Storytelling and Collective Psychology: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Life and the Work of Derren Brown by Darren Kelsey

Author:Darren Kelsey
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030936600
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Irvine refers to Seneca as an example of someone practicing Stoicism without the expectation of becoming a sage; rather, Seneca saw his personal progress as an adequate way of reducing his daily vices while acknowledging his own mistakes.

The Stoics were real people with real flaws. We should acknowledge those flaws and failings too. Prior to Seneca’s admirable final stand against Nero, a stand that would ultimately cost him his life, he spent many years in complicity with Nero’s wrongdoing. Marcus Aurelius had failings as a parent. As Ryan Holiday points out: “To study the past is not just to pick what you like and be inspired by it. The pursuit of wisdom demands that we look at the failures too”.31

Philosophies for life provide an ideal way of living that we aspire to. Those virtues from 2000 years ago float in and out of our times and the messages we are fed through popular culture. Some people have the discipline to live according to a particular philosophy in a conscious and committed manner, but for most of us this is seldom the case, and none of us is perfect regardless of our aspirations.

In terms of celebrity self-help narratives, audiences are often the ones who decide what story they want to tell about the motivational traits of figures like McGregor.

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