"Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them." -Epictetus- What do you think?

Question

What do you think of this quote?

Answer 1

Absolutely: Jesus once said: Who am I? What am I? As I am I am NOT. To me, it isn't hard to imagine what this means is: once I define who I am, then I am no longer the person i set out to be. Therefore, elimating the need for a reference point, set process, or concept of what is existence. Quantum Mechanics says this too in that there are no literally no things. other than they exist as probablity waves which collapse upon being seen by an observer. The complimentary principle states that:It is literally impossible to express an absolute rule (or truth) without altering it's valitdity. As far as Jesus was concerned, there was no Jesus Christ.

Socrates, Aristotle and Hermes all viewed the human condition as a catacomb for death; matter being the anti-thesis of spirit.They write that is our corrupted physical senses (touch, vision, smell) that somehow trap the soul from being able to perceive without the mind, which is what buddhism covers to a lesser extent. Basically, the idea is that sometime in the past we collectively decided it is was okay to lie to ourselves and we continue to do so about many things. It's all about keeping this reality going. Have you heard about Socrates allegory in "the republic?" Everything we are experiencing can be attuned to caveman chained down in a cave viewing his own shadow on the wall. Only when he turns around is he able to see the true cause of his visions, which is of course the campfire. But having been trapped in utter darkness for so long, he knows what freedom from physical form is!

To a physicist, dimension is defined as the ability to move. Lines move left and right...people move up and down + through time etc. Here's where the funny part occurs: a dimension is only real if it can register in the next dimension higher up. Thus, a line has no ablity to have an impact on let's say a square. Only untill people invented elevators did we aquire the ability to move up and down...but still having no impact on time. Basically, a square is not real b/c it is made of lines which are made of points, which are not real. (a point in space which is infinetly small cannot be real.) Only REAL shapes can have definite form...this qualitiy is known as 'thickness.'

Answer 2

Disturbed Things

Answer 3

I disagree with Epictetus, the Stoic.

Stoicism was an ascetic system, teaching perfect indifference (apathea or apathy) to everything external, for nothing external could be either good or evil. Hence to the Stoics both pain and pleasure, poverty and riches, sickness and health, were supposed to be equally unimportant.

Knowing this the quote seems to be consistent with his beliefs.

It seems sad however to be completely indifferent to love of spouse, parents, children, or neighbor.

Did these people cry when their children died?
Did these people reach out to others in need?

Going back to the quote, I wonder if a stoic would be disturbed by a volcano erupting around them.

With love in Christ.

Answer 4

Tsk. Epictetus thought too deeply on that and along the wrong lines.

Man's disturbance is caused by the view he takes of them, but is not his view the reason he is man? He is a human, and therefore is an individual with his own differences in what would disturb him.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
"Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them." -Epictetus- What do you think?
What do you think of this quote?

Answer 6

Hi!

There is much truth in this. The more we understand and have empathy with the people and creatures around us, the less will we fear them and the more likely we will be to in turn alarm them by steeping across the behavior boundaries they perceive. People still fear snakes, spiders and a whole range of things. If encountering something they fear, people can react in ways that are out of proportion to the actual level of threat the object of their fear represents. It is their fear that disturbs them not the creature they have encountered.

Some fear is, of course, legitimate. But even in such cases we can harness our fear or allow it to harness us.

Good wishes.

Answer 7

Just look at how people are refractary to change:

Learning the Earth was round
Earth not being the center of the universe
Women are not inferior creatures
Colored people aren't inferior to white people
Etc...

People KILLED other people who claimed those things... Some still do.

(Jesus died because he said violence was a bad thing)

Answer 8

I don't think it's very accurate. Humans have it built into them to be disturbed by gruesome things and situations, it's a survival technique.

Answer 9

Quite true, and underscored by his pupil Marcus Aurelius in "Meditations."

Answer 10

I'm disturbed by your female avatar with a male name.