This is How Dumb Anger Is
The Daily Stoic15 Okt 2019

This is How Dumb Anger Is

Seneca wrote eloquently about how absurd the need to “get even” is. No one would think to return a bite to a dog or a kick to a mule, he writes, but when someone hurts us or pisses us off, that’s exactly what we do. We smile and laugh at this clever analogy. He’s right, we think, no one would bite a dog.

Except anger actually does do stuff that dumb to us all the time—or worse! Who hasn’t thrown a television remote that wasn’t working or smacked a vending machine that took your money? Who hasn’t banged on their keyboard when it froze or kicked a child’s toy across the room after painfully stepping on it in the middle of the night? Who hasn’t shouted obscenities at their headphones when your hand gets caught in the cord and you accidentally rip them off your head while walking through an airport or getting into a car? Who hasn’t had to resist the urge to throw their smartphone in the ocean or their golf club into a lake when these objects refuse to do what you have directed them to?

If there weren’t plenty of reasons to be suspicious of anger already, the fact that it compels you to try to physically punish inanimate objects is a pretty good one. The fact that, in anger, we often break or damage our own property—essentially punishing ourselves to send a message to something that by definition cannot receive it—tells us everything we need to know about anger.

Mainly, that it’s blinding, that it’s hard to control, and that it’s shamefully stupid.

So avoid it as much as you can.


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Avsnitt(2952)

If You Were Tested, Would You Pass?

If You Were Tested, Would You Pass?

Perhaps you remember the 90s hit by the band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, “The Impression That I Get.” You know, the ‘neeeeevvvvvvveeeerrrrrr had to knock on wood’ song? If you haven’t listened to it ...

23 Jan 20192min

We Are What We Think About

We Are What We Think About

Ok, so it’s worth saying bluntly to any of the nice people out there who might believe in it: The Law of Attraction is complete horseshit. If you need proof, here’s a funny example: In 2015, the autho...

22 Jan 20193min

What Other People Get Away With Is Not An Excuse

What Other People Get Away With Is Not An Excuse

Let us stipulate first that Serena Williams is an extremely talented tennis player and an honest and ethical person. Let us also stipulate that she has been unfairly treated by chair and line umpires,...

21 Jan 20195min

We Must Live By This Rule

We Must Live By This Rule

Zigong once asked Confucius: “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?” His reply: “Is not RECIPROCITY such a word?”Thus we have, by yet another source, another form...

18 Jan 20192min

When Are You Going To Be Free?

When Are You Going To Be Free?

Most of us tell ourselves that we’re putting up with ill-treatment or keeping our mouths shut about our beliefs because we’re working on something big. We tell ourselves that we’re slogging away in th...

17 Jan 20192min

How To Respond To Crazy People

How To Respond To Crazy People

One suspects Marcus Aurelius was referring to a particularly frustrating person, some opponent who just would not, or could not, get the message, when he wrote:“You can hold your breath until you’re b...

16 Jan 20192min

Don’t Be Distracted By Darkness

Don’t Be Distracted By Darkness

There’s no question that depressing things happen in this world. They always have and always will. People lie, cheat, steal. Envy, avarice, selfishness—it’s all out there. And it’s hard to miss. It’s ...

15 Jan 20192min

The Civil War Inside Each One Of Us

The Civil War Inside Each One Of Us

Martin Luther King Jr. was fond of using the American Civil War as a metaphor, not just to explain the divisive political landscape, but the divide within each person. Just as there was a North and So...

14 Jan 20193min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
varvet
rss-jossan-nina
rss-svart-marknad
svd-tech-brief
rss-borsens-finest
badfluence
uppgang-och-fall
avanzapodden
bathina-en-podcast
fill-or-kill
24fragor
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
lastbilspodden
tabberaset
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
rss-dagen-med-di
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
borsmorgon
rss-veckans-trade