Altering the Structure of Reality
Episode #269
Hello Friends,
In this week’s episode of the Strong Stoic, I get a bit whacky. In my defence: I’m a fan of Jordan Peterson. In any case, I do believe that many things in life we become so accustomed to that we no longer appreciate just how miraculous they are. I think the same can be said about the very structure of reality. As a quick example, imagine you go to bed every night before the sun goes down and wake up after it’s up again. Would you even be aware that there are stars, or would you take it for granted that “the sky is blue”?
Question to ponder: is the sky blue?
Anyways, I hope you enjoy that odd example and this episode’s attempt to dissect a very deep albeit weird topic.
Stay Strong & Stoic,
Brandon
Episode Description
Peterson is known to say some crazy stuff from time to time. When looking at a quote like the above, it’s easy to get a little hesitant - how can we alter the structure of reality?
I think there’s a lot to unpack in this quote. Firstly, it does seem to be the case that our thoughts form our reality, at least in some part. There is an objective reality out there, though we mere humans don’t always know what it is. That is what science aims to define.
However, there are also our subjective views on the world. Many moderns struggle with this element (or, rather, the alignment of this element with the objective world that exists). Make no mistake - our subjective views on situations do, indeed, change our state. That is the principle that Stoicism is built on.