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The Creative Stoic Podcast

The Creative Stoic Podcast

By Santi Younger

The overlap between Stoic philosophy and creativity.

My mission will not end until philosophers become creative and creatives become philosophers.
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#54 -The Philosophy Behind Time Tracking

The Creative Stoic PodcastMay 28, 2020

00:00
09:43
#59 - The Philosophy Of Clothes - What I Learned From Choosing To Dress More Formal
Jul 28, 202223:16
#58 - The Philosophy of Goals, Truth and Change - Ruben Chavez (Think Grow Prosper) Interview

#58 - The Philosophy of Goals, Truth and Change - Ruben Chavez (Think Grow Prosper) Interview

Watch and share your comments on the YouTube Video Version Here


Today's we are talking with Ruben Chavez  creator of Think Grow Prosper and the Think Grow Podcast (highly recommend listening to his podcast!)

────

My links:

My Website Santi Younger

Follow Me On Twitter


Show Notes (easier to navigate on the YouTube video)

- 01:04 on social media

- 02:16 what is Ruben's podcast about 

- 05:28 what started Ruben's journey into philosophy?

- 09:49 the philosophy of politics

- 11:59 landscape of humans thoughts and ethics

- 12:28 how to live in the world

- 13:51 there are no new problems

- 15:07 Jordan Peterson

- 15:24 clean up your room

- 16:51 Jordan Peterson as a psychometrician 

- 18:03 personality vs political beliefs

- 18:46 the big 5 personality traits

- 19:37 Jonathan Haidt

- 20:52 there's wisdom in different political views

- 22:33 on goals and desires

- 23:52 on being a philosophical generalist 

- 24:37 big history & sapiens 

- 25:23 Jonathan Haidt - the righteous mind

- 26:30 desires and the 2 two schools of thought

- 27:05 Tao Te Ching (Dàodé jīng)

- 28:08 Jim Rohn quote: “Learn to be thankful for what you already have, while you pursue all that you want.” —Jim Rohn

- 28:24 flexibility in our goals to adapt

- 30:04 how to deal with contradictions, two opposing views that both make sense. The answer there is in "balancing" both

- 30:40 quote by Khe Hy @khemaridh "The paradox of goals: If you achieve them, you get bored. If you don't, you're unsatisfied. Ergo, you bounce between being bored and unsatisfied."

- 32:22 chaos and order

- 33:44 flow modern version of Wu wei "non-action"

- 35:36 on truth

- 35:47 Jordan Peterson vs Sam Harris conversation

- 37:06 pragmatic view: what's true is what is useful

- 37:11 Yuval Noah Harari: intersubjective reality

- 39:04 religion as an intersubjective reality

- 41:29 lobsters

- 42:00 the laws of nature, vs human laws

- 43:34 truth in fiction books

- 45:01 different fields of study describing a mountain

- 45:34 various sources of truth, different fields, different perspectives

- 48:34 why do we call fiction fake?

- 49:39 good stories are like statistics

- 51:13 Harry Potter is relatable because we see ourselves in him

- 52:56 parenting and teaching kids about scary emotions

- 58:53 what does it mean to become an adult

- 01:02:01 life stages and feeling like an adult

- 01:04:48 parenthood is like programing

- 01:05:44 does parenthood changes life philosophy?

- 01:06:43 On having an obsessive personality

- 01:08:19 how to deal with contradictions?

- 01:09:16 the ability to change beliefs

- 01:09:52 Quote: “This is how humans are: We question all our beliefs, except for the ones that we really believe in, and those we never think to question.”  ― Orson Scott Card

- 01:11:03 A Theory of Everything Book by Ken Wilber

- 01:13:45 things are in constant change

- 01:14:58 on Ruben's book

- 01:18:28 we trick ourselves to rationalize our beliefs

- 01:22:41 the overlap across philosophies

- 01:25:12 where to find more of Ruben's work

Jun 25, 202201:26:29
#57 -Self-Compassion vs Stoicism
Jul 07, 202118:59
#56 -Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity
Jul 03, 202005:26
#55 -Powerful Note Taking System Screencast

#55 -Powerful Note Taking System Screencast

YouTube Video: Powerful Note Taking System For Language Learning // Walkthrough (Screencast)

Are you tired of note taking applications that become a mess the more you use them?

  My mission is to make advanced tools, (which are usually accesible to computer geniuses) learnable to common people like you and me.

Instagram: instagram.com/santiyounger

Contact Me: The Creative Stoic Email

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/santiyounger

Newsletter: santiyounger.com/newsletter


Jun 18, 202004:40
#54 -The Philosophy Behind Time Tracking
May 28, 202009:43
#53 -New Name (Previously Time Flies Philosophy)
May 24, 202006:57
#52 -Lucid Dreams and Philosophy
May 08, 202019:43
#51 -How to Be a Jack of all Trades in a Specialized World
Apr 23, 202014:32
#50 -The Future of This Podcast (Free Gift For You)

#50 -The Future of This Podcast (Free Gift For You)

Link to Survey

This is episode 50 and I thought it was a good time to celebrate and look back on this podcast.

