I like the way you are going. I'm coming to realise that psychotherapy and philosophy are terrible as bedfellows. We're seeing Stoicism increasingly pitched as a consolation and a way to cope with the stresses of life. CBT garnished with "timeless" maxims. But we're ignoring the universalist, profoundly revolutionary nature of Stoicism's "good news" - we can be happy, not just not-sad, and that's entirely within our control.
"The triangle at the center makes explicit the three types of core beliefs we all have: about ourselves, about other people, and about the future."
I would suggest that it is missing a couple of items: core beliefs about other things in general and beliefs about the past (the second of which you pointed out). Considering reality as a space - time continuum, you, right now, are the origin, then other people and things are translations in space and the past and future are translations in time.
Seen this way, a case could be made that this encompasses all core beliefs about c
oncrete objects: yourself and everything else in space and time. Considering that the world also consists of abtract things (ideas or concepts), there are core beliefs about concepts, also.
The reason I am mentioning this is because these other core beliefs are important too. As an example, I want to contrast the fear of death to the fear of disease. There are many people who have problematic thoughts, feelings and behaviors around Covid and the efficacy of vaccines. This is due to their core beliefs about objects (viruses and diseases) and abstract objects (knowledge of science, in general, and whether or not the "deep state" manipulates you). This is more than a core belief about other people, such as Dr. Fauci.
I have another problem. I remind myself all the time that we only live in the present and I try not to focus on the past or the future, so I don't want to plan too much and decide not to book a flight to visit my loved ones for next Christmas.
Not easy, this one. I really liked the article on cosmopolitanism that you linked to early on.
I like the way you are going. I'm coming to realise that psychotherapy and philosophy are terrible as bedfellows. We're seeing Stoicism increasingly pitched as a consolation and a way to cope with the stresses of life. CBT garnished with "timeless" maxims. But we're ignoring the universalist, profoundly revolutionary nature of Stoicism's "good news" - we can be happy, not just not-sad, and that's entirely within our control.
This is an interesting statement:
"The triangle at the center makes explicit the three types of core beliefs we all have: about ourselves, about other people, and about the future."
I would suggest that it is missing a couple of items: core beliefs about other things in general and beliefs about the past (the second of which you pointed out). Considering reality as a space - time continuum, you, right now, are the origin, then other people and things are translations in space and the past and future are translations in time.
Seen this way, a case could be made that this encompasses all core beliefs about c
oncrete objects: yourself and everything else in space and time. Considering that the world also consists of abtract things (ideas or concepts), there are core beliefs about concepts, also.
The reason I am mentioning this is because these other core beliefs are important too. As an example, I want to contrast the fear of death to the fear of disease. There are many people who have problematic thoughts, feelings and behaviors around Covid and the efficacy of vaccines. This is due to their core beliefs about objects (viruses and diseases) and abstract objects (knowledge of science, in general, and whether or not the "deep state" manipulates you). This is more than a core belief about other people, such as Dr. Fauci.
I have another problem. I remind myself all the time that we only live in the present and I try not to focus on the past or the future, so I don't want to plan too much and decide not to book a flight to visit my loved ones for next Christmas.
Is this serious, or what? https://www.gocomics.com/mike-du-jour/2023/09/29
I’m glad to read the Stoics also have the past as part of the core beliefs. 👍
So clear, so important, AND so helpful! Thank you, Massimo!