Someone too stupid, oblivious, or ego-absorbed to engage in self-preservation is not an admirable trait IMO.
YMMV of course.
Someone too stupid, oblivious, or ego-absorbed to engage in self-preservation is not an admirable trait IMO.
YMMV of course.
As someone who probably most closely resembles a stoic, I agree with this.
In my case it’s guilt making me that way. (So “stupid” probably applies, and maybe “oblivious” sometimes because I ignore problems because I don’t have time to deal with them.)
“Guilt” is a word meaning “Valuing others’ priorities for me higher than my own priorities for me.” IMO a bad habit.
One can certainly choose to defer one’s interests in favor of others’ interests. And often should do so.
But when they’ve taken that option away from you so you’re trained to always defer your interests in favor of to theirs, that’s unhealthy guilt, not healthy generosity / love / caring / etc.
I feel fortunate that my paranoia meant that I masked and quarantined my way through most of Covid. Finally got it recently, but it was so mild that I got to take over our computer room and have my own “guest room”.
I’d yell through the door “Call me if there’s anything I can do! I feel fine!” and my wife would say “No, no no… don’t you dare touch that door handle until I’m out of the house!”
And I thought “Hey, I finally have a disease where I get to stay home, but I feel good enough to read and watch stuff on TV!” Woo-hoo!
Yep, that’s how I am, for the most part. If I’m really bad, I may ask you to bring me some warm tea and an extra blanket, but other than that, I’m more than happy to heal in my quiet little space away from everybody and I don’t have to feel guilty about doing absolutely nothing.
Oh no I agree 100%. It’s not a virtue.
UK Chat Show host Russell Harty (RIP) related this story concerning his father’s death.
Harty Senior was old and sick so his demise was no surprise to anyone when he died in the early hours one morning. Harty Junior visited a neighbour later that day to tell her the sad news.
Quoth the neighbour, ‘I’m sorry to hear that. Mind you, I had a shocking night myself’.
Did they ever say WHY it was a shocking night? Like, drop the other shoe already! Don’t leave us hanging!
(Sorry, I have no frame of reference to make me care more about Harty pere’s demise than about the events that engendered astonishment in the neighbor of Harty fils.)
Granted, this is totally unrelated and obscenely inappropriate.
Still, now This is a Shocking Night…