Moving forward I’d like to get your opinion.

I have a special gift for those of you who can help me with this quick survey.

Survey

Contact me if you filled in the survey to claim my book for free. (draft version, before official release)

Either send me an email.

Or contact me on Instagram:

In this episode I look back on my experience 2 years ago, when I started practicing Stoic Philosophy.


Newsletter: santiyounger.com/newsletter

Instagram: instagram.com/santiyounger

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/santiyounger

Apr 09, 202010:28
#49 -The Philosophy of Language (With Phil Hagspiel)

#49 -The Philosophy of Language (With Phil Hagspiel)

Phil's Book: philhagspiel.com/you

Phil's Instagram instagram.com/philhagspiel

Newsletter: santiyounger.com/newsletter

Instagram: instagram.com/santiyounger

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/santiyounger

Access Show Notes before everyone else by supporting this podcast on Patreon
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/santiyounger

Patreon supporters also enjoy early access to my book,  online courses as well as exclusive content on Philosophy and Creativity.

Intro and Outro music:

Shore by KV  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported  — CC BY 3.0 ... Music provided by Music for Creators 

Mar 26, 202055:13
#48 -The Pillars of Self-Determination (With Phil Hagspiel)

#48 -The Pillars of Self-Determination (With Phil Hagspiel)

Phil's Book: philhagspiel.com/you

Phil's Instagram instagram.com/philhagspiel

Newsletter: santiyounger.com/newsletter

Instagram: instagram.com/santiyounger

Time Stamps

1:00 Intro Phil

5:00 Philosophy vs Self-Help

7:00 The Universe and Philosophy

14:00 Memento Mori

21:00 Do I want this?

Do I want this?

Do I WANT this?

Do I want THIS?

26:00 Consumer Behavior, Fake needs

26:30 needs vs wants

29:00 Moving the goal further always wanting more.

31:00 Minimalism

35:00 The Pixel Life Analogy

37:00 Deliberate lives, question everything.

38:00 What we think we want might come from deeper needs.

Show notes at: santiyounger.com/48


Intro and Outro music:

Shore by KV  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported  — CC BY 3.0 ... Music provided by Music for Creators 

Mar 19, 202059:39
#47 -How To Navigate Relationships as a Stoics

#47 -How To Navigate Relationships as a Stoics

Newsletter: santiyounger.com/newsletter

Instagram: instagram.com/santiyounger

Full Show Notes: santiyounger.com/47

Show notes

Podcast listener question:

I definitely struggle with keeping my emotions in check when dealing with all aspects of life, but even more so when it comes to relationships.
  • We cannot get rid of negative emotions.

Podcast listener question:

I have been working on avoiding unnecessary attachment and accepting the things that happen around me of which I have no control…
  • Dichotomy of Control
  • Trichotomy of Control

Podcast listener question:

But it is hard. Takes concerted, focused effort each day. And some days are better than others

-Memento Mori.

Podcast listener question:

Dealing with disappointment / rejection in a healthy, constructive manner. Not to discount the pain or hurt, but also not allowing yourself to wallow in that place of negativity for longer than is necessary to release any attachment and move forward.
  • Suffering
  • Grief morning Seneca
  • Masculinity
  • Perspective
Story of astronaut’s perspective

Perspective from space

Source: Stillness is the key, chapter All is One.

In 1971 the astronaut Edgar Mitchell saw the planet from a distance of over 350,000 km (217.000 miles) and felt an overwhelming sense of connection, this is the place where all suffering and joy comes from.

Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan pale blue dot Escalation of commitment To have a sense of foolish consistency in a behavior that has no benefits. Yet, we find it hard to quit because we feel we’ve already committed and we must stay consistent at all cost. Also known as The sunk cost fallacy (or Concorde fallacy) We must learn to free time to gain clarity. We feel guilty about saying no to something we don’t want to do, because we don’t want to hurt the feelings of whoever invited us to do it. We find it easier to tell someone. I can’t do your thing, because I already committed to something else. Instead of. No I don’t want to do that because I’d rather have free time instead. Selfishness Taking control of your own time and saying no to things without guilt is not selfishness. Selfishness is wanting other people to do what we want when we want it. Source: Anthony DeMello Awareness What are you willing to suffer for. Having better problems.
Mar 06, 202028:37
#46 -How To Deal With Your Creative Ego
Feb 28, 202018:02
#45 -How to Organize Your Ideas as a Creative Person

#45 -How to Organize Your Ideas as a Creative Person

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/santiyounger
Website: https://santiyounger.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/santiyounger/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/santiyounger
Newsletter: http://santiyounger.com/newsletter

Timestamp and Show Notes

0:30 Every creative craft start with writing.

