Stoic control dichotomy
The broken leg, in the first century AD
In Rome
There was a master named Epaphroditos
Owns a slave named Epictetus
One day.
And the owner started to twist Epictetus's legs.
Twist hard
Push harder
Epictetus said a word calmly
You'll break your leg if you twist it again
The master did not stop
And then...
Broken leg
Epictetus just said
I told you.
That's all.
Didn't cry
No crash
None of us would react in that situation.
And he said that.
Just go on with your life
Hello
Hello.
I am Wang Lijie
Welcome to the fire of reason
Stoic Practice
Episode 2
Before I go on
I want to say one thing first
About how the leg broke
History tells us otherwise.
Some say it's a birth disability
Some say it's rheumatism
There are also Christian theologians who cite documents from the time
Said it was caused by the owner on purpose
What I just said
It's the most popular version.
It is also the version that best reflects his philosophical spirit
I choose to use it
But I want you to know
Its historical details are disputed
OK
Here we go.
In the last episode, we dismantled the root cause of Stoics' misreading for 2,300 years
It's not a philosophy of patience.
Today's episode
I want to focus on one of the most interesting people in Stoic history
Epictetad
A slave
A broken leg
And he built it up.
I think it's the most sophisticated psychological operating system in human history.
I want to go back to that leg.
Most people finish
The first reaction is too much tolerance
The second question is whether philosophy is insensitive.
These two reactions
It's actually the same misunderstanding
I'd like you to think about a question.
Broken leg
What can Epictetus do?
Can he keep his legs up?
No.
It's broken.
Can he punish his master?
No.
He is a slave
Can he escape?
No.
Runaway slaves in those days would be hunted down
In that situation
The things he can really change
Only one piece
His judgment and reaction to the matter
This
That's where the whole philosophy of Epictetus began.
He distilled this insight into a remarkably concise framework
Later generations gave it a name
It's called the control dichotomy.
Put all the things in the world
Split into two categories
Within your ability
And beyond your reach
Sounds simple enough to be a bit like crap
Don't worry
We unfold slowly
Epictetus himself said
It is within our ability.
It's our judgments, desires, desires and aversions.
It is beyond our ability.
It's our bodies, our reputations, our wealth.
And all the things that are not up to us
He said the former
Is your true kingdom of freedom
The latter category
It's something borrowed.
Something that could be taken away at any time
You put your energy there.
It's a waste.
Let me translate into a more modern language
You have a meeting today
The boss criticized you in public
Break this thing down into two categories
What the boss said, his tone of voice, what others think of you
None of this is within your power.
It is within your ability.
Just one thing
How do you respond
How would you say?
What do you do next?
You own a stock
It's down 10 percent today.
How the market works, how other investors judge, and how macro policies change
Not within your scope
Within your range
Is your analytical framework still valid and whether your position management is reasonable?
Did you notice
Most of our anxiety, pain, anger, self-doubt
The root cause almost always comes from the same thing
We pour our energy into the ones that are not within range
Then complain about your inner drought
I'd like to use a metaphor to illustrate this
Think of all your attention and energy as a bucket
You wake up every morning.
This bucket is full
Then you start watering it out.
Pour on what others say about you
Pour on why that happened yesterday
Pour on the leader why not reuse you
Why didn't the market go as you expected?
Down all day
The bucket is empty
Nothing grew.
This is not laziness.
It's not hard enough.
This is the wrong direction.
You poured water on a land that will never belong to you
This metaphor
In fact, it echoes one of the things Epictetus said repeatedly in the treatise
You don't let anyone casually come in and manage your property
But you give your heart to everyone who passes by
To mess up
Any external stimulus
A criticism, a rise and fall, a cold look
As long as you don't censor it
It automatically takes over your mind
OK
There's a problem here that I have to make clear
Because a lot of people are hearing this framework for the first time
The first reaction is
Isn't this just lying flat?
Accept reality
No resistance
at the mercy of others
Go with the flow
I understand this reaction
But it's the wrong reaction.
It's completely wrong.
The control dichotomy is not about giving up effort.
