New Series: The Practice Problem
Hey beautiful people,
For the build-up to the Beyond-Self Discipline: Thumos Bootcamp Edition course starting on September 3rd (read more about the course here), we are offering a free four-part series at The Stoa called “Beyond Self-Discipline: The Practice Problem” starting this Sunday @ 12:00 PM ET. This series serves two purposes …
For Daniel and I (along with interested Stoans) to theorize about the problem that Beyond Self-Discipline (BSD) is responding to.
A teaser for BSD-curious people to get a sense of the practice of BSD before signing up for the course.
Over the course of four weeks, we will collectively be engaging in a week-to-week accountability system with one practice: the most important practice you have been neglecting. It could be waking up earlier, a certain diet, a specific exercise, or a meditative practice. Whatever you sense is wise to experiment with. If you are called to step up your life, in a way that is orientated towards wisdom, you can RSVP to the series here …
Beyond Self-Discipline: The Practice Problem. August 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th @ 12:00 PM ET. RSVP here. 45-90 mins.
So, what is The Practice Problem?
In the spirit of “flash philosophy,” here is my provisional answer:
Practice. A customary action that shapes one’s capacity. We are practicing animals (Stoterdijk) practicing within an ecology of practices (EOP). The “practice problem” is the tendency people have to practice something they sense is not wise to practice (a “bad habit”), not practicing something they sense is wise to practice, and/or not having a good sense of what is wise to practice. This leads to a practice soup (sister concept: “thought soup”), an incoherent EOP, adopted in an unexamined way. To address the practice problem one must have the following:
Each practice within their EOP be mutually supportive of one another,
A bespoke EOP to meet their unique situation,
A protean EOP that adjusts when circumstances require change.
Total institutions (Goffman), such as barracks and monasteries, partly solve the practice problem by having an EOP designed for their residents, along with a cultural expectation of their enactment with a system of accountability. Many cannot (nor need not) live in a total institution, leaving them with no one to design their EOP, encourage enactment, and/or keep them accountable. Moreover, living outside a total institution leaves one vulnerable to unhealthy relational dynamics, influence campaigns, and the temptations of modernity, encouraging the adoption of unwise practices.
To address the problem outside of a total institution one must have the following:
An EOP system that allows for experimentation, feedback, and adjustments.
Sufficient wisdom to know what to practice.
Sufficient discipline to do the practices.
It takes a rare individual to design an EOP system, along with having the wisdom and self-discipline to practice on their own. Going beyond self-discipline will be needed for most.
For BSD, we will be arguing for and experimenting with the following two criteria as a response to the problem …
A [practical] philosophical fellowship, where intimate inquiry leverages the “solomon paradox” to discern what practices are wise to experiment with.
An accountability group that is loving and non-coercive.
You can read Daniel’s take on The Practice Problem here.
Throughout the series, we want to encourage people to come up with their own definition of the problem, a theory of why it exists, along with a proposal on how to solve it.
PS. My “Dispatches to Thumos” starts today @ 8:00 PM ET.
I wanted an authentic way to market for BSD and I also really miss journalling, so I thought I’d do the following: for 30 days, starting today, I will release mini-journals (aka dispatches) that invoke thumos in my body and hopefully inspire it in yours. Here is a sample:
Thumos has no age. That is what I said to a friend this morning. I do not even know what that means. I do not even know what thumos means. I get confused when I think about the word in a propositional way. It is one of those words that defies propositional capture, where excess understanding deadens the state the word is meant to represent. The word thumos does not just represent a state though, it presents one. Thumos is an invocation that fills the body with fiery intensity and a thrusting knowingness. It breaks through the doubt, slapping away what seems daunting with a cocksure smirk. Thumos does not want to be understood, it just wants to be used, as a primordial nexus, a mystical bridge between reason and action, launching anyone daring to use it into life-giving danger and world-giving reward.
You can sign up to receive the dispatches (along with light marketing for BSD) here.
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Sign-up for the Beyond Self-Discipline (BSD) September cohort @ maven.com/thewisdomgym/beyond-self-discipline and learn more about BSD here.