1:00 Organization of ideas for content creators.

2:00 Zettlekasten box of index cards Niklas Luhmann's system to organize ideas.

3:00 How the system works in paper.

4:00 Personal Wikipedia for organization of ideas.

5:00 How to put ideas together to write books.

5:30 Niklas Luhmann room was full of drawers and paper.

6:00 Get early access to the online course I'm creating for this note-taking philosophy. Support me on: Patreon.

8:00 Note-taking philosophy.

8:20 The power of simplicity.

8:30 NASA's Pen Story.

The story says that NASA spent a decade and $12 billion to build a ballpoint pen that works without gravity. By 1965, scientist found a way to create such pen with a pressurized ink cartridge and compressed nitrogen.

The Russians simply solved this problem by using a pencil.
The takeaway is not to over-complicate things, and to look for what's obvious.

9:30 Unfortunately, the story is not true.

The people at NASA are not that dumb. They where fully aware of the pencil as an alternative.

It turns out that pencils are dangerously flammable in space. If the tip breaks and gets lost in the spaceship it can cause serious problems.

Paul C. Fisher developed the zero gravity pen which was approved by NASA and used in space. Fisher now sells his very expensive pens online.

10:30 What does this story say about simplicity?

10:45 Simplicity takes work, but it's always worth to achieve.

11:10 Take time and energy setting up systems that will pay off in the future.

11:30 The problem of traditional notetaking apps.

12:30 Making notes help you reach your work.

13:00 Plain Text Files.

13:20 Paper vs Digital.

14:00 Files from proprietary software expires and dies.

14:30 Vim the powerful way to take notes. It's complicated and it has a difficult learning curve, but it's worth it.

15:00 Trying open source fee apps to start.

Check out episode 35 of the podcast, for an interview with the owner of QOwnNotes.

15:30 Note taking app Zettlr that uses plain text files.

16:00 If you are interested to learn more about these things send me a message. If you want early access to my online course support me on Patreon and let me know how can I help you specific needs.

Feb 13, 202017:31
#44 -Joker and Stoic Philosophy (Spoiler Free)

#44 -Joker and Stoic Philosophy (Spoiler Free)

Newsletter: https://santiyounger.com/newsletter/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/santiyounger/

Website: https://santiyounger.com/

Show notes And Blog: https://santiyounger.com/44

I just watched Joker (2019) for the second time and it got me thinking about a classical philosophical debate of good and evil.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s an amazing film and I will avoid spoilers here. I started questioning weather it’s possible for someone to overcome such suffering and become virtuous on the other side. I started thinking about two different approaches towards Joker’s life situation.

The first one is from the ancient Stoic philosophers.

The second one is from Aristotle.

Marcus: Yeah guys no spoilers, sorry I haven’t had time to watch it yet. I’ve been busy running an empire and stuff.

Epictetus: Hey man, did you watch Joker?
Aristotle: I’ve seen in 4 times already, damn that guy went through some tough shit. I like how we empathize with him and understand his motivations.

Epictetus: Nah dude, it’s messed up, super unvirtuos, he definitely could have chosen to overcome his suffering.

Aristotle: No man, apart from the mental illness and some spoilers I don’t want to give away because Marcus hasn’t seen it yet. It would be nearly impossible for him to overcome all of that shit.

Epictetus: I disagree dude, but we’ll talk about it properly once Marcus watches it.

Stoic Perspective

Stoics say that the source of virtue is almost completely based upon the choices we make with the life circumstances we have.

According to this view. A real Stoic could overcome the suffering that the character of Arthur in Joker goes through, and the Stoic would say that these external circumstances do not control the ability to live a virtuous life.

Aristotle Is Less Drastic

Aristotle would say that in extreme circumstances of suffering, it does make sense for the individual to struggle towards virtue or even a happy life.

Not saying that Aristotle would justify the actions of Joker, but from his perspective, his internal suffering makes more sense, than it does for a Stoic.

Overcoming The Darkness

Is it possible to have a life as messy, complicated and messed up as the character of the Joker and turn out okay.

To overcome such darkness and make something virtuous with that suffering.

Of course it’s possible, there are many cases of people who have suffered great amounts and moved on with their lives with purpose and meaning moving them through life.

Just A Couple Of Examples

These are the people that pass on to history as role models, Maya Angelou, Viktor Frankl or Nelson Mandela.

-Maya Angelou You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise!

What happens to those who don’t make it through the darkness and get stuck in it?

We are taught to despise them, to blame them for society problems. Yet, what’s the difference between them and our heroes?

Is the answer as simple as a shift in perspective? Is it hope that moves heroes forward? Is it something more long lasting than hope?

What is it that drowns criminals into the darkness? Is it despair, fear, denial?