It's about putting your effort precisely where your blade is.
Epictetus himself is the best counterexample
He is a slave
Nothing.
Broken leg
Logically the least qualified to talk about inner freedom
But he not only lived a more lucid life than many free men
He was later released by his master
First teach philosophy in Rome
He was later expelled from Rome by the emperor
To Nicopolis in northwestern Greece
He founded his own philosophy school there
His students came from all walks of life in Rome
Even the emperor Hadrian himself visited his school
A former slave with a broken leg
Became one of the most influential Stoic philosophers of the Roman Empire
It's going with the flow.
Is this called lying flat?
The true logic of the control dichotomy is
Put your limited energy
Withdraw from the uncontrollable noise
Focusing on the ones that can really make a difference
It's not doing less.
It's the right thing to do.
And do it with more focus and power
You take back the energy wasted in anxiety
To refine your judgment
Take back the energy wasted complaining
To improve your operations
You're not contracting.
You are focusing
That's addition.
Not subtraction
But I have to stop here.
Because something interesting happened.
I said the control dichotomy is addition.
Focusing, strengthening, recovering energy
This description
Let go of obsession as I said before when I was talking about Buddhism
Sounds about the same.
But actually
The direction of these two roads
There's a subtle difference, but it's very real.
What is the path to Buddhism?
In the framework of consciousness-only I talked about earlier
Just found the one who kept saying it was mine
This is not good for me, it threatens my Mna consciousness
Then through practice
Slowly weaken its grip on you
It's about letting go of that clutching self a little bit
Subtraction
Reduce to the end
Even the one who wants to let go of the obsession, I am no longer obsessive
What about the Stoic path?
Quite the contrary.
It means
You have a true rational self.
The self has judgment and will.
It's the only thing you can have completely
The direction of practice
Is to reinforce the rational self.
Let it not be hijacked by emotions, by external consequences, by the judgments of others
Is addition
Make the real you stronger and more aware
Two scissors
From different directions
Cut towards the same line
Buddhism is cut from selflessness
Gradually dissolve the me that thinks I am dominating
Stoics cut from the rational self
Cut off the fake me that has been hijacked by emotions
Leave the real rational subject
Destinations look similar
It's all about reducing unconscious automated responses
Are no longer randomly overturned by external events
But it's really the other way around.
Certainly.
Any cross-traditional comparison of three or two sentences is necessarily simplified
Buddhism has a progressive side
Stoics also have a side of letting go of obsession
But the differences in core path directions are real
This tension should not be smoothed out
There's a deeper problem behind it.
Do you believe that there is a true rational self that needs to be strengthened?
Or do you believe that all self is an illusion?
Need to be seen through
For 2,000 years, no one has given an answer that satisfies everyone
We're just honestly putting that tension on the table today
Carry it down.
Let's see Taoism again
Lao Tzu said that those who are content are rich
He also said that the husband is indisputable
Therefore, the world cannot compete with it
At first glance
This is very similar to the control dichotomy
Accept what you can't change
Focus on what you can do
Not fixated on results
The surface is indeed similar
But there's a fundamental difference at the bottom.
What I said is not to argue
It's not that you don't act
It's about taking action, not owning, not fighting for results.
Because Tao is already working
You follow it.
natural arrival
I taught you to do it
Don't get attached to the gesture and results of that doing
Epictetad's focus is manageable
It's augmented logos.
Stoics believed that there was a rational order to the universe
Human reason is the fractal manifestation of this order in humans.
So Stoics encourages you to participate actively in the world
Fulfill obligations, take responsibility, and strengthen rationality
Use the power of reason to deal with everything
Simply put
Taoist nature is the flow of inaction
Stoic nature is a rational order
Both agree on one thing
Don't consume yourself for results you can't control
But why not?
The logic at the root is completely different.
OK
We continue back to Epictetus
To really understand the control dichotomy
You have to really understand this person's situation.
Because his philosophy was not deduced from his study
A man cornered.
The only way out found in the corner
When he was born
There is no choice
slave
This is who he came into this world with
No one asked him if he would like to
His name is Epictetus itself
In Greek it means to be acquired
It literally means something that is possessed.
