strategies about the best way to progress over giant walls.
In a way, Marcus Aurelius, in his Meditations, sees the potential for practitioners to form two different approaches when encountering circumstances:
“Nothing but what you get from first impressions. That someone has insulted you, for instance. That — but not that it’s done you any harm. The fact that my son is sick — that I can see. But ‘that he might die of it,’ no. Stick with first impressions. Don’t extrapolate. And nothing can happen to you. Or extrapolate. From a knowledge of all that can happen in the world.”
Two Stoic Routes for Viewing Life’s Hardships
Here, Marcus provides advice about two ways we may view life’s hardships. In one perspective, we could, he suggests, view troubles without adding assumptions. Someone who notices that their son is sick should just keep it at that; there is no need to say that the illness will lead to an inevitable death if we do not have good reason to believe this is the case. I refer to this route as the sans-assumptions route.
In the second perspective, someone could view their son’s illness with the consideration that the illness could lead to death. This technique I refer to as the pro-consideration route. Marcus seems to imply that this way is more difficult for people (this is probably why he suggests this mode of observation as a secondary method). If the practitioner is easily tempted by anxiety, they should probably stick with the sans-assumptions method.
Both of these peaks of perception are correct; it is up to the practitioner to choose the best way to proceed. There are pros and cons for each.
In the sans-assumptions method, the practitioner is shielded from any false impressions that may potentially provoke the psyche. However, if, to use Marcus’ example, your son ends up dying, that event would find you unprepared to deal with the loss. In this case, the practitioner does not reap the benefits of the Stoic practice of premeditatio malorum (also known as negative visualization).
You would, however, receive the preventative benefits of the “premeditatio malorum” if you reasonably extrapolate from a given situation. This is the benefit of using the pro-consideration method. Although, if you tend toward anxiety, this method can cause you to spin madly into “what-ifs.” Some of these “what-ifs” can be alleviated with a grounded view of reality with well-defined boundaries of consideration.
If you are new to Stoicism, I recommend starting with the sans-assumptions method before graduating to the pro-consideration method. My recommendation is stronger if you consider yourself an anxious or obsessive person. This way, you can start off your practice comfortably without the potential of instigating distressing mind states.
After a few weeks of building your skills with sans-assumptions, you can experiment with the pro-consideration technique. Start with something small and trivial before escalating to more serious instances. For example, you might wish to start with considering what might happen if you do not check your mailbox for a couple weeks. As a challenge, see how grounded you can make your possible outcomes without bleeding into anxious territory.
No matter what method you ultimately choose, it is crucial for you to remain cognizant of our conclusions. One way to do this is to keep a list of how many assumptions you make each day. Clearly, that list could populate rather quickly. As a starting point, you may wish to start at 10 conclusions and add an additional 10 each week.
From the list, you can determine how your assumptions influence our thinking. Stoic exercises require a commitment to honesty about your thought patterns, so be sure to remain honest to gain the most benefits.
Bob Cymber is the founder of Stoic Coach, and he helps clients with personal development through trainings in resilience, purpose, and confidence.