For those of us who

Feb 08, 202012:17
#43 -Don't Let Your New Year's Resolution Expire by The End of January

#43 -Don't Let Your New Year's Resolution Expire by The End of January

santiyounger.com

Instagram  Timestamps 0:30 New Year's Resolutions Expire by The End of January

0:50 Zero Alcohol for 2020

1:30 Reasons to do this challenge

1:40 Discipline
2:10 Healthier Relationships
3:21 Meaningful Work

3:45 Social Pressure
4:29 Escapism
5:19 Convention

6:30 Mathew's Principle
The bad gets worse.
The good gets better.

6:44 Habits
7:40 Clarity
8:20 Community

This year I'm committing to 0 alcohol for the whole year. More than anything is a challenge to test my discipline and to form healthier friendships and do more meaningful work.

I am excited for this challenge, it is going to be difficult, not because I don't think I have what it takes. I've been months without drinking much. I havn't gone to parties in over 6 months and I don't really feel the need to escape through alcohol. It's going to be difficult because I'm going back to Ecuador in 2 weeks.

Social pressure is the same everywhere in the world. When I came to live here in England I didn't have any friends. There was no one to impose their bad habits on me. I made a couple of good friends, but most of my time has been spent with my girlfriend or in a meaningful solitude that has allowed me to start writing everyday.

In Ecuador I have all type of friends, a lot of them are so used to drinking and doing drugs every week. I am known to always reject drugs, they know they shouldn't offer me drugs, I've never done them and they respect that, the same with cigarettes, but with alcohol they know they can convince me.

I've never been as bad as most people with alcohol, but like every teenager I did drink on parties. Apart from a couple times I don't tend to lose consciousness like most people, but I must admit I haven't been as good as I wish I were. Being here in England has allowed me to avoid alcohol almost completely.

The biggest reason I want to do this, is because I don't want to go back to Ecuador to spend time with the same bad influence friendships I had. Not drinking will help me see who tries to push me towards vice and who helps me become better a better person.

I wish you join me on this challenge so that we can keep each other accountable. Cheers for a year without alcohol.

Jan 30, 202009:49
#42 -Andrew Kearns (Interview) Stoicism and Creativity

#42 -Andrew Kearns (Interview) Stoicism and Creativity

Andrew Kearns' YouTube Channel

Andrew's Instagram

Moment YouTube Channel

If you have a change support Andrew by getting his photography book

How Does It Feel? A Photo Journal by Andrew Kearns

(not sponsored in any way, I'm just a fan of his work)


Hey There this is Santi welcome to the podcast, 

Today I had the honor of talking to one of my all time favorite photographers. Someone who's work I looked up to for years.

His name is Andrew Kearns he's been a YouTuber for many years and has created a large following online sharing his amazing photography and videos.

If you are not familiar with his YouTube channel or Instagram, I highly recommend you have a quick look before listening to this episode, just so you have an idea of the impact of his work.

I recently came across one of his latest videos where he discussed a lot of changes going on in his life. 

He mentioned Stoic philosophy and in that moment I sent him an email asking him to be on the podcast.

In these episode we discussed Andrew's introduction to Stoicism, we also touched topics like:

- the downside of online success

- social media

- hustling culture

Stoicism as well as the advantages of being a creator who relies on philosophy to guide ones decisions through life.

 Andrew also mentioned how an existential crisis can help you gain clarity.

If you've been a fan of Andrew's work, it's awesome to have you here. I am thankful to Andrew for all his honesty throughout this whole conversation, it felt like talking to an old friend.

If you've been following Andrew, I believe this is a great update on his life and I believe there's a lot of good advice for creators and people who want to follow their passions.

Hope you enjoy the interview


Show Notes

4:00 The link of creativity and philosophy.

6:00 Differences between self-help and philosophy.

8:00 Being honest with ourselves when we notice we are projecting a certain lifestyle.

9:00 Andrew's intro to Stoicism.

10:00 The importance of daily journaling.

13:21 quote from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

 "Examine your own motivations against you highest values because they impact your perception which impacts your behavior and the results that follow." -Stephen R. Covey

17:00 Social Media can easily turn into an ego fest.

22:00 The dark side of success.

23:00 Paradox of choice, too much food in the fridge.

26:00 Reflecting on how to make work sustainable.

33:00 Embrace the existential crisis

34:00 

“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”

 ― Franklin D. Roosevelt 

38:00 How to be a creator online, in an authentic way.

50:00 The uselessness of complaining.

50:30 The burners analogy. How to balance aspects of our life such as:

- Health

- Family

- Friends 

- Work

53:00 Enjoying the process.

Jan 17, 202001:10:47
#41 -Frightened of Change?

#41 -Frightened of Change?

Follow me on Instagram

Hey There my name is Santi, welcome to the podcast. Today I want to do a short episode, just myself to talk about change.

I want to share my thoughts with you about questions such as:

How can we deal with change?

What should we do when we are frighted by change?

What do the Stoic philosophers think about change?

