Here we will provide some theoretical insight and practical measures on how to become indifferent in stoic terms.
It seems very hard to stay indifferent to objects and events that surround us in everyday life. There are many things we enjoy and others we fear and avoid. However, sometimes things are not as enjoyable as they used to be, or something that we feared and avoided was actually useful. This can be enough for a Stoic to conclude that there is no objective value in things as they are.
Our views on the world changes, and those changes affect our lives in positive or negative ways. Both of those views – positive and negative – can disappoint and lead to different disturbances on our mind. Your enjoyment in a relationship can hurt you if you bond yourself to the other – losing yourself in the process – what if the other leaves you. Your fear can inhibit you to make some big changes to your life.
Indifference and the Dichotomy of control
Stoics philosophy accepts the middle ground. It values indifference as the way of communication to a truly indifferent world. This attitude follows from a deep philosophical reasoning, which is based on the dichotomy of control. Dichotomy of control is simply this: there are things which I can control (my mind and my will) and those things I cannot (outer events).
Therefore, stoics become indifferent to things following their philosophical reasoning and by putting it into practice. The only valuable thing Stoic nurtured is virtue. This is because virtue depends on our thoughts and actions. But moreso, this relation to virtue is the relation to yourself, which further dictates your world-view and values you ascribe to events and objects.
Stoics recognized four cardinal virtues such as: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They thought that by obtaining one of those virtues, you will obtain all four since they are connected in principle. It is important to know how to put this theoretical knowledge into practice which will strengthen your character. We will discuss three practical measures.
Avoiding attachments
Avoiding attachments to all things is worth mentioning as the first step that leads to indifference. You will become anxious if you want to hold on to something unconditionally, because your mind will evoke fear of losing it. If you relate yourself to others or other objects like that, then you are never truly happy and content – your well-being and happiness are dependent.
To reach a state of indifference, you should turn back to yourself as the carrier of values. Spend some time thinking about yourself and your relation to objects and emotions. Try to understand your needs and also ponder about how your wellbeing is connected to the external world.
Positive and negative imagination
Seneca said: “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” This is the negative side of imagination, because it is not controllable by us. Instead outer events and objects are leading your desires to imagine things which deeply affect you. However, there is a positive side of imagination which is recommendable.
The positive side of imagination, in contrast, lies in our power to imagine possible negative outcomes which, in turn, can fortify our character. By exposing yourself to negative thought training (remember, in this case your mind is in control and you can distance yourself from stress), you can prepare yourself for the next negative outcome in your life. In modern terms, this practice is known as Negative visualization.
Some of the questions you can ask yourself are: 1. How would I feel if I lose my job? 2. How would I feel if my friends betray me? 3. How would I feel if I lose my loved ones? There are many other questions on this list, and one should be careful not to invoke too many of them at once, because our thinking can burst out strong emotional states. However, the first step is always the hardest.
Focus on one question and try not to spend too much time on it. However, it is important to practice it more often. The hardest negative visualization includes thinking about losing a loved one. For stoics, this is only a natural thing to happen.
Namely, death is neither good or evil, but it is reasonable and just. Stoic philosophy in general is materialistic, and bodies are only a pile of matter. This is one of the reasons why Stoic philosophy is important as a whole, in order to understand negative visualization.
Negative visualization has its limits, and Stoic philosophy was criticized on that point. For example, there are, almost ‘inhuman’ negative visualization in the philosophy of Epictetus:
If you love an earthen vessel, say it is an earthen vessel which you love; for when it has been broken, you will not be disturbed. If you are kissing your child or wife, say that it is a human being whom you are kissing, for when the wife or child dies, you will not be disturbed.
Epictetus
Developing a grand perspective
Romanian philosopher and essayist from the late 20th century Emil Cioran said that ‘Universal view melts things into a blur’. This short quote reflects the basic stoic attitude towards microcosmos and macrocosmos.
We all live in our microcosmos. Busy with our daily lives, which are overloaded with commitments, attachments and interests, we collide with other people and objects.
Nevertheless, the universe as a whole existed before us, before our Solar system, and it will continue to exist after we are gone. In other words, universal events are indifferent to us. If you elevate yourself from the current position into a broader one, you will see how your struggles are truly insignificant and meaningless in the grander scheme of things.
However, you are not the one who is insignificant according to stoics, because it is in your might to decide how to conduct your own nature – your own mind. You are not a piece of dust tumbling as the wind blows. With mindful nature, you are able to bring happiness and love to yourself and others which makes our lives a microcosmos worth living. Our connected minds can make microcosmos a place we can call home.
Universal view, therefore, can lead to the ultimate insight on how negative emotions, pains, suffering, struggles, anger, lust, and others, are not worth spending the precious moments that are given to us. This is surely one of the most effective methods which envelops the other two we’ve already discussed.
