Why You Defend Beliefs You Never Actually Checked | Stoicism

#stoicism #stoicphilosophy #marcusaurelius The most confident person you know is probably the most frightened. Stoicism explains why. Certainty is a feeling, not a measurement. You have been certain and wrong before, and it did not feel any different from being certain and right. This is about what that feeling is doing, and why the beliefs you hold most tightly are the ones you have examined least. Zeno of Citium, who founded the Stoa, explained it with his hand. Open fingers: an impression. Fingers closed a little: assent. A fist: grasping. His other hand clamped over the fist was knowledge, and nobody has that except the wise man. You run the first two in a fifth of a second, then act all week as though you reached the fourth. Epictetus named the cost in one line: it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows. Not difficult. Impossible. Marcus Aurelius ran an empire and had nobody able to correct him. He wrote in a private notebook, repeatedly, that he would gladly change if any man could show him he was wrong. Chapters 0:00 The most confident person you know 1:41 Zeno's hand: how certainty gets built 3:18 Try arguing the other side 4:44 Diogenes and the plucked chicken 7:09 Socrates and the oracle at Delphi 8:34 The craftsman who knew too much 11:06 Why certainty gets rewarded 11:48 A shipwreck, a bookshop, and the Stoa 13:10 Why being wrong feels like an attack 15:02 Carneades argues both sides 18:18 Cato: certainty at full strength 21:22 Why trust your gut is bad advice 23:10 Marcus writes a note to himself 25:03 What to actually do about it 30:09 The strength that needs no upkeep Sources are public domain: Meditations, Discourses, Enchiridion, Diogenes Laertius, Cicero, Plutarch. New video every week.