I want to talk about this, because in 4 days I will be flying back to Ecuador, I've been living with my girlfriend here in England for 1 year and a half and we'll be going through a lot of change.

Right now I'm staying at my uncle's house close to London and I don't have my proper microphone, but I thought it would still be valuable to share some thoughts on change, for those of you who are facing change in you lives as well.

 

"Frightened of change? But what can exist without it? What’s closer to nature’s heart? Can you take a hot bath and leave the firewood as it was? Eat food without transforming it? Can any vital process take place without something being changed? Can’t you see? It’s just the same with you – and just as vital to nature."

-Marcus Aurelius

Change is an essential part of being human.

Change is a vital process. The way I see it there are two types of change.

  • The changes we decide to make. Through concepts like self-improvement, philosophy habit formation and so on.
  • The other type of change is external and outside of our control. Things that happen to us.

For instance in my life I have to go back to Ecuador because my Visa here in the UK is about to expire. These are circumstances I must learn to adapt to and accept.

Weather it's self-imposed or external we must admit we don't like change, we fear it and there's nothing more threatening to our psychology than uncertainty.

I think it all comes don't to the wish to be in control all the time.

We must constantly keep dividing our life circumstances into the aspects we have control over and those we don't.

There are so many external thing we will not control during periods of change, but we can start my controlling our emotions and response towards these circumstances.

things get complicated when we are so anxious that we cant control our response about things. Then we an easily fall into a loop of feeling guilty for not being able to calm down and we end up even more anxious.

For these kind of situations I want to share a great practice that has truly helped me on all aspects of my life, specially when it comes to emotions I don't feel I can control.

What we must do is realize our constant need to fix things, to fix ourselves, or emotions, our way of thinking.

Yet the way we think and feel is the product of years of habits and emotional patterns, some ways of thinking cannot be changed from night to day.

We must be patience.

For this we can use the idea of:

Understand don't fix.

This means taking a step back and observing your emotions, not judging them, but only aiming to understand them.

For instance, I am afraid of all the uncertainty that will come in the coming months moving back to my country.

There are a lot of worries.

  • Financial
  • Emotional
  • Professional

and so on.

There are some worries that make me over think a lot, some are problems I don't even have yet, that I already worry about finding how to solve.

Here I can engage on the mindset of understand don't fix.

Taking a step back to understand, either through writing our thoughts, meditation or any other way you find useful in the moment.

Our instant reaction is to fix ourselves in the moment.

We see a big change in our lives coming and we want to fix ourselves fully so that we can start fresh.

Jan 09, 202013:25
#40 -Stoic Q&A Philosophy, Mindset and Living Deliberately

#40 -Stoic Q&A Philosophy, Mindset and Living Deliberately

This is a special episode where my girlfriend and I address a variety of questions regarding philosophy, Stoicism, minimalism and living a deliberate life.

I want to thank Marina for her amazing questions! 

Here are all the questions we discussed in this episode:

1. What is your girlfriend’s accent? I’ve already mentioned I liked it a lot, I’m actually interested in different accents but I can’t recognise them just yet, what was it?

2. How did you introduce Grace to Stoicism? How did she react? I mean, not everyone would be interested in philosophy nowadays and you’re very lucky to have each other and share the same view on life!

3. How did you manage to stay in a long distance relationship? How difficult was it for you? Do you think your lifestyle philosophy contributed to your relationship and helped you with it?

4. Did I understand you right, that you compare psychology/therapy to Stoicism?

5. What is negative thinking / negative visualisation? I mean, people tend to visualise good things, picture themselves having what they want and so on

6. Don’t you feel sometimes that your philosophy goes against the worldwide trends? People tend to show their money, power, level of life by buying expensive and usually useless things, living alone in huge apartments of like 5-6 rooms, wear expensive brands just to show their income or whatever. Grace mentioned consumerism which is quite the opposite tendency to minimalism, do your friends understand your view on those aspects?

7. A bit about books. In what way are printed books better than audio? I think you said you wanted to reduce the amount of audiobooks you consume, why do you think printed are different?

8. Some thoughts on the “Create more than you consume” point - if everyone followed this rule, who would consume what we all create? There would be no point in creating, if everyone only created their stuff and didn’t care about other people’s creations. I feel like I’m failing to explain my question clearly, haha. What I’m trying to say is that there should some balance, right? If everyone only stayed focused on creating something, adding value to other people’s lives, than who would consume all this value and stuff? There should be some people who don’t create that much but who consume more, otherwise it would be useless to create anything as no one would pay attention to it. Or did I miss something?

9. You talked about trying a digital detox. Did you try it, how did it go? How do you control the time you spend on social media?

10. Dichotomy of control - could you please explain it a bit more? I got that it claims that one should not focus on what is not in their control. But then, how to do this? I struggle with anxiety sometimes, I often feel nervous about things I can’t change, for example. Even if I do understand that o shouldn’t, I still can’t help it. Can this concept show a way to solve this problem?

