The Introverted Thinker Newsletter #012
Discussing 'Self Reliance' - a philosophy on independence, and a great Jordan Peterson podcast.
Hello everyone!👋
Happy 4th of July to all the Americans here. Hope you enjoy yourselves!🇺🇸🎉
This week I wrote a few articles but thought I’d share with you a portion of one that I would say is my best piece of philosophical work. There is a lot more to this article but here’s a taster. I was so proud of it, probably because it was a topic I was passionate about: It’s on Ralph Waldo Emersons’ essay titled ‘Self Reliance’.
Enjoy the extract and the further weekly recommendations.❤️
The Only Revolutionary Philosophical Idea That Helps Me Thrive Alone
How an individualistic philosophy coined by a rogue naturalist shook societal ideas.
I walk through the forest alone.
I forge my own path.
I refuse to blindly conform to the flawed ideals.
My trust is placed in myself, not in society.
I float and I float, the waves carry my thoughts,
for nature is where true philosophy lies.
I walk, and I think, my mind is my best friend.
Self-Reliance.
Are you afraid of being alone? Terrified of your own presence and dreading the lonely abyss? Is your life so focused on avoiding loneliness that you have forgotten to take the time to truly get to know yourself?
In 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American philosopher, wrote the revolutionary essay titled ‘Self Reliance’. The reason why this essay has been so revolutionary is because of the impact it continues to have on millions of people. It teaches you and shows you the art of having trust in yourself, of relying on no one else to sustain your happiness and truly finding contentment in following what it is you want to do.
In layman terms: it’s one of the first essays that showed us that being original and taking our own route in life leads to greater ultimate contentment in life. The art of self-reliance takes dedication, but it’s the only philosophical concept you will ever need to master.
The Principle Fault of Society & Why You Need Self-Reliance
“It is easy in the world to live after the worlds opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
You may be questioning right now why we should ever want to be fully reliant on ourselves and no one else. And rightfully so, it may seem like Emerson is advocating for a lonely, cold world, with no genuine human connections.
But this is wrong, self reliance is about finding the “perfect sweetness…of solitude”. Because yes, being alone in solitude can get bitter and sour if done in the wrong way. That’s why we are searching for the sweetness of it, the golden juice of the nectarine.
For more than 10 years of our lives, we are thrown into an education system that tells us to believe the same things as each other, to blindly follow authority above us, and to regurgitate knowledge from memory, and this is supposedly meant to form ‘individuals’.
Wrong. It forms blind followers. Followers who have somehow developed the audacity to trust the rules others have made to control them, rather than their own God-forsaken thoughts. This may seem Orwellian, and rightfully so. Independence and originality are slowly ceasing to exist, just like in ‘1984'.
Maybe to help you understand where society is falling short, it’s better to put it like this: Nowadays, there is a strong attraction and heartfelt desire for the acceptance and respect of others. This longing for respect and acceptance has outweighed the passionate duty we all have to speak our own minds.
Everyone can benefit from believing in themselves and cultivating a strong faith in their own actions.
The necessity for self-reliance:
I firmly believe that cultivating self-reliance is not only a good idea in theory but an even more effective and applicable one in practice. Everyone can benefit from believing in themselves and cultivating a strong faith in their own actions.
I sometimes feel like an outcast for wanting to spend most of my time by myself. I have been conditioned to feel immense guilt every time I reject a drink-up with my mates. I am seen as unreliable for choosing to do my own thing and make my dreams a reality.
For some reason, our herd mentality has been programmed to think that anyone who spends their time alone, working towards things that matter to them, or simply enjoying their peaceful solitary presence, has something wrong with them.
“No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” — Rudyard Kipling
Remember, self-reliance will require you to go directly against the grain, it will feel like at times you are swimming up a current, instead of effortlessly letting it take you.
But if there is one thing I’ve learned from appreciating my loneliness, it’s that self-reliance is in no way shape, or form unnatural. It is actually a philosophical concept in perfect synergy with the natural world. Being self-sufficient, following your own heart, and being guided by the magic of your own thoughts is what nature is calling us to do.
Nature flows effortlessly, the wind blows the trees, the rain falls onto the ground, the deers frolicking in the forests. By choosing to trust your own intuition in life, be it as simple as choosing to say no to a pint to take a solo trip out of your city, you are binding your essence with the independent and solitary nature of the natural world.