Even the name reminds him
You are someone else's property
His owner, Epaphroditos
Secretary to Emperor Nero
Powerful in Rome
In the early days of the empire
Slave owners abused and even killed their slaves
There's almost no real punishment.
Epictetus's body
Not his own in a legal sense
Replace you
How do you live?
Most people's instinctive answer
Or numb
Or angry
Or despair
Or just wait for the chance to escape
These reactions are normal
It's all human.
Epictetus chose another path
And you didn't always figure this out.
He figured it out bit by bit
He was exposed to Stoic philosophy
And he met his teacher, Musonius Rufus.
Start to really understand something
If my body doesn't belong to me
What is it that belongs to me?
He thought about it for a long time
Got an answer
My judgment
Belong to me
My choice about anything
Belong to me
How do I respond to the world?
Belong to me
This is not the spirit of Ah Q
Ah Q maintains self-esteem by distorting facts
Got hit
Said I was beaten by my son
Pack humiliation into glory
This is self-deception
Epictetus doesn't distort any facts
A broken leg is broken
He just doesn't add needlessly painful judgment to the fact
He came up with a Greek name for it.
Prohaeris.
Can be translated into internal selection
Not the will to grit your teeth
But you are in any situation
The ability I always have to choose how to respond
This is the only thing you really have
The master can break your leg
But he can't break the way you judge the matter
In that era
Slavery is a natural social institution
But Epictetus was the first to break it down.
Who is really a slave?
So he says.
A master who owns slaves
If you are afraid of other people's evaluations all day
Sleepless for power gains and losses
Worrying about the gains and losses of wealth
Is he free?
He is but a slave in another kind of bondage
The shackles are not on the ankles
In the mind
reverse
A person who is a slave with a broken leg
If he stays awake about the things he can control
We don't let our external circumstances overturn our internal judgments.
He is free.
Inner freedom
Not given by identity
You got it yourself.
Or didn't get it.
OK
I now want to put this framework
Translate into something more specific that we can actually use today
You are in the company
The rating did not meet expectations
What was your reaction?
You are in the market
A logic you like has been falsified
What was your reaction?
You and an important person
Misunderstood each other
Or misunderstood
What was your reaction?
In these situations
What is there that you can control?
What is beyond your control?
The first step in controlling dichotomies
Not giving an answer
It's about forming a habit.
The moment anything happens
Stop
Do this classification first
This is what Epictetus repeatedly said about censoring your impressions.
Between incoming information and your response
Insert a rational checkpoint
Ask every impression before it enters the door
Are you within my ability?
Or something I have no control over at all
This checkpoint
It doesn't make you cold.
It's about not being taken away by the automated reaction.
As I said in the last episode
This is the same as what is said in consciousness-only between the automatic processing of mind and the conscious response
Build that awareness
They're highly similar at the operational level.
Oriental said
Be aware of your obsessions
The West says
Review your impressions
It's the same action
The language is different
But Epictetus' framework
It's more than just stopping and thinking.
It also has this layer below
This layer is rarely mentioned
But I think it's the most powerful part
Stoics had a very subtle attitude.
It's called Operation Fringe Reserve.
When you have classified the inner circle and the outer circle
For things outside the circle
It's not that you don't care
Nor accept
It's about doing what you do.
And keep an outlet inside
What do you mean?
For example?
You are going to participate in a very important proposal today
You want to get this project?
It's not that I don't care about the outcome.
Whatever the result is
That really sucks
I think we should be talking about this.
I'm fully prepared
I do my best.
I do what is within my power.
At the same time
The customer doesn't nod at the end.
Out of my control
So I'm not betting my inner stability on that outcome.
full force
But don't bet
Investors know this best
You can get the process exactly right.
Research, judgment, positioning
There is evidence for every step
But the market can go against your logic in the short term
If you break down every time you hold a position
It's not that you have poor judgment.
It's you who bet your mental health on something you can't control
Variable
This is what Stoic calls discipline of action
Full action
And keep an outlet inside
Accept that the results may not be as expected
Not pessimistic
It's the psychological structure of risk management.