11. Can I apply Stoicism to my relationship somehow if my partner is not into philosophy?

12. Is the main idea if Stoicism “Memento Mori”?

Jan 02, 202001:09:28
#39 -The Art of Becoming A Stoic (With Michael Tremblay) Part 2

#39 -The Art of Becoming A Stoic (With Michael Tremblay) Part 2

Full Shownotes: santiyounger.com/39

Michael Tremblay's website

Contact Me

This week is part 2 from my conversation with Michael Tremblay. Michael is a PhD student on Philosophy. In this interview we went deep into what ancient Stoics thought about concepts such as: beliefs, values, religion, virtue and vice.

1:00 The definition of Stoicism. The core definition is the focus of our attention into what matters. What matters is virtue and vice.

  1. Focus on what matters.
  2. What matters is what's in our control (virtue and vice)

3:30 Aristotle started saying the goal of life is to be happy in an individual level. Philosophers from that point on talk about the importance of virtue.

3:40 According to the Stoics virtue is knowledge. Our beliefs determine our action. If you know how to act you will act with virtue.

4:40 The definition virtue according to Aristotle is slightly different.

5:10 Vice is ignorance, confusing a bad thing with a good one.

6:30 Why do we say friends and family are the most important?

7:20 Cicero criticism to the Stoics.

7:30 Stoics say our capacity to choice is the most important. A life of good choices is a good life. The choice to believe true things.

9:00 Aristotle does believe friends and family are essential to a good life.

9:30 The best way to help others is to help ourselves first.

10:30 Socrates wasn't afraid of death, so he lived with courage.

10:40 Socrates example: The politician who is not afraid of death cannot be corrupted by threats.

11:40 Stoic (Virtue and vice) vs Christian (Grace and sin)

12:00 Aristotle says it's all about:

  • Doing the right thing,
  • for the right reason,
  • and to feel the right way about it.

13:30 Virtuous people are the only ones who can truly contribute to others.

13:50 Misused shallow Stoicism can be interpreted as a way to be more judgmental of others.

15:12 Social animals.

15:15 Plato pointing up and Aristotle pointing down.

16:30 The Social behavior of humans acting like animals in society.

17:50 David Hume's perspective.

20:00 Conflicts of the claim "We need others for happiness."

21:00 Pleasure and honor.

21:10 Friendship vs being popular.

22:00 Popularity is not in you, it's in them. It's not a virtuous way to live.

25:00 Epictetus on being weird and genuine.

26:00 Socrates was executed for being genuine.

27:30 Plato and a Platypus walk into a bar. A great book to start learning about philosophy.

Dec 26, 201935:52
#38 -The Art of Becoming A Stoic (With Michael Tremblay)

#38 -The Art of Becoming A Stoic (With Michael Tremblay)

Michael Tremblay's website

Full Show Notes: santiyounger.com/38

This week I'm taking to Michael Tremblay. Michael is a PhD student on Philosophy. In this interview we went deep into what ancient Stoics thought about concepts such as: beliefs, values, religion, virtue and vice.

We discussed things such as what it means to be a real Stoic and why not everyone needs to be one. He explained the difference between being a Stoic and just applying basic Stoic principles and tools.

We talked about how this beautiful philosophy allows us to live our best lives, but we must be willing to put in the effort and focus on the long term benefits.

Show Notes

2:10 Everyone is a philosopher. The love of wisdom, the pursue of truth.

4:00 You can do philosophy in any field, in any particular interest.

5:00 Academic philosophy as a tool. What is useful and what is more abstract.

7:30 Epictetus would say in form of analogy...Don't show me your library of books, or your weights collection. Show me your muscle, show me your wisdom.

10:00 Philosophy vs Self- Help. Philosophy is the search of the truth, self-help not necessarily. The goal is not to feel better. The goal is to have long lasting change. Finding the balance.

15:00 Beliefs and the importance of being are of our beliefs.

16:30 Taking a pause before reacting. This is not a fight against an irrational side of yourself. Take accountability and notice the beliefs you hold.

18:00 Beliefs vs values. What is the difference?

19:00 We all wants what we consider good and avoid what we consider as bad.

20:00 The core reason of money. Why do we value money so much?

23:00 Don't sacrifice values for money, The philosophical explanation.

24:30 Asking 'Why' long enough.

26:00 Doing meaningful work, we tend to believe money is essential in order to do this.

26:30 The pursue of the positive vs the avoidance of the negative.

28:00 Okay I get it, but don't I still need money to live a good life?

29:50 We need money, because we are afraid of being poor. It is possible not to wish for money and be happy.

31:00 Dig deep enough into your 'why'. Uncover the essential things that drive you.

34:00 Your suffering is determined by your beliefs. Make sure it's something intentional and worth doing.

35:00 If you are weird you are probably intentional.

