The Daily Stoic - Time has a Way of Humbling Us

Episode Date: November 16, 2022

In several of Seneca’s letters he speaks about the power of bloodletting as a medical practice. In one, he actually remarks—with some superiority—how earlier generations had not yet discovered bloodletting and suffered for it.Marcus Aurelius hints at some other medical practices. He speaks of the treatment for ophthalmia—inflammation of the eye—and how doctors treated it with a bit of egg yolk. We also know that his doctor Galen gave Marcus opium for various pains and illnesses in old age.Needless to say, none of these treatments are accepted or prescribed anymore. It’s interesting that the Stoics, who were so good at extrapolating out from the past, didn’t take a lesson from this—that so much of what we are certain about today will be disproven in the future. The point is (and it’s a point well made in Chuck Klosterman’s book But What If We’re Wrong?) that we should always be questioning the status quo—and majority opinion.Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemailGet Stoic inspired books, medallions, and prints to remember these lessons at the Daily Stoic Store: https://store.dailystoic.com/Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic Podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom every day life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2, 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us dailystow.com. In several of Seneca's letters, he speaks about the power of bloodletting as a medical practice.

In one, he actually remarks with some condescension how earlier generations had not yet discovered bloodletting and how they suffered for it. Marcus Aurelius hints at some other medical practices. He speaks of the treatment of an eye disease and how doctors treated it with a bit of edg yolk. We know also that his doctor, Galen, gave Marcus opium for various pains and illnesses in old age. Needless to say, none of these treatments are accepted or prescribed anymore.

It's interesting that the stokes who were so good at extrapolating out from the past didn't take a lesson from this, that so much of what we are certain about today will be disproven in the future, that the so-called wisdom and cutting-edge science of the present is often embarrassingly wrong and nothing illustrates this better than medicine. Imagine we used to take really sick people, cut open their veins, and pour their blood out as a form of healing. Do you think it finally occurred to Seneca as he was forced to commit suicide using basically that exact methodology, just how absurd the practice was? The point is, and it's a point

well made in Chuck Klosterman's book, but what if we're wrong, that we should always be questioning the status quo and the majority opinion, not because it's always wrong, but because it sometimes is. We should be intellectually humble because science and time have a way of humbling us. So too does history and ethics. Seneca thought he was superior to his fellow Romans because he treated his slaves kindly, a distinction we no longer give much credit for. Take it as a fact that much of what we think now will be proven wrong. Much of what we think makes us vastly more informed than the generation of

our parents will not hold up well by the time our children are our age. Question everything, don't be too attached to anything. It's all changing and we are so, so, wrong. Thanks so much for listening. If you could rate this podcast and leave a review on iTunes, that would mean so much to us and it would really help the show. We appreciate it and I'll see you next episode. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery

Plus in Apple Podcasts. Hey there listeners! While we take a little break here, I want to tell you about another podcast that I think you'll like. It's called How I Built This, where host Guy Razz talks to founders behind some of the world's biggest and most innovative companies, to learn how they built them from the ground up. Guy has sat down with hundreds of founders behind well-known companies like Headspace, Manduka Yoga Mats,

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