ascesis – Red Angel Sophia's Blog

The Benefits of Admitting When You Don’t Know

August 10, 2018 sophia_my_blog

A web-site called Uplift just featured an article titled The Benefits of Admitting When You Don’t Know.This article extols the virtue of intellectual humility, which is the willingness to admit (whether to yourself or others) any shortcomings or limitations to Read more

Denial and Panic – How my Great Grandfather Foresaw the Holocaust

August 3, 2018 sophia_my_blog

Very few Jews in Germany between the two World Wars saw the Holocaust coming. My great grandfather, however, foresaw it with grizzly detail. No – this wasn’t any Gift of Prophecy, and it wasn’t Extrasensory Perception. Rather, it was that Read more

It can be hard to confront our unconscious biases. Here’s why.

July 21, 2018 sophia_my_blog

Late last year, a web-site called Divided States of Women did a really great video on the topic of confronting our unconscious biases. This is a very important issue in Algorithmic Rationalism and is key to improving our level of Read more

Onion Layers and Stoicism

July 8, 2018 sophia_my_blog

Loose ends in Stoic philosophy can be resolved by visualizing your locus of control as layers of an onion. Click here to see this video’s YouTube page.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An image of a lyre is featured based on modern reconstructions of an ancient instrument known as the "kinnor" - the kind of lyre that King David used. Halway framing the kinnor is a question mark. This image is for the alternative psalms that I wrote and posted on my blog (virtualstoa.org). Unlike the traditional psalms which pretty much require religious belief for you to use them -- these psalms (the Non-Theistic psalms) impose no such requirement at all for their use.

Non-Theistic Psalm no. 3

February 22, 2018May 1, 2019 sophia_my_blog

Non-Theistic Psalm no. 3: Composed 2018-02-18 in the evening. Wise are those who follow reason and logic, Who are not ruled by emotions nor bound to preconceptions, Who keep their minds always open to reality Who always strive to see Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An open book with writing represents a journal - specifically, a meditative journal, which is an ancient time-honored ingraining technique. Above it and to the left, a chain of Death Beads used in a very recently-devised ingraining technique. Above the book and to the right (slightly overlapping) is a blue silhouette of someone running - a symbol of exercise - as the ingraining techniques are key philosophical exercises for Stoicism. Above all that are, in big red letters, the words "EVERY DAY" highlighting the importance of making it an every-day practice to use whatever regimen of ingraining techniques are found to be appropriate for you. This image is for articles in this blog pertaining to Stoic ingraining techniques - whether they be ingraining techniques that we get from the Classical Stoics, or whether they be those developed in modern times by Modern Stoics.

Why We Shouldn’t Surrender to Emotion

February 7, 2018 sophia_my_blog

It is part of Plurationalist teaching that we should not surrender to our emotions, but master them. Here is why Plurationalism is right in teaching that. Recently, I shared with some people the following gatha that I use in my Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: We see one of those turkeys drawn in the style that we learned to draw them in grade school based around a hand's outline. Behind it burns the flame which represents the Logos, which is the spirit of logic and reason. This image is made for writing on this site (virtualstoa.org) that connects Stoicism to the holiday of Thanksgiving.

#9: A Stoic Thanksgiving with the Emperor Marcus Aurelius

November 23, 2017 sophia_my_blog

Though you may not realize it, Thanksgiving Day can be a very Stoic holiday. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius shows us how this can be. [powerpress /] This piece is Episode 9 of the podcast: Philadelphia Stoic Thouhts By the normal Read more

#4 Locus of Control – The Onion Will Model

September 1, 2017 sophia_my_blog

In the ancient Stoic texts, the only things mentioned as being beyond our control are things outside of the mind. However, modern understanding requires us to accept that even some things within our mind aren’t ours to command. The best Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Against a grey background, we see the red flame that represents the Logos (the spirit of reason that animates the Universe). In front of that, we see a badly-drawn representation of a human brain - on which there is a lightbulb that is lit, representing thought. Some of the rays from the lightbulb's glow gradually blend into the flame, representing how our reasoning faculty is part of the Logos. This image is for articles in this blog dealing with logic and critical thought.

#3: Don’t Mistake Stoic Realism for Idealism

August 11, 2017 sophia_my_blog

While people who don’t understand Stoicism or the Stoic mindset might confuse a Stoic with an idealist – in reality, a well-trained Stoic is not that at all, but the ultimate realist. Philadelphia Stoic Thoughts, starting with the episode following Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A purple hollow-triangle with the extentions of the "mars symbol" and the "venus symbol" is featured in the foreground. This is one of the symbols of the transgender community. Behind it is the fire that represents the Logos. This image is for articles in this blog (virtualstoa.org) that pertain to transgender issues and how Stoicism applies to them.

Stoic Community’s Understanding of Transgender Issues Still has Ways to Go

June 1, 2017May 23, 2019 sophia_my_blog

Years after my YouTube presentation on Stoicism as a coping mechanism for trans-folk – there is much that the Stoic community doesn’t understand about trans-folk and about how our noble philosophy applies to the situation of trans-folk. Years ago, a Read more