39:00 We are born a blank slate. Then we are society makes us sick. It becomes our job to get out of sickness into a clear and intentional life.

40:00 Plato's framework. Being weird, being criticized probably means you are being intentional.

42:00 Epictetus awesome thought on being weird, regardless of lack of respect from others.

43:00 We are not impostors for practicing philosophy without a title or credibility. Philosophy is there for anyone to take it and use it.

43:00 The toolkit that philosophy offers. We all have different tools, what matters is how we use them.

45:00 Instead of complaining say: 'Thank you for these difficulties.'

... Full Show Notes santiyounger.com/38

Music used: Lyonn - We'll Light The Sky (Creative Commons)

Dec 12, 201901:07:01
#37 -Stoa The Stoic Meditation App (With Caleb Ontiveros)

#37 -Stoa The Stoic Meditation App (With Caleb Ontiveros)

santiyounger.com/37

This week I talked to Caleb the creator of Stoa. A meditation app for modern Stoics.

I find it a great tool for Stoics who want to learn more about meditation.

I'd also say it's great for people who meditate, who want to learn more about Stoicism.

If you are already a master of Stoicism and meditation. Maybe recommend it to a friend who is not as awesome as you (yet).

In the interview we discussed:

  • Caleb's introduction to Stoicism.
  • Studying academic philosophy.
  • The creative process.
  • Struggles of creating a meaningful product for an audience.
  • Advice to keep going on your creative projects.
  • How Stoic principles helps us through adversity.

and much, much more! (go grab your popcorn ladies and gentlemen!)

We also talked about the app itself of course.

Support Caleb and check out his amazing app: http://stoameditation.com/

Say hey, drop me an e-mail: santi@santiyounger.com

Music used: Lyonn - We'll Light The Sky (Creative Commons)

Nov 28, 201901:10:08
#36 -Creative Philosophy (I'm Back)

#36 -Creative Philosophy (I'm Back)

here's the Video version of this episode! 

To those who have been patiently waiting for me to keep doing the podcast,  I'm really thankful for your support. 

If you want to reach out, I'd love to hear from you, send me an e-mail to santi@santiyounger.com

Life has been difficult lately, I don't want to pretend everything is alright, since my intention is to be honest and not add to the noise of "perfect lives" we all see in social media. 

The future of this podcast is still a bit unknown to me, which is why I really appreciate your thoughts and any suggestions you may have.

I also started a website (fully hand-coded) sharing my thoughts on philosophy and life, hope you enjoy it!

http://santiyounger.com/


Nov 21, 201903:58
#35 -The Best Free Note Taking App -Interview with Patrizio Bekerle (Creator of QOwnNotes)

#35 -The Best Free Note Taking App -Interview with Patrizio Bekerle (Creator of QOwnNotes)

 Download QOwnNotes for free (actually free): https://www.qownnotes.org/

In this interview I had the chance to talk to Patrizio Bekerle the creator of the note taking application QOwnNotes

How often do you feel frustrated about taking notes and organizing all your ideas? If you are like me, you've tried all types of application and yet you can't find the best way to organize your thoughts. 

Whether you are a writer, an artist or just someone with a lot of ideas hoping to declutter your mind and organize your thoughts, today's episode was made for you. 

Patrizio is the creator of the note taking application called: QOwnNotes.

QOwnNotes is an open source note taking application for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Unlike many other popular note taking applications with QOwnNotes, you own all your data and all of your notes.

All notes are stored as plain-text files on your computer, but unlike some other plain text programs, you can sync it with your phone and other devices through a cloud-based system.

All of this sounds amazing, but unlike every other app who tries to tell you this is the app you need. Patrizio's app is completely free and open source.

I was curious to get to know the creator behind QOwnNotes that I've been obsessed over, after trying every other app out there. 

What I found is Patrizio’s amazing intention to simply add value to people's lives without the interest to make money out of it. 

If you been losing your mind finding the best way to write down and organize all your ideas and thoughts. I truly believe QOwnNotes to be the best solution for that problem.

Aug 04, 201955:44
#34 -Goodbye for Now.
Jul 26, 201907:52
#33 -Achieve More. Worry Less. Interview with Patrick Saunby
May 20, 201901:10:49
#32 -How to Improve Your Memory (Interview with Anthony Metivier)

#32 -How to Improve Your Memory (Interview with Anthony Metivier)

Anthony Metivier is the creator behind Magnetic Memory Method

In this episode we discuss the importance of memory in our lives and why we should learn memory techniques.

This is one of my favourite videos of his The 3 Most Powerful Memory Techniques For Memorizing Numbers

 where he explains how to memorize numbers in a really interesting and efficient way.


May 14, 201956:01
#31 -Ryan Collins Passion for Self-Improvement (Interview)
Apr 25, 201901:02:07
#30 -Markus Almond (Creative Philosophy Interview)

#30 -Markus Almond (Creative Philosophy Interview)

  Update: In the last upload I accidently got the audio out of sync, so if you can see a duplicate of this episode ignore the other one, this is the good version! Sorry for that!)

