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Is quoting a stoic on HN the same as playing 'Stairway to Heaven' in a guitar shop?

I do love this quote of course (and all things Aurelius).



Yes, and the guitar solo equivalent would be linking to a Paul Graham article.


...I had no idea it was common here on HN, though I'm not surprised. It was just something that's helped me a fair bit and I hope(d) it could help others too.


Stoics had (yet another—IIRC the last one was around the 1950s-60s) popular revival a few years back and now they're everywhere (especially Aurelius) and there's definitely a bit of "well I'll have to stop wearing that band's shirt out and about now that Wal-Mart's selling fake-faded reproductions of their tour shirts and most of the people you see wearing one can't name more than three of their songs" to it.


It's not just HN, stoics hit a "rational coder" approach to life chord with those who fight computers all day.


I think it might be more that a lot of people in tech have poor work-life balances and bad interpersonal dynamics, and this causes high stress and receptivity to coping mechanisms.


That's exactly what I think.

Much of what modern Stoics put forth appears to be an excuse to dissociate from emotional pain, not cope with unchangeable fate or hardship.


Thank you for this well put reply.

I think I need to add that I don't mean to judge for this. I've been in similar places too. It can be a fine line with many shades of gray between "dissocation" and "coping". Some of it may be useful to somebody. Falling into it as a trap is very human.


Funniest thing I read today. Thanks.

Thanks to GP, too. That’s a lovely quote.


lol




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