And at the level of desire
Epictetus was even more direct.
True free training
It starts with desire.
It's not that you can't have desires.
You check your desires.
Does it point inside or outside the circle?
I want to be liked by everyone
outside the circle
You can't control what everyone thinks of you
I want my children to succeed
outside the circle
The child's choice is his own
I want it to keep going up.
outside the circle
The short-term trend of the market is not in your hands
When you find that your desires are directed outside the circle
Epictetus doesn't mean forcibly suppressing it
I think we should be talking about this.
Rephrase it.
From what I must
Change to if possible
I hope
It has to be what I want from this
Change it to I will try my best.
Also I accept any result
The difference between words
Behind it is a fundamental change in psychological structure
The former is betting one's emotional stability on an external variable
The latter is achieved while fully investing
Maintain your inner safety margin
Speaking of which
Let's make a comparison
Put the three traditions together
Buddhism
Let go of obsession
The core lies in
That I am dependent and insubstantial
Obsessed with anything
Including being obsessed with my success
It's all about consciousness automatically grabbing identity
Liberation is the dissolution of the grasping itself.
Taoism says
fight for
action
But not possession
Don't compete for results
Because the Tao works right there.
You conform to it.
That's enough.
Stoic said
Focus Control Circle
Desire, judgment, will.
These are your kingdoms
Defend it
Strengthen it
Put all your energy into this
Remain calm about everything outside the circle
All three are answering the same question
How to deal with things beyond our control
The Buddhist answer is
Get rid of the me who wants to control
The Taoist answer is
Just do it
Not clinging to the results of doing
The stoic answer is
Clearly demarcate boundaries
Do your best within the boundaries
Remain calm outside the border
Three roads
Three kinds of wisdom
There is overlap
There are real forks.
We don't have to decide which is better.
But we can ask ourselves
Which one is more suitable for you now?
Which one is in a particular situation?
Is what I really need
One more tool in the toolbox.
Not a bad thing
Now let's do something very practical.
Because I think what I've talked about today
It shouldn't just be over with a nod that makes sense
One of the most important points Epictetus emphasized throughout his entire teaching
You understand the truth
Doesn't mean you'll use it
It's like reading ten swimming books
You still choke when you jump into the water
His simplest daily exercise
No preparation required.
No need to meditate
It doesn't take a specific time.
You just have to remember one thing.
Every time next time
You're feeling anxiety, anger, frustration, grievance.
Or any kind of uncomfortable emotion arises
Do one thing first
Just one thing
Ask Yourself
In this matter
What is within my ability?
Just this one question
It forces your brain to automate panic from this terrible
Switch to an active perspective on what I can do now
It's not about killing emotions.
It's about giving the emotions an outlet.
Guide it into a directional question
The first sentence of the manual is
Some things are within our power
Some are not there
When did you really understand this sentence?
Your life will start to look a little different
Attention
It's a little different.
Not immediately enlightened
Not immediately invincible
It was a little bit.
Because the exercise itself
It's like Epictetus said.
It's a daily lesson.
Not a one-time epiphany
And I'll leave you with one final twist.
But I think it's worth mentioning
Epictetus didn't leave any autographs.
All his teachings
It was all recorded by his student Arian sitting in class
It is the treatise and manual we have today
He lectures.
Others remember
He didn't leave a word for himself.
A person who has never been free in his life
In the end, he influenced the entire Western civilization with his ideas for two thousand years
I don't know how you understand this.
Every time I think of it myself
It's a wonderful feeling.
As if he spent his life
Living the control dichotomy as the best footnote
The fate of his body is not in his hands
The Power of Thought
It's all in his hands
And that power
He chose to give it to everyone
OK
Today's episode
We started with Epictetus' broken leg.
Disassembles the three layers of the control dichotomy
The boundaries of judgment, retention in action, and the recalibration of desire
Your energy bucket today
How much water is poured on things that are beyond your control
Welcome to chat in the comment area.
I am Wang Lijie
See you next time.