You need to watch this 3-minute video if you’re interested in Self Reliance…🌲
If you liked what I just wrote, I stumbled across this 3-minute video of a man who lives in completely isolated nature that I believe embodies a huge part of Emerson’s philosophy and of course self-reliance.
This right here is my dream life, to live in that desolate natural beauty. I was stunned after seeing that video.
A Shocking Yet Fascinating Podcast Episode I Listened To:
Jocko Podcast 98 w/ Jordan Peterson. Breaking Your Wretched Loop. Dangerous But Disciplined
Firstly, I gotta start with giving anyone who intends to listen to this a trigger warning.
Jocko opens the episode with a shocking retelling of an Isis rape story that will leave you shocked beyond words. He does this because in the episode they discuss the topic of evil in a fascinating manner, i.e what possesses a person to think such an act is right.
Jocko Willink is an ex-navy SEAL, a #1 New York Times bestseller, and an all-around hard guy. He is very big on discipline and leadership so these qualities show when he speaks.
And Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, I’m sure we all know who he is, is quite a controversial character. But personally, I am a MASSIVE fan. He is an incredible intellectual and gifted psychologist that has the most amazing ideas. A spectacular orator that expresses his points in such fascinating ways. This podcast really showed who he truly is.
This was one of the best podcast episodes I listened to in a while, they explored so many themes like evil, the concept of being dangerous as a man, discipline and the psychology of kids, and much more.
Honestly, I recommend you listen to this if you aren’t sensitive to heavy topics, it was such an interesting listen. One thing I will say is that this podcast is quite male-orientated just because of how they constantly discuss what it means to be a ‘man’ and how men can thrive with certain qualities.
I kind of expected this considering the types of people Jocko and Peterson are, they are both very masculine, macho, alpha-type people that aren’t big into the idea of feminism, so bear this in mind, it’s the only critique I have of the episode.
A Book I Read Last Week (Again):
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
As I mentioned last week, I was going to take my time re-reading this beautiful book, so I continued to read it this week, really soaking up the wisdom.
So, unfortunately, there is no new book in today’s newsletter as I didn’t stick to my usual once-a-week book.
However, I recently ordered around 5 books so I’m going to have some super interesting recommendations/reviews to give to you guys!
The Thinker of the Week
Every week, I include a key historical thinker who has impacted the world through their thoughts and actions. They can vary from philosophers, artists, designers, psychologists, sociologists, writers, eastern meditators, and political theorists.
Buddha: 536 BC- 483 BC🇳🇵🕉
Buddha was born between 6th and 4th century BC to a wealthy king in the Himalayan hills of Nepal. The buddha was then called Siddhartha Gautama and it was said that he would become either the emperor of India or a holy man.
Because of the status of Siddhartha’s father, he wanted him to be an emperor, not a holy man, and therefore sheltered his son in a luxurious palace with wealth beyond comprehension: jewels, servants, gold, lotus ponds etc.
For the first 29 years of Buddhas life, he was sheltered from the outside world as he says:
“A white sunshade was held over me day and night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, and dew.”
Soon after this, he started to leave the palace for his first few times and was shocked to discover that poor people existed and that they were normal and he wasn’t. On his final trip outside the palace, he met a holy man who taught him about spirituality. Siddhartha left his wife and kids and the palace forever.
All Buddha did was meditate under a fig tree, and eventually he reached a state of enlightenment that compares to no other: “Nirvana”. Nirvana means ‘awakening’. This is how he earned the title Buddha, ‘the awakened one’.
Buddha discovered some key truths in his life journey. One was that suffering and dissatisfaction exist: “Life is difficult and brief and bound up with suffering.”
Another truth is that he believed that suffering is caused by our wrong desires.
“Attatchment is the root of all suffering.”
The third truth is the belief that we can all move beyond suffering by having close control or eliminating all our attachments. He is famed for saying a famous saying that is we should change our outlook, not our circumstances. By refocusing our mind, we can find true contentment.
Today there are between a half and one and a half billion Buddhists.
Thanks for tuning in once again, I hope you enjoyed this weeks edition.❤️
Have a good week!👋
- Julian :)