The Stoic Approach to Human Nature

If you’ve lived on this planet for any length of time, you’ll come to some general conclusions about the world and the people in it.

While your thoughts and conclusions about life, people, yourself, etc. are uniquely your own — they aren’t new.

Many years ago, a group of men called the Stoics also came to some wide-ranging conclusions about human nature that echo pretty well into the modern day.

This article will be a quick distillation of some of their thoughts and how you can start to apply them to your life and the times we live in.

[toc]

But let’s first start it off with this.

Why is learning about human nature important?

To this day, we humans remain highly susceptible to the moods and emotions of those around us, compelling all kinds of behavior on our part—unconsciously imitating others, wanting what they have, getting swept up in viral feelings of anger or outrage. – Robert Greene, The Laws of Human Nature

If there’s any lesson to be learned about the past 2 years (at the time of this writing) since the pandemic started, it’s that humans are very susceptible to various emotions, negative ones in particular.

A man who is seemingly mild mannered at home or in the office can turn into a raging beast when in the midst of a belligerent crowd.

A person who calls themselves “rational” or “enlightened” can lower themselves to posting conspiracy theories on social media and getting into fights on the Internet with people who disagree with their views.

Simply put: there is a very dark side about human nature that many people do not talk about or just sweep under the rug.

Things such as:

• Spreading lies and gossip about a person in order to diminish their reputation
• Backstabbing friends and acquaintances in order to gain competitive advantage
• Resorting to violence in order to make people comply with demands

And the list goes on and on and ON.

Most importantly, it is essential that you yourself understand human nature because these traits exist in you as well.

So, what do we do about this?

As stated earlier, the issues of how to deal with human nature are nothing new. This is all old stuff.

Why is the Stoic viewpoint on human nature important?

“No one will bring back the years; no one will restore you to yourself. Life will follow the path it began to take, and will neither reverse nor check its course…Meanwhile death will arrive, and you have no choice in making yourself available for that.” – Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

If you’re reading this article, it’s safe to say that you already know who the Stoics are.

But if you somehow don’t, I’ve written an article on modern Stoicism and it touches on who the founders were in addition to people who were inspired by them.

Regardless, the Stoics lived in a time that is different yet also the same as our modern day society.

What do I mean by this?

It was different because they lived in a time with no Internet access, no phone service, where even a small illness could mean death, and constant warring among multiple tribes and factions. The world back then was a straight up fight for survival, an environment where it was kill or be killed.

It was also the same because once again, human nature has been the same for thousands of years.

What do the Stoics have to say about human nature?

The Stoics have a unique take on human nature because of the difference in their world and ours and it’s one that should be read and meditated upon.

Throughout all of their writings, they each touch upon various aspects of human nature such as death, greed, lust, idleness, mental sanity, and so on and so forth.

All of the things that we seem to grapple with today, they did as well back then. Here’s a few examples each from the big three Stoics (Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus) and a breakdown of each.

Knowing what you’re dealing with

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. These are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

This classic quote from Marcus Aurelius begins the Meditations and sets the tone for everything that comes after.

Throughout your day/week/year/life, you will encounter various individuals who undermine others in various ways. Why do they do this? The reasons are plentiful, however, Aurelius asserts that it’s because of fundamental ignorance on how to properly relate to other humans.

While this says more about them than it does about you, later on in the passage his prescription for this is acceptance of human nature.

Instead of wishing things would be different, you just accept that you will encounter these types of people in life and you do your best to minimize their influence in your life.

The passing by of idle moments

You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, though all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last. – Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

It is human nature to take things for granted. Time, money, health, friends, etc. But in this case, Seneca is explicitly talking about time.

Many of us (if we’re being honest) look back into the future with some wistfulness or regret, while being apprehensive of the future. Meanwhile, while this is occurring, we are forgetting what we currently have: the present.

We take the present for granted when in reality it is the only thing we really have to sculpt our life.

This is why it’s important to seize the moments passing by and develop strong time and self-management.

The only constant in life

Look at everything that exists, and observe that it is already in dissolution and in change, and as it were putrefaction or dispersion, or that everything is so constituted by nature as to die. – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

The only main constant in life is that that everything is in a constant state of change.

Situations will change. People will change. YOU will change.

There is nothing that is exempt from this. This is the natural tide of life.

Many people think that they or the things around them are immune to change.

• “She’ll always love me”
• “I now am skilled at X, so now I have job security”
• “I’ll always be poor”

All of these situations are malleable. A woman won’t always love you. “Job security” isn’t real. People who are poor don’t have to stay poor.

All of these situations are in flux.

The best way to adapt yourself to them is to accept what they are (and enjoy them for what they are) and move into a better or new situation if you can.

How to Apply Stoicism to Human Nature

The three scenarios above are just three aspects of human nature when it comes to life. To apply Stoicism to the realm of human nature, do the following three things.

1. Cultivate self-awareness

Most people know about self-awareness, but what is it…really? I would define self-awareness as:

The ability to observe (without judgment) your thoughts, feelings, and emotions in an attempt to place them in an optimal state relative to any given situation.

In order to apply the teachings of Stoicism, you must develop some degree of self-awareness.

This is done through some degree of introspection and constant improvement.

To learn more about self-awareness and how you can develop/increase yours, check out the article How to Increase Self-Awareness.

2. Get rid of your addictions/compulsions

If you want to know one way to be really unhappy, it’s to develop a bad habit and/or an addiction.

Addiction will trap anybody no matter how smart they are; into a life of shame and fixation on activities or behaviors with devastating medium-to-long-term consequences.

What does this have to do with Stoicism and human nature?

The Stoics knew and respected the power of addiction and bad habits. They saw what it does to a person and how it is almost nearly impossible to untangle yourself from its grasp the moment you get ensnared.

While addiction is a beast in and of itself to unravel, one solution to getting rid of extremely bad habits and compulsions is what is known as a “dopamine detox”.

A dopamine detox is a multi-step method to help unhook you from addictive and compulsive behavior, that is starting to become a larger part of the modern lifestyle.

I’d recommend it if you’re trying to implement Stoic teachings.

3. Learn and implement principles

As we have all seen with the world before and after the pandemic, the world is a constantly changing and shifting place (as stated earlier).

There’s so much in our environment that doesn’t change and that is what are known as principles.

Principles are timeless “laws” (of human nature in this case) that don’t change whether it’s 2000 B.C. or 2000 A.D.

The Stoics had several principles which they built their philosophy on, which are just general universal laws of life.

If you need some help implementing principles and mindsets, I’d start there.

Conclusion + Wrapping Up

Stoicism is a fine philosophy to help you orient yourself towards reality and other human beings. It teaches you about self-awareness, resilience, and how to manage your mind. These problems are not new, these are things that the human being has always dealt with from time immemorial.

If you want to best take advantage of this philosophy, learn how to cultivate self-awareness, get rid of your compulsions, and develop principles in your life.

How has Stoic philosophy affected how you relate to other human beings? Sound off in the comments.