Memo #10: Minimalism, Stoicism, Escapism.
In which I invite controversy by critiquing popular spiritual trends.
Hi there,
I’ve had a shaky relationship with Minimalism and Stoicism. Despite having flirted with both spiritual trends, I’ve come to develop a rather unique perspective on these philosophies that, ultimately, prohibits me from seriously practicing either of the two.
Allow me to explain.
I came across this study yesterday which concludes something I’ve suspected for a while.
In contrast to our hypothesis, stoic ideology negatively predicted wellbeing, as well as engagement in life..endorsement of stoic ideology might be detrimental..Past research has shown positive relationships between stoicism and depression
In response to this study, I tweeted 👇
As you may well imagine, my tweet received some pushback from those who practice either of these philosophies. In fact, you may be one of them. You may already sense an uprise in negative emotions toward me for criticizing your cherished practice. To that, I’d say, just be a stoic for the rest of this memo and hear me out :)
Minimalism, Stoicism, Escapism.
First, let’s establish the core premise.
Both Minimalism and Stoicism have seen a growing interest in the past decade.
Take a look at the Google trends for these two keywords as a proxy for the overall interest in the two.
Now, here’s my central question – what does it say about our society that it is pushing a greater number of people to adopt the Stoic-Minimalist mindset?
Let me be clear. I’m less interested in whether these two philosophies themselves are any good, but more interested in the question of what the rise of them says about our society.
Minimalism
Minimalism is an injunction to own fewer material possessions. Let’s take a look at a few facts and see if they are corresponding with the minimalist trend.
First, the millennials own a much smaller portion of the total wealth than the older baby-boomers.
Second, the housing costs have soared in the past decades at a much faster rate than the rate of inflation or income growth.
So we have a much poorer generation in an economy where they have to live in small overpriced studios.
Is it really then a surprise that they turn to a Minimalist life of fewer possessions? What other options do they have?
Stoicism
This tweet from @robkhendorson captures my thoughts on Stoicism really well.
What if the rise of Stoicism is a cultural proxy for how people feel about the prospects of a given society?
If the world outside feels hopeless, then the only thing you can control is your own emotions and reactions to external stimuli. That’s what Stoicism endorses.
Escapism
In my earlier memo on Peter Thiel’s worldview of the future, I wrote about the increasing trend of going into inward journeys as opposed to outward – a shift away from going to the moon to wandering the mind-palace.
Again, the popularity of psychedelics vs. space exploration keywords gives us a clue. We notice a sharp and then gradual decline in space exploration during the same time period where the interest in psychedelics keeps growing.
Looking at these trends in conjunction, I’d ask the same question again – what does the modern rise of Stoicism, Minimalism, and Escapism tell us about the state of the world we find ourselves in? Have we accomplished everything in the physical world and all that’s left to do is exploring the virtual? Have we truly given up on the physical world?
As we think through the potential solutions to the Fermi paradox, one has to wonder if the alien civilizations never visit us because they eventually plugged themselves into the virtual world, never to explore any more in the physical universe.
To me, one of the most pressing challenges of our times is to kickstart this growth in the physical world back again. We have to get back to the future. We have to inspire the younger generation to explore and build in the external world. I might write a longer piece about how we can do that. Until then, feel free to reply and let me know your suggestions.
See you tomorrow,
Ayush