The Daily Stoic - From The Past, We Are Able To Tell The Future

Episode Date: April 1, 2020

Let’s imagine a scenario in which almost all our modern scholarship was lost. Imagine if some great fire at the Library of Alexandria wiped away the last few hundred years of breakthroughs in psychology and biology. Suddenly, countless research papers and books and discoveries were turned to ash. The cost would be immense, no question.And yet, somehow, we’d be fine. Even if all that remained were just the writings of Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and Epictetus. Because as much as our species craves new-ness, the truth is that most truths are very old. In fact, it’s these timeless truths that teach us more about the future and about our current times than most of our contemporary thinking. As Douglas MacArthur wrote in the early 20th century, speculating about the future of warfare, the best lessons about what’s coming next come not from the recent but from the distant past. “Were the accounts of all battles, save only those of Genghis Khan,” he said, “effaced from the pages of history, and were all the facts of his campaigns preserved in descriptive detail, the soldier would still possess a mine of untold wealth from which to extract nuggets of knowledge useful in molding an army for future use. “Of course, one should always avail themselves of the latest research and the newest books. The problem is that for far too many people this comes at the expense of availing themselves of wisdom from the wisest minds who ever lived. “I don’t have time to read books,” says the person who reads dozens of breaking news articles each week. “I don’t have time to read,” they say as they refresh their Twitter feed for the latest inane update. “I don’t have time to read fiction—that’s entertainment,” they say as they watch another panel of arguing talking heads on CNN, as if that’s actually giving them real information they will use. Being informed is important. It is the duty of every citizen. But we go about it the wrong way. We are distracted by breaking news when really we should be drinking deeply from the great texts of history. We need to follow Marcus Aurelius’s advice to carve out “some leisure time to learn something good, and stop bouncing around.”It is from this learning, from the learning of the distant past, from the wisest minds who ever lived, that we can know how to prepare for the future. Everything else is noise. Everything else should be ignored. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stood Podcast early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wundery's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target. The new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. music or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Daily Stoic. For each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000 year old philosophy that has guided some of history's

greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystowach.com. From the past, we are able to tell the future. Let's imagine a scenario in which almost all our modern scholarship were lost. Imagine if some great fire at the library of Alexandria wiped away the last few hundred years of breakthroughs in psychology and biology. Suddenly countless research papers and books and discoveries returned ash. The cost would be immense, no question.

And yet somehow, we'd be fine, even if all that remained were just the writings of Marcus Arelius, Ensenicaica and Epictetus were left. Because as much as our species craves newness, the truth is that most truths are very old. In fact, it's these timeless truths that teach us more about the future and about our current times than most of our contemporary thinking. As Douglas MacArthur wrote in the early 20th century, speculating about the future of warfare, the best lessons about what's coming next come not from the recent but from the distant past.

Were the accounts of all the battles save only those of Ganges Khan, he said, a face from the pages of history, and were all the facts of his campaigns preserved in descriptive detail, the soldier would still possess a mind of untold wealth from which to exact nuggets of knowledge useful in molding an army for future use.

Of course, one should always avail themselves of the latest research in the newest books. The problem is that for far too many people, this comes at the expense of availing themselves of wisdom from the wisest minds who ever lived. I don't have time to read books, says the person who reads dozens of breaking news articles each week.

I don't have time to read, they say, as they refresh their Twitter feed for the latest inane update. I don't have time for fiction that's entertainment, they say, is they watch another panel of arguing talking heads on CNN as if that's actually giving them information they will use. Being informed is important. It's the duty of every citizen, but we go about it the wrong way. We are distracted by breaking news when we should be drinking deeply from the great text

of history. We need to follow Marcus Aurelius' advice to carve out some leisure time to learn something good and stop bouncing around. It's from the learning of the distant past, from the wisest minds who ever lived, that we can know how to prepare for the future. Everything else is noise. Everything else should be ignored. Hey there, if you're wondering how to get the most out of this time, you have stuck at home, maybe you're working only part time or you're working from home,

you've got a childcare situation. None of this is what we would choose, but the stoic say we don't choose what happens, we choose how we respond. And so that's why we've been scrambling here at Daily Stoke to put together what we're calling the Daily Stoke a live time challenge. It's 14 days of inspired stoic wisdom

that will help you get the most out of this moment, that will help you seize this moment, rise to the occasion. We're gonna challenge you, it's not gonna be easy, but I think you will emerge from it better, and that will be some small good that's come out of this experience. So you can check that out right now at dailystoic.com slash a live time.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the daily Stowic early and add free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts. Raising kids can be one of the greatest rewards of a parent's life. But come on, someday, parenting is unbearable. I love my kid, but is a new parenting podcast from Wondery that shares of a freshly honest and insightful take on parenting. Hosted by myself, Megan Galey, Chris Garcia, and Kurt Brown-Oller, we will be your resident, not-so-expert-experts.

Each week we'll share a parenting story that'll have you laughing, nodding, and thinking. Oh yeah, I have absolutely been there. We'll talk about what went right and wrong. What would we do differently? And the next time you step on yet another stray Lego in the middle of the night, you'll feel less alone. So if you like to laugh with us as we talk about

the hardest job in the world, listen to, I love my kid, but wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. app.