This episode is mostly for creative people, artists, writers and entrepreneurs. Markus Almond shares his wisdom on how to create an audience that values your work and adapting your life philosophy accordingly.

If you don't consider yourself creative Markus provides amazing knowledge and wisdom on how to create an atmosphere to allow yourself to explore your creative side.

We also cover many philosophical topics, from Minimalism to Stoicism and Buddhism. There are many valuable lessons that you can take from this episode.

Links to all of his amazing work:

Markus Almond's Instagram page

Markus Almond's website

Markus' books

Markus' Zines

Message me at Time Flies Philosophy on Instagram

or send me an email at: mementothestoics@gmail.com 

Apr 12, 201901:13:05
#29 -Nervous vs. Excited (Stoic Anecdote)
Apr 05, 201909:56
#28 -Productivity When We are Unmotivated

#28 -Productivity When We are Unmotivated

 In this episode, I talk about how to be productive when we are feeling unmotivated.

I mainly talked about three key points:

1) Doing something you enjoy like a hobby or a passion. Even if it's not contributing directly to your responsibilities, it might make you feel better, with a better mood everything is easier.

2) 5 minute rule

3) Pomodoro Technique 

 message me at Time Flies Philosophy in Instagram: www.instagram.com/timefliesphilosophy   

Time Flies Philosophy Website:

 http://timefliesphilosophy.com/28-productivity-when-we-are-unmotivated/ 

Mar 29, 201910:17
#27 -Social Media Detox
Mar 18, 201917:24
#26 -Remember your Mortality (Memento Mori)
Feb 27, 201906:57
#25 -Stoic-Minimalist Conversation with my Girlfriend
Feb 16, 201901:16:39
#24 -The Little Book of Stoicism Interview with Jonas
Feb 10, 201901:03:32
#23 -The Philosophy of Spider-Man (With Jesús Jarrín)
Jan 22, 201946:08
#22 -Perfectionism (Unscripted Walk)
Jan 08, 201912:11
#21 -Interview with The Sunday Stoic Podcast

#21 -Interview with The Sunday Stoic Podcast

Listen to Steve's podcast https://www.sundaystoicpodcast.com/

Message me at Time Flies Philosophy in Instagram: www.instagram.com/timefliesphilosophy 

To get the exclusive postscript episode, simply write a review for the podcast and message me in Instagram! I really appreciate the support.

Dec 30, 201801:01:26
#20 -New Name (Previously: Memento The Stoics)
Dec 20, 201805:30
#19 -Community
Dec 18, 201807:26
#18 -Interview with Jonas Salzgeber (NJlifehacks)
Dec 04, 201841:21
#17 - Song Poetry Analysis (IN-Q)
Nov 17, 201806:38
#16 -Interview with Stoic Coffee Break (Erick Cloward)

#16 -Interview with Stoic Coffee Break (Erick Cloward)

Stoic Coffee Break Podcast and Website
stoic.coffee

Check out the quotes used in this podcast on
Instagram at
Memento the Stoics: www.instagram.com/memento_the_stoics/

Message me anytime at mementothestoics@gmail.com for show notes or any requests.

I'm currently on the process of making the official website for the podcast, check it out at
mementothestoics.com

Nov 07, 201801:05:26
#15 -Mindset in Anxiety
Oct 19, 201808:11
#14 -Interview with Stoic Army

#14 -Interview with Stoic Army

Check out Stoic Army
www.instagram.com/stoicarmy/

Check out the quotes used in this podcast on Instagram
Memento the Stoics: www.instagram.com/memento_the_stoics/

If you want to hear the exclusive post-show conversation,
just do the following:

1) Review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or any other platform you prefer. (It helps grow this podcast ;)

2) Send me a screenshot of your review to mementothestoics@gmail.com
That way I can easily reply to your e-mail with the file of the exclusive conversation.

3) Enjoy it and let me know if there's any topics you want to hear next!
Oct 13, 201859:40
#13 -Stoic Anecdote "Lost in the City"
Sep 26, 201806:04
#12 -Change
Sep 23, 201805:37
#11 - The Jedi and the Stoics (Interview With William O. Stephens)

#11 - The Jedi and the Stoics (Interview With William O. Stephens)

Here's the William's essay that inspired this interview
Stoicism and the Philosophies of the Jedi and the Sith
collegeofstoicphilosophers.org/show_book/PDF/StoicsStarWars

Check out the quotes used in this podcast on Instagram
Memento the Stoics: www.instagram.com/memento_the_stoics/

Message me anytime at mementothestoics@gmail.com

William O. Stephens' website: williamostephens.com/

William O. Stephens' books
Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom
Marcus Aurelius: A Guide for the Perplexed
Sep 14, 201847:06
#10 -View from Above
Sep